A narrative is a descriptive passage, special instruction, a table, image, or other information that you can link to one or more questions. When taking an online exam or printed test, narratives are presented to the learner along with the questions they are linked to.

Create a Narrative

1. Log into EchoExam with your instructor account.
2. From the My Library tab, select Narratives.
3. Click the New Narrative button.
   

   The New Narrative window opens.

4. Enter a name for the narrative.
5. Click Save.
   

   The narrative editor screen opens.

6. In the Enter text box, type in the narrative.
   

   Use the Rich Text Editor to edit the narrative text.

   Optionally, you can copy / paste text from another document and format it as necessary.

7. By default, no questions are linked to a new narrative. Click Link to a question to link to an existing question.
   

   The questions in your question library display.

   You cannot create a new question while creating a narrative. Import or create your question(s) before creating your narrative.

   • Search for questions using the search bar.
   • Any question that is already linked to the narrative will be grayed out.
   • Sort questions by Updated, Created, A to Z, and Z to A from the drop-down in the top right. The default is Updated.
   • Use the checkboxes to select one or more questions.
   • Click Add.
     

     The question(s) are linked to your narrative and appear on the right side of the screen.

8. From the right side of the window
   
   • Search for linked questions using the search bar.
   • Filter linked questions by question type from the dropdown.
   • Click the unlink button next to a linked question to unlink it and remove it from the list of linked questions.
9. Optionally, you can click the Desktop, Tablet Portrait, and Mobile Portrait icons to preview how the narrative is displayed on different devices.
10. When finished, click Save.
    

    A Warning appears.

11. Click Continue to confirm the message that appears.
    

    The narrative is added to your Narratives library so you can use it again and link it to additional questions.

Narratives will display for learners on mobile devices, but may not be ideal for large amounts of text, images, or linked content. Exams including narratives are recommended to be completed with a screen width of 1024px or larger.

Narrative Action Items

From the narrative library, you can view and manage all of the narratives that you have created and imported. Click on the three vertical dots to open the action menu for a single narrative, or select the checkbox for one or more narratives to take action on multiple narratives at once.

• Edit- This launches the narrative view where Instructors can edit the narrative, link and unlink questions.
  

  Editing a narrative will apply the changes to all questions that are linked to the narrative.

  Any question that is unlinked from a narrative is removed from that narrative only. The Question will remain in your Question library and in any other Question Banks it is a part of.

• Rename - Opens a dialog box allowing you to update the narrative name.
• Duplicate - Creates a copy of the narrative and prepends "copy - " on the narrative name.
  

  If a single narrative is duplicated, the narrative editor will open automatically with the new narrative.

• Preview - Opens a window to preview the narrative. Click Close to close the preview. 
• Delete - Opens a confirmation window to ensure Instructors don't accidentally delete narratives.
  

  Delete removes the narrative only. Optionally, you can choose to delete all questions associated with the narrative by checking the box in the confirmation window. If chosen, those questions are removed from your Question library and any Question Banks they are a part of.

Edit a Narrative

1. Log into EchoExam with your instructor account.
2. From the My Library tab, select Narratives.
3. Search for the narrative to edit using the search bar.
4. Additionally, sort narratives by Updated, Created, A to Z, and Z to A from the drop-down in the top right. The default is Updated.
5. Use the checkbox to select a narrative. 
6. Use the Rich Text Editor to edit the narrative text.

   Optionally, you can copy / paste text from another document and format it as necessary.

7. By default, no questions are linked to a new narrative. Click Link to a question to link to an existing question.
   

   The questions in your question library display.

   You cannot create a new question while creating a narrative. Import or create your question(s) before creating your narrative.

   • Search for questions using the search bar.
   • Any question that is already linked to the narrative will be grayed out.
   • Sort questions by Updated, Created, A to Z, and Z to A from the drop-down in the top right. The default is Updated.
   • Use the checkboxes to select one or more questions.
   • Click Add.
     

     The question(s) are linked to your narrative and appear on the right side of the screen.

8. From the right side of the window
   
   • Search for linked questions using the search bar.
   • Filter linked questions by question type from the dropdown.
   • Click the unlink button next to a linked question to unlink it and remove it from the list of linked questions.
9. Optionally, you can click the Desktop, Tablet Portrait, and Mobile Portrait icons to preview how the narrative is displayed on different devices.
10. When finished, click Save.
    

    A Warning appears.

11. Click Continue to confirm the message that appears.
    

    The narrative is updated so you can use it again and link it to additional questions.