NARRATION AND

DESCRIPTION
 NARRATIVE AND
DESCRIPTIVE WRITING
Narrative: is a piece of writing that tells a
story in a way that the audience learns a
lesson or gains insight.

Descriptive: is a literary device in which

the author uses details to paint a picture
with their words.
For example:

Telling: The dog sniffs around.

Showing: The big brown dog sniffed

around the red rose bushes in the
front yard.
NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE
WRITING
Narrative: is more concerned with an event,
rather than experience. Narrative writing
answers the question, “What happened?”

Descriptive: one is concerned about experience.

Descriptive writing answers the question, “What
was it like?”
NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE
WRITING
Narrative: has five elements that
define and shape the narrative: plot,
setting, character, conflict, and
theme.

Descriptive: is based on sensory

information. The term sensory
information means the sound, taste,
smell, sight and touch.
 NARRATIVE ELEMENTS

❑ The PLOT is the thread of events that

occur in a story.

❑ The SETTING is the location of the

events in time and place.

❑ The CHARACTERS are the people in the

story.
❑ The CONFLICT is the problem that is
being resolved. Plots need a moment of
tension, which involves some difficulty
that requires resolution.

❑ The THEME. What is the moral of the

story? What does the writer intend the
reader to understand?
Here's an example from "The Martian," a novel
by Andy Weir that was made into a film:

The plot: Weir's plot is about a man who gets

accidentally abandoned on the surface of Mars.

The setting: "The Martian" is set on Mars in

the not-too-distant future.

The characters: The characters in "The Martian"

include Mark Watney, his shipmates, the people
at NASA resolving the issue and Mark’s parents.
The conflict: The conflict in "The Martian"
is that Watney needs to figure out how to
survive and eventually leave the planet's
surface.

The theme: There are arguably several themes

in "The Martian": the ability of humans to
overcome problems, the stodginess of
bureaucrats, the willingness of scientists to
overcome political differences, the dangers
of space travel, and the power of flexibility
as a scientific method.
 SENSORY DETAILS
Sight: colors, shapes, sizes, patterns
Sound: loud or soft; harmonious or harsh;
pleasant or unpleasant
Smell: sweet or sour, pleasant or
unpleasant
Taste: sweet, bitter, burning, spicy,
bland
Touch (feel or emotion): hard, soft,
rough, smooth, hot, cold, dry, oily,
sticky
What to Avoid When Using
Sensory Detail
o Too many adjectives—retain only the most powerful
words in your writing, deleting any unnecessary
words.

o Too many adverbs—verbs are stronger than adverbs.

She strolled into the room is more powerful than
She walked casually into the room.

o Clichéd figures of speech—overused language, such

as green with envy, signals a lack of imagination.
Use fresh, descriptive words that go against rote
thinking.
 Similarities Between
Descriptive and Narrative
Writing

✓ Both follow the same essay format.

✓ You have to start from an

introductory paragraph and ending
will be took place with a proper
conclusion.
✓In the end of the introductory
paragraph, you will place a thesis.
Moreover, this thesis will also explain
that you have learned something from
things, you are talking about.

✓ In both descriptive and narrative

writing, make sure to add specific
information in the paragraphs to support
your ideas.
 Three Types of Parents
•
There are essentially three types of parents. The first
type of parent acts like a consultant who provides loving and logical
guidance for his/her child. In addition, the consulting parent shares
feelings about responsibilities and helps the child explore alternatives in
order to make his or her own decisions. This allows the child to explore
solutions and learn from them.
The second type of parent is called the helicopter
because this parent hovers over the child constantly. The helicopter
parent tries to protect the child by making all decisions, implying that the
child is not capable of handling any responsibility. Moreover, this parent
assumes the child always needs rescuing from a hostile world.
The last type of parent is the drill sergeant who
commands and directs the life of the child. This parent makes a lot of
demands and tells the child how s/he should handle responsibility. To do
this, this parent sometimes makes threats and uses punishment as the
teaching method. In conclusion, it seems the best parent is the consultant
although most parents probably have characteristics of all three types to a
certain degree.
 Deja vu
Deja vu is a French word meaning "already seen", it has also been
described as a feeling or experience that one has seen or done something
before. For example, you are waiting in line to check out at the grocery store
and the lady behind you asks you to hand her a pack of gum. Suddenly you get
an overwhelming feeling that you have been there in that exact same spot,
talking to the same lady, even the same brand of gum. Even though everything
seems so familiar you know there is no way that could have happened before.
There are many theories as to why and how this phenomenon
happens. One theory is that deja vu is connected with temporal-lobe epilepsy,
but people without a history of epilepsy have also experienced deja vu.
Psychiatrists believe it is something in your brain that confuses an
event that happened in the past with the present. Another theory is
parapsychologist think it is connected with past life experiences. Whether deja
vu is an experience of the paranormal or simply some confusion in the brain, it
is a perplexing feeling of having "already seen."
• ~Copyright 2005 Courtney Ming~