NarrationThe Longman Reader

Page 127

What is it?

Telling a single story or several related stories.• Supports a main idea or thesis.• Narration is powerful.

• Stories capture the attention of listeners.

Narration Speaks ….

Narration speaks to us because it is about us.

• We want to know what happened to others• Their experiences shed light on the nature of

our own lives.

Narration lends force to opinions• Triggers the flow of memory• Evokes places and times that are compelling

and affecting.

NarrationPurpose and Audience

• Appears in essays as a supplemental pattern of development.

• Begin with a story then the purpose of the essay.

• Serves as an essay’s dominant pattern of development

How to write it.1

• Identify the conflict in the event.• An internal conflict experienced by a key

person in the story.Conflict between • people in the story, • pivotal character, • social institution or natural phenomenon.

2

• Identify the point of the narrative.• When recounting a Narrative • Convey the event’s significance or meaning.• Be clear about narrative point or thesis.

• NARRATIVES make a point.

3Develop only details that advance the narrative point.• Don’t get side tracked.Brainstorm• What happened?• When?• Where?• Who was involved?• Why?

3 continued …

Keep asking yourself ….• Is this detail or character or snippet of

conversation essential?• Does my audience need this detail to

understand the conflict in the situation?• Does this detail advance or intensify the

narrtive action?

3 continued …

• Summarize details that have importance, but do not deserve lengthy treatment.

• Focus on specifics that propel action forward.

• Take advantage of dramatic license.

4

Organize the narrative sequence.• Begin somewhere,• Presents a span of time,• Ends at a certain point.Straightforward time order• Follow chronologically.

4 continued …

If chronology does not work,• Use Flashback.• Use Flashforward.Limit the time span covered in a narrative.

5

Make the narrative easy to follow.• Describe each distinct action in a separate

paragraph.• Each paragraph has a clear focus.• Use informal topic sentences, then the rest

of the sentence develops that topic sentence.

5 continued …

Use Time Signals:• Now

• Then

• Next

• After

• Later

6

• Make the narrative vigorous and immediate.• Provide abundant specific details.Readers must be able to• See• Hear• Touch• Smell• Taste

6 continued …

• Vivid sensory description is essential.• Convince the reader the event actually

happened.CAUTION

• Sensory language slows the pace.

6 continued …

Dialogue• Begin a new paragraph to indicate a shift from

one person’s speech to another’s.Vivid Sentence Structure• Experiment with sentences by juggling length

and sentence type.• Mix long and short sentences• Mix simle and complex.

6 continued …

Vigorous Verbs• Lend energy to narratives.• Use Active Verbs rather than passive ones.• Replace “to be” verbs.

7

• Keep point of view and verb tense consistent.

• All stories have a narrator• Use first-person point of view• Use third-person point of view

Be consistent with past or present tense.• Usually in a narrative past tense prevails.