Rhetoric: Organization

Introduction to Narration

Virginia Walz

A.P. English Language

Coral Springs High School

© 2004

Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High

Narration - defined

To NARRATE is to tell a story, to relate a sequence of events that are linked in time.

Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High

Purpose of Narration

The emphasis in narration can be on the story itself, as in fiction, biography, autobiography, some history, and much journalism.

OR, a narrative can serve a larger point: a brief story about an innocent person’s death may help strengthen an argument for stricter handling of drunk drivers.

Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High

Purpose of Narration, cont’d

The point of the narrative – the idea the reader is to take away – then determines the selection of events, the amount of detail devoted to them, and their arrangement.

Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High

Narration – Time

Narrative Time is not REAL time.Dilation: an important event which

took only minutes can fill an entire page.

Contraction: a less important event which took several hours can be dispensed with in a single sentence.

Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High

Narration - Arrangement

The point of a narrative influences not only which events are covered and how fully, but also how the events are arranged.

Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High

Straight Chronology This arrangement is easiest to

manage because it relates events in the order of their actual occurrence.

1. Short narratives2. Last event most dramatic3. Events preceding and following

climax contribute to the point being made

Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High

Inverted Chronology

The final event, such as a self-revelation, may come first, followed by an explanation of the events leading up to it.

Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High

Summation

The entire story may be summarized first and then examined in detail

Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High

FlashbacksShifts backward rather than

forward in time.May recall events whose

significance would not have been apparent earlier.

Common in movies and fiction: a character in the midst of one scene mentally replays another.

Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High

Transitions

Whatever the arrangement of a narration, the writer needs to help readers through the sequence of events with transitional expressions.

Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High

Transitions

Transitional expressions signal the order of events (afterward); the duration of events (for an hour); or the amount of time between events (a week later).

Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High

Point of View

The writer of a narrative helps readers by adopting a consistent point of view, a position relative to the events, conveyed in two main ways:

Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High

Point of View

Pronouns indicate the writer’s place in the story: first-person; third-person

Verb tense indicates the writer’s relations in time to the sequence of events: present or past.

Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High

Sample ParagraphWriting Topics

Select One: An incident from family legend A storm, flood, earthquake or other natural

event An act of generosity The first time you met someone who

became important to you A trip to an unfamiliar place

Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High

Narration/Description EssayAssignment Guidelines/Due Date

Final Paper due Monday 8/30/04 – NO EXCEPTIONS ●● NO LATE PAPERS

Body consists of 500-750 words. Typed, double-spaced, 1” margins, 12-pt

font, Times New Roman Cover page: Title, Name, Period, Date Do not place the Title on the first body

page.