- NARRATION - TELLING A STORY

What is Narrative Writing? 1 A strategy used by writers to tell a story or explain something to their readers. Narrative Writing = Personal Expression Letters Poems Diaries Journals Songs Discussions Reflective Essays

Narration- On a Daily Basis 1 We tell stories We explain things We illustrate points We report information We argue/persuade

Narrative Shape & Purpose 2 All narratives need a Purpose Purpose depends upon Audience*** After purpose/audience is determined, a writer can shape’…. Structure, Point of View, Tone, Diction and Syntax (Language)

Narrative Thesis Statement 3 Usually revealed at the end! Why? - to build suspense Stated too early will ‘rob’ the reader of the suspense build-up Suspense = ‘key’ to good narration

Narrative Point of View(s) 4 NARRATOR The teller/speaker of a personal experience; the one who was there.

Narrative Point of View(s) 4 1st Person Point of View (I, me, my, mine, etc) 3rd Person Point of View (he, she, they, him, her, etc) Story is your own experience Telling is Subjective/Biased Details & language reflect feelings, thoughts, opinions Story is NOT yours; you are a witness not an ‘actor within’ Telling is Objective/Unbiased Details & language are factual, dispassionate, and accurate

Narrative Tense- Pros and Cons 5 Present Tense Past Tense -PROs- Gives a sense of immediacy- everything is happening Now -CONs- Seems artificial Difficult to sustain -PROs- Easiest tense to write in and sustain -CONs- Seem removed Lacks immediacy

Questions to Answer 6 The 5 w’s a 1h What happened? When did it take place? Where did it take place? Who took part? Why did the events happen? How did it happen?

Importance of Information 7 Good story-tellers always have more information than they need Depending upon purpose and audience, good story-tellers make careful choices about what they will include and delete? Why might this be?

The Two Narration Strategies 8 Summary Scene Just the essentials; no great detail is provided. Concise version of an event People and events are simply ‘mentioned’ Takes way less time and uses fewer words. Visualizing an event as if you were there Extended version of an event People and events using dialogue/description Takes up a lot of time and a lot of space

Organizing a Narrative 9 Simplest Approach = Chronological Order Why? The story is already organized, so just list the events as they occurred. Professional writers do not always follow this pattern

Flashbacks, Transitions, Dialogue 10 - Creates suspense/provide background detail -Transitions- - Helps audience to follow events (can be a word, brief phrase, or whole sentence) -Dialogue- -Reveals information; creates suspense and provides ‘legs’

Verbs, Imagery, Tone 11 Verbs- Use strong action verbs; maintain a consistent tense Imagery - Use all forms of sensory imagery; use strong adjectives and adverbs for detail Tone- Use your natural voice and everyday speech/vocabulary; be conversational

Narrative Essay (prelude) In the next few weeks you will be writing a Narrative Essay. Be sure to connect all of this information to the pieces we read in class and become familiar with the manner in which the authors write- purpose, audience, style, organization, etc Also, start to brainstorm ideas for your own essay. ‘Junk’ that is handed in will be graded as ‘junk’.

Journal _______ Name a group or team of which you are a member? Describe this team and explain why you are a part of it? Also, write about the influence this ‘group’ has had on your life. (Angelou)