Narrative poem indicates that the poet is attempting to

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks what a poet is attempting to do when writing a narrative poem. The key word is "narrative".

Step 2: Explain the concept A narrative poem is a poem that tells a story. It has the features of a story, such as:

• characters
• a plot (a sequence of events)
• a setting
• often a beginning, middle and end

Examples include epics like The Iliad, ballads, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Step 3: Work through the options

• A. Preach a sermon: A sermon is religious or moral instruction. That is didactic poetry, not narrative poetry.
• B. Tell a story: This is correct. "Narrate" means to tell a story, so a narrative poem tells a story in verse.
• C. Summarize a story: A narrative poem does not merely summarize. It develops the story in full, with events, characters and detail.
• D. Describe a place: This is descriptive poetry (for example, a pastoral or nature poem), not narrative poetry.

Step 4: Answer The correct option is B. tell a story.

Tip: In literature questions, look at the root of the genre name. Narrative comes from narrate (tell a story), lyric is about personal feeling (from "lyre", song), elegy is about mourning, and descriptive poems paint a picture of a person, place or thing.