UNIT 32

NARRATIVE TEXTS: STRUCTURE AND

MAIN
FEATURES
0. INTRODUCTION

1. TEXT AND TEXT TYPOLOGY

1.1. Text
1.2. Text Types

2. NARRATIVE TEXT: STRUCTURE AND MAIN FEATURES

2.1. Elements of Narrative Texts

A. Narrator: Point of Vie
B. Character vs. Characterization
C. Theme: the story's central idea
D. Plot: sequence of events
E. Setting: space, time, atmosphere

2.2. Structure of Narrative Texts

2.3. Literary Devices

3. CONCLUSION

4. BIBLIOGRAPHY

5. APPENDIXES
opos iciones tandem @gm ail.com Unit 32 1
0 INTRODUCTION

Narrative texts deal with the telling of a story, i.e., the author expresses in words events
which have taken place at a particular time, in a particular setting and under particular
circumstances. The elements of narrative texts - narrator, character, theme, plot and
setting, which shall be analysed throughout this unit-and the different narrative techniques
which impinge on the former elements, have traditionally been the focus of literary texts as
well as of narratology.
This unit comprises three parts; the first one being a brief introduction to the notion of text
and text types. The second part focuses on the definition and structure of narrative texts.
Finally, a detailed analysis of its major features will be provided. All of this will be examined
under the influence of relevant authors in the field, namely de Beaugrande and Dressler,
Halliday and Hasan, who have thrown light over the notion of text; as well as Gerad Genette,
Scholes and Kellogg or Rimmon-Kenan, who have largely contributed to the study and
analysis of narrative texts.

1. TEXT AND TEXT TYPOLOGY

How do we reach the notion of narrative text types? First of all, we should start looking at
the notion of text so as to fully grasp its typology.

1.1. Text
The notion of text has chiefly been tackled by the field of Text Linguistics, which following de
Beaugrande and Dressler, two major exponents in the field, designates 'any work in
language science devoted to the text as the primary object of inquiry' (See unit 31). The
analysis and articulation of text was formerly studied by Rhetoric, which can be traced back
to Ancient Greece and Rome through the Middle Ages up to the present under the name of
Text Linguistics or Discourse. Traditional rhetoricians were influenced by their major task of
training public orators on the discovery of ideas: inventio (the discovery of ideas), dispositio
(the arrangement of ideas) and elocutio (the discovery of appropriate expressions for ideas).
Thus, rhetoric still shares several concerns with the kind of Text Linguistics we know today,
for instance, the use of texts as vehicles of purposeful interaction (oral and written), the
variety of texts which express a given configuration of ideas, the arranging of ideas and its
disposition within the discourse and the judgement of texts which still depends on the
effects upon the audience.
Following Halliday & Hasan (1976), "the word text is used in linguistics to refer to any
passage, spoken or written, of whatever length, that does form a unified whole". As a
general rule, we know whether an utterance or sequence of utterances constitute a text or
not though it may be "spoken or written, prose or verse, dialogue or monologue, and also
anything from a single proverb to a whole play, from a momentary cry for help to an all-day
discussion on a committee". In addition, a text is best regarded as a semantic unit and not a
unit of form.
Textual features such as texture and cohesion give a text the status of 'being a text'. First of
all, the concept of texture is defined as the textual resource that functions as a unity with
respect to its environment and, secondly, cohesion is defined as the resources that English

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has for creating texture so as to contribute to its total unity by means of cohesive relations
(reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction, and lexical cohesion).
In the approach to Text Linguistics by de Beaugrande & Dressler (1988), a text, oral or
printed, is established as a communicative occurrence, which has to meet seven standards
1
of textuality : cohesion, coherence, intentionality and acceptability, informativity,
situationality and finally, intertextuality. If any of these standards are not satisfied, the text
is considered not to have fulfilled its function and not to be communicative.
Within the previous standards, intertextuality links with narrative texts. Intertextuality
concerns the factors which make the use of one text dependent upon knowledge of one or
more previously encountered texts, that is, the ways in which the production and reception
of a given text depends upon the participants knowledge of other texts. The usual
mediation is achieved by means of the development and use of text types, being classes of
texts expected to have certain traits for certain purposes: descriptive, narrative,
argumentative, literary and poetic, scientific and didactic.

