Transcript Narrative Writing

Narrative Writing
A general outline accompanied by
a specific lecture
Definition
• A narrative tells
a story
• Narration is a
powerful method
by which a
writer may
engage a reader
and hold their
attention
Purpose
• A narrative may
instruct and
inform
• A narrative may
divert and
entertain
Types of Narratives
•
•
•
•
A novel
A short story
Some poems
Anecdotes (a short, entertaining
account of a single event.)
The Process
• Every good story must have a
point or purpose.
• For this essay, your purpose will
be to create a story that
recreates a time in your life
when you went through a rites
of initiation.
The Narrator
• The narrator is the
teller or speaker in
the story.
• This essay is
subjective—the
details and
language will be
chosen to express
your feelings
Verb Tense
• Telling a story in present tense
(instead of past) gives events a
sense of immediacy- -everything
will seem as though it is
happening right now.
• “Peering out her window, a
woman spies a strange man.”
What to emphasize
• What happened?
• Who took part?
• When did it
happen?
• Where did it
happen?
• Why did this
event take
place?
• How did it
happen?
Strategies
• Scene: you
visualize each
event as vividly
and precisely as
if your were
there.
• Recall dialogue,
portray people,
and include
description
Summary
• Relate events concisely
• Write down just the essentials
of what happened.
• A summary is to a scene as a
simple stick figure is to a
portrait in oils.
Scene
Summary
Scene and Summary
• Good storytellers know what to
emphasize.
Use summary to pass briskly from
events of less importance to an
important scene.
Summary is the glue that holds scenes
together
Organization
• The simplest approach is
chronological order- -the way
the events happened.
• You may begin in medias res and
open with a colorful, dramatic
event.
• You may use flashback to return
to earlier events
Transitions
• Use transitions
of time to make
events clear.
• “Seven years
later,” “A
moment earlier”
The Point
• In most types of narration, the
storyteller refrains from
revealing his or her point at the
beginning of the story.
• Most narratives wait until the
end of the story to state the
thesis or theme.
Narrative strategies
• Splitting the second:
stroboscope the action in slow
motion; slice the actions into
separate, smaller segments. Fill
out the experience with so much
detail that it takes longer to
read the event than it took to
witness the actual experience
Splitting the second
• Example: how
can you split the
second when
describing how
you brush your
teeth?
• You will split the
second on more
important events
in your essay.
Hero Journey Essay
Organization
• Flashback
• First write the conclusion: a
carefully described summary or
insight that is personal,
spiritual, historical, or
psychological.
• This should be a description of
yourself as a mature person.
Hero Journey Essay
Organization
• Now work backwards by going back
in time to the next closest event
which lead to your conclusion or
revelation. Describe it in detail.
• Even though you are writing this
section second, remember that it will
really be the second to last
paragraph in your essay
Hero Journey Essay
Organization
• Now work backwards again,
asking yourself what experience
must have prepared or underprepared you for the second-to
last event.
• This experience will form the
third to last event.
Hero Journey Essay
Organization
• Keep working backwards until you
have reached the starting point for
your story.
• After you have completed your rough
draft, you will go back and reverse
the order of your paragraphs. Hence,
the last paragraph becomes your
first, etc.