Properties of a Narrative
Describes the elements in a narrative, allowing students to understand that a work is
composed of many parts, each of which must be studied separately to understand the
whole. Breaking a whole into parts is called analysis.
"Ideas are to literature what light is to painting." -- Paul Bourget
Narrative
A narrative is an account of an incident(s) that comprise a complete
action. The art of writing may be best explained as follows: "The art
of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of
the chair." –M. H. Vorse
The following excerpts are from Richard Gregory's story "Shame."
Situation
Situation is the background for the action. It may be described
briefly, or it may even be implied. Example: "I never learned hate at
home, or shame. I had to go to school for that. I was about seven
years old when I got my first big lesson."
Conflict
Conflict is the friction, such as a problem in the surroundings,
(external), with another (external), or within the individual (inner).
Example: "The teacher thought I was a troublemaker. All she saw
from the front of the room was a little black boy who squirmed in his
idiot's seat and made noises and poked the kids around him."
Struggle
Struggle, which does not have to be physical, is the manner of
dealing with conflict. The struggle adds action or engagement and
generates the plot. Example: "It was on a Thursday, the day
before the Negro payday. The eagle always flew on Friday. The
teacher was asking each student how much his father would give to
the Community Chest. On Friday night, each kid would get the
money from his father, and on Monday, he would bring it to the
school. I decided I was going to buy me a Daddy right then. I had
money in my pocket from shining shoes and selling papers and
whatever Helene Tucker pledged for her Daddy I was going to top
it. And I’d hand the money right in. I wasn’t going to wait until
Monday to buy me a Daddy."
Outcome
Outcome is the result of the struggle. Example: "Now there was
shame everywhere. It seemed like the whole school had been
inside the classroom, everyone had heard what the teacher had
said, everyone had turned around and felt sorry for me."
Meaning
Meaning is the significance of the story, which may be deeply
philosophical or simply stated or implied. Example: If people have
a goal and keep reminding themselves of it, they can overcome any
obstacles in life, just like Richard Gregory did in "Shame."
Verb Tense
This is most likely to be in the past (designated by an ed at the end
of a regular verb) rather than the present (happening now).
Whatever tense is used, writers should be consistent.
Point of View
This is the writer’s relationship to the subject matter, which is
usually static (unchanging). Two points of view are possible in a
personal experience essay: first person (participant) or the
detached (observer’s).
Dialogue
Using a person’s exact words shows rather than tells. Because
dialogue allows readers to feel rather than just seeing words on a
page, it engages readers, drawing them more fully into the story.
Dialogue personalizes, supports, and characterizes general
statements in the narrative. Moreover, it illustrates how people talk
and think. Dialogue may be brief or extended, or it may not be used
at all.
OTHER ELEMENTS OF A NARRATIVE
Verb Tense
Because most narratives relate experience in time order, the verb
tense is likely to be in the past. Example: She walked into the room
rather than the present "She walks into the room," although you
may use either. If writers want their readers to be closer to the
action, they use the present tense, since this tense indicates
something is happening now. Therefore, it is possible to use the
present tense to place readers closer to the scene, even though
the story happened in the past.
Two generalizations are useful when working with verb tense:
Most narratives (often summaries) based on literature are written in present tense.
Tom Sawyer pretends that painting the fence is a special pleasure.
His friends watch him eagerly. He walks and displays his joy. They
pay him to do his work.
Most historical events and personal experiences are written in the past tense.
The Battle of Gettysburg was the decisive encounter in the Civil
War. Although General Lee, the Confederate general in charge of
the overall strategy, was a wise and experienced man, he made
some tactical blunders that led to a devastating victory by the Union
forces.
Two main points about tense are the following:
The generalizations about verb tense selection (using the past for historical
and the personal and using present for fiction) are useful.
The verb tense in a passage should change only when the shift is
justified for clarity and emphasis.
Point of View
Point of view shows the writer’s relationship to the material, the
subject, and it usually does not change within a passage.
If a writer is conveying personal experience, the point of view will
be first person, which can be either involved (participant) or
detached (observer). The involved perspective uses I more
prominently than the detached one does. If the writer is speaking
about the characters, he or she will use the third person, and the
participants will be referred to as "he," "she," and "they."
Tone
Tone is the reflection of the writer’s attitude toward subject and
audience. The tone can be personal or impersonal, formal or
informal, objective (fair, without bias), or subjective (emotional), or
expressed in irony (a softer form of sarcasm), blatant, sarcastic,
angry, hyperbole exaggerated, or understated. The following
passage demonstrates poor self-esteem because his
teacher perceived him to be a "troublemaker."
"It was on a Thursday. I was sitting in the back seat of the room, in
a seat with a chalk circle drawn around it. The idiot’s seat, the
troublemaker’s seat."
Dialogue
Dialogue is used purposefully in narration to characterize,
particularize, and support ideas. It shows readers how people talk
and think, as individuals or as representatives of society. However,
not every narrative requires dialogue.
Note in the following paragraph that the dialogue is brief. This
passage shows the shame a student feels when his teacher lashes
out at him. Also, note that the narrator is the participant in
the story.
"What is it now?" (teacher speaking)
"You forgot me."
"She turned toward the blackboard. "I don’t have time to be
playing with you, Richard."
"My Daddy said he’d …"
"Sit down, Richard, you’re disturbing the class."
"My daddy said he’d give … fifteen dollars."
She turned around and looked mad. "We are collecting the
money for you and your kind, Richard Gregory. If your Daddy can
give fifteen dollars, you have no business being on relief. And
furthermore," she said, looking right at me, her nostrils getting big
and her lips getting thin and her eyes opening wide, "we know you
don’t have a Daddy."
Description
Effective description is that which is presented to readers so they
can read and re-experience the writer’s ideas. One device
important to the writer is imagery, which can best be perceived in
concrete language—through the senses (sight, sound, taste,
smell, and touch). We read, we visualize, we identify, and we
connect with a narrative account. Description may be viewed as
painting with words. An artist paints with his/her brush or in
whatever medium he/she chooses (charcoal, oils, pencil, etc.), but
a writer must paint his/her images with words—exact words that
convey the true meaning of the experience.
In order to make readers visualize the writer’s experience, he/she
must bring the experience to life by choosing his/her words very
carefully, by using his/her thesaurus to find the exact word rather
than just any word.
The following passage from "My Name Is Margaret" by Maya
Angelou depicts the unattractive appearance of Mrs. Viola Cullinan,
Margaret’s employer as follows:
"Mrs. Viola Cullinan was a plump woman who lived in a threebedroom house somewhere behind the post office. She was
singularly unattractive until she smiled, and then the lines around
her eyes and mouth which made her look perpetually dirty
disappeared, and her face looked like the mask of an impish elf."
Likewise, the author makes a scathing comment about Mrs.
Cullinan’s meticulous nature in this passage:
"The exactness of her house was inhuman. This glass went
here and only here. That cup had its place and it was an act of
impudent rebellion to place it anywhere else. At twelve o’clock the
table was set. At 12:15 Mrs. Cullinan sat down to dinner (whether
her husband had arrived or not). At 12:16 Miss Glory brought out
the food."