1.2. Text Typology

Text can be classified following many different criteria. Yet, the most important one is that
of mode of discourse. As a matter of fact, and following Trimble (1985) we may classify texts
in two ways. Firstly, according to purpose, and, secondly, according to type or mode.
According to purpose, in terms of communicative functions, the discourse is intended to
inform, express an attitude, persuade and create a debate. According to type or mode, the
classification distinguishes among descriptive, narrative, expository, argumentative, and
instrumental modes.
Therefore, narrative texts are not only intended to tell a story in terms of communicative
functions but also, according to the category or text types it is included within the type of
narration, that is, the fact of narrating events, facts and situations. In our next section the
narrative text will be explored in detail, paying special attention to its structure and main
features.

2. NARRATIVE TEXTS

A narrative text is usually defined as a type of discourse concerned with action, with events
in time and with life in motion which answers the question "What happened?" in order to
tell a story (Bal, 1985). The basic purpose of narrative is to entertain, to gain and hold
readers' interest. However, narratives can also be written to teach or inform, to change
attitudes / social opinions e.g. soap operas and television dramas that are used to raise
topical issues. Narratives sequence people/characters in time and place but differ from
recounts in that through the sequencing, the stories set up one or more problems, which
must eventually find a way to be resolved.
Narrative text is based on life experiences and is person-oriented using dialogue and familiar
language (Tonjes, Wolpow & Zintz, 1999). Narrative text is organized using story grammar,
which is the knowledge of how stories are organized with the beginning of the story
containing the setting, the characters, and the characters' problem(s). Story grammar also
gives account of interesting events which constitute part of our daily life (jokes, personal

1
Textuality is involved in rules governing written discourse.

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letters, e-mails, diaries, reports, school essays, curricula vitae, reviews, biography,
autobiography, novels, thrillers, post-it notes among many others). The genres that fit the
narrative text structure are folktales (wonder tales, fables, legends, myths, tall tales, and
realistic tales); contemporary fiction; mysteries, science fiction, realistic fiction, fantasy, and
historical fiction. Thus, narrative text may be either fiction or non-fiction. Examples of fiction
include realistic fiction, science fiction, mysteries, folk tales, fairy tales, and myths, whereas
on-fiction is fact-based text such as reports, factual stories, and biographies.
Narratology is a theory of narrative. It examines what all narratives, and only narratives,
have in common as well as what enables them to differ from one another, and it aims to
describe the narrative-specific system of rules presiding over narrative production and
processing. The term narratology is a translation of the French term narratologie -
introduced by Tzvetan Todorov in Grammaire du Decameron (1969)- and the theory
historically falls into the tradition of Russian Formalism and French Structuralism.
Narratology exemplifies the structuralist tendency to consider texts (in the broad sense of
signifying matter) as rule-governed ways in which human beings (re)fashion their universe.
It also exemplifies the structuralist ambition to isolate the necessary and optional
components of textual types and to characterize the modes of their articulation.
One important starting point in the development of narratology was the observation that
narratives are found, and stories told, in a variety of media: oral and written language (in
prose or in verse), of course, but also sign languages, still or moving pictures (as in narrative
paintings, stained-glass windows, or films), gestures, (programmatic) music, or a
combination of vehicles (as in comic strips). Furthermore, a folktale can be transposed into a
ballet, a comic strip turned into a pantomime, a novel brought to the screen, and vice versa.
This arguably means that narrative, or more specifically, the narrative component of a
narrative text, can and should be studied without reference to the medium in which it
occurs.
Now, within the medium -say, written language- a given set of events can be presented in
different ways, in the order of their (supposed) occurrence, for example, or in a different
order. The narratologist should therefore be able to examine the narrated, the story
presented, independently not only of the medium used but also of the narrating, the
discourse, the way in which the medium is used to present the what.

2.1. Elements of Narrative Texts

Two types of narrative elements can be distinguished depending on the type of narrative
text: common elements for all narrative text types and specific elements for literary texts. It
is worth noting that currently, narration is always present at different levels but it is perhaps
in the domains of literature that narrative texts have been analysed in more detail.
Thus, first of all, for general narrative texts to exist, they must satisfy these elements:
characters, plot and intention. The element 'character' gives coherence to the story and
must undergo transformation changes. Secondly, the 'plot' is said to be a sequence of
predictable events which must be altered so as to change the normal story line. Finally, the
concept of 'intention' gives sense and orientation to the text and it may be explicit (off voice
in advertisements) or inferred (the same news on two different newspapers).
On the other hand, literary texts are said to have five common elements: narrator (point of
view, voice); characters (people or animals in the story) vs. characterization (round vs. flat
characters); theme (central ideal of the story); plot (sequence of events, conflicts which

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change the normal rhythm of the story) and setting (time and place, when or where the
story takes place).

