1. Narrative
Storytelling

2. Basic Features
A Well-Told Story
Vivid Description
Significance

3. A Well-Told Story Engages readers Is dramatic Is well-focused
Is well-organized

4. Ways to engage readers:
By letting the reader into the writer’s or storyteller’s or narrator’s perspective—for example, using first-person pronoun I to narrate
By arousing curiosity and suspense
By clarifying or resolving a conflict through a change or discovery

5. Dramatic Arc A Well-Told Story is also well organized and focused
The dramatic arc is helpful for thinking about organization and how the writer develops the story to create effect.
The elements of the dramatic arc are:
Exposition/Inciting incident
Rising Action
Climax
Falling Action
Conclusion/Reflection

6. Dramatic Arc Definitions
Exposition/Inciting Incident: Background information, scene setting, or an introduction to the characters or an initial conflict or problem that sets off the action, arousing curiosity and suspense
Rising Action: The developing crisis, possibly leading to other conflicts and complications
Climax: The emotional high point, a turning point marking a change for good or ill
Falling Action: Resolution of tension and unraveling of conflicts; may include a final surprise
Resolution/Reflection: Conflicts come to an end but may not be fully resolved, and writer reflects on the event’s meaning and importance—its significance
The shape of the arc varies. Not all stories devote the same amount of space to each element, and some may omit an element or include more than one.

7. Elements of Vivid Description
Action sequences to move the narrative along, to create effect, to convey significance
Dialogue--quoting or paraphrasing (what you choose depends on what you want to highlight)
Naming—people, things, places
Detailing with descriptive languages people, places, things
Comparing to convey images and emotions

8. Significance
The story should have a clear point and it should convey a richness of meaning that makes the event worth writing about
You can convey this by:
Describing feelings and thoughts from the time the event took place
Reflecting on the past from the present perspective
Choosing details and words that create a dominant impression

9. Purpose
The purpose can be both the significance of the story and also others beyond those the writer consciously intends to communicate or even acknowledges.
What are some reasons or purposes why we might tell a particular story?

10. The writer’s purpose might be:
to understand what happened and why, perhaps to confront unconscious and possibly uncomplimentary motives
to relive an intense experience that might resonate with readers and lead them to reflect on similar experiences of their own
to use personal experience as an example that readers are likely to understand/relate to
to work through complex and ambivalent feelings
to win over readers, perhaps to justify or rationalize choices made, actions taken, or words used
to reflect on cultural attitudes at the time the event occurred, perhaps in contrast to current ways of thinking
When reading, you should always ask yourself: What seems to be the writer’s purpose?

11. Audience When reading, you should also, ask yourself:
What does the writer assume about the audience?
How does the writer want the reader to react?
Perhaps the writer assumes that :
readers will have had similar experiences
readers will see the writer as innocent, well meaning, a victim, or something else
readers will laugh with and not at the writer
readers will reflect on the cultural context in which the event occurred and how it influenced the writer
The writer might want the reader to:
Understand and empathize with the writer
Rethink similar experiences of their own
See writer’s experience as part of a larger social phenomenon
Assess how the story applies to other people and situations