a. Narrator: Point of View

The narrator is defined as the voice that tells a story (not to be confused with 'author', the
person who creates the story) from a very specific point of view. Then, the narrator is the
author's creation and belongs to the narrative world as well as characters (Rimmon-Kenan,
1985). He is defined as the person who bears some relation to the action, either as an
observer or a participant who serves the reader as a kind of guide to the action (Toolan,
1988). As such, the narrator is understood as a structural element of the narration. Yet, we
may approach the figure of the narrator regarding who the narrator is in the story (a main
character, a secondary character, an invented narrator) depending on the relation they bear
to the action, that is, how much they know about the story (omniscient vs. mere observer);
the point of view the story is told (first person, second person, third person, the narrator's
explicit address); and the mode of presentation (telling vs. showing).
Regarding who the narrator is and how much he knows about the story, the narrator may be
a main character, a secondary character or an invented narrator. The two first options would
be considered as internal narrators, unlike the last one, invented narrator, would be an
external narrator, as he is not a participant of the story and simply tells us about it. Often,
secondary characters coincide with being mere observers and an invented narrator is used
by the author to talk explicitly through the story. The narrators can be omniscient, if they
know all the aspects of the plot, express the characters' feelings and thoughts and even may
anticipate actions; in contrast to non-omniscient narrators who are external observers and
are objective. Hence, they are compared with a cinema camera, which films facts, gestures
and words.
With respect to the point of view the story is told, that is, the relation the narrator keeps
with the story, we distinguish the narration in third person singular, first person, second
person singular and explicit address on the part of the narrator:
- Third person singular is the most usual form. It offers and impersonal point of view about
the story. The narrator can have an omniscient point of view (panoramic narrator) who
reports all aspects of an action and may go into the head of any or all of the characters
involved in the action. But there is also a non-omniscient point of view where the author
does not sweep the entire field of the action but keeps his intention focus ed on one character and on
that character's relation to the action ((Toolan, 1988).
- The first person singular is used when the narrator is a character in the story and talks in
first person singular. His knowledge on the story will depend on he being the main character
or an internal observer. If he is the main or, at least, an important participant in the story,
he will tell the story from his own point of view (main character). On the contrary, if the
narrator (real or imaginary) recounts an action of which he is an external observer, we shall
talk about a narrator-observer.
- The author can make the narrator speak in second person singular when he wants to
transmit the feeling of confession or internal story facts.
- The author can also invent a narrator so as to offer his point of view about the story.
The mode of the story, which can be 'telling' or 'showing' depending on the intention of the
narrator. If the narrator reports actions from his own point of view, we talk about 'telling'; in
contrast, if the narrator reports actions from an objective point of view, we talk about
'showing'.

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POINT OF VIEW OF THE NARRATION
Who the narrator is in the story (Participation in the story)
Internal narrator
External narrator
Protagonist Secondary character Witness
First Person: when the narrator is the protagonist of the story. Second Person: the
narrator or a character becomes the addressee of the story. Third Person: the narrator
simply tells the story (often an external narrator).
Point of view

b. Character vs. Characterisation

Characters are necessary to maintain coherence and consistency in a story and they are
defined as the people (or animals) that perform actions in narrative texts. Three main types
can be distinguished: the main characters, who participate most in the plot, secondary
characters, who are actually a support for the main characters and juncture characters,
who are not even introduced as individuals (extras).
According to the way participants are characterized, characters are classified into
characters as individuals -round characters- and characters as stereotypes -flat characters-.
There are two main ways of characterization: direct and indirectly. In direct
characterization, the narrator describes the person's physical appearance and also accounts
for his personality (attitudes, thoughts, behaviour) whereas in indirect characterization, all
we know about characters is drawn from actions, not from their personal description.
Then, regarding round characters, the plot is organized around them, their feelings,
thoughts, conflicts, and life in general. They are presented as individuals who have real
existence and they attract all the narrator's attention. On the other hand, flat characters are
presented as stereotypes, that is, representing conventional attitudes or ideas about human
behaviour. They represent stereotypes of personality, attitudes, thoughts, physical
appearance, and so on but they are not considered to be relevant in the plot.

c. Theme: the story's central idea

The theme is the central idea of the story which can be directly stated or through use of story
elements, i.e., characters. When we express the theme through use of the story, the aim is to
make readers infer the ending of the story; it sometimes involves a lesson to be learned from
the story; or the author wants the readers to get the theme because of the way characters'
actions affect the story by means of a particular sentence or main topic.

d. Plot: Sequence of events

The plot of the story is defined as the story grammar, that is, the knowledge of how stories
are organized with the beginning of the story containing the setting, the characters, and the
characters' problem(s). In fact, the plot is causally related to actions, which, as single
episodes, merely add up to a loosely knit story. This story telling may be chronological or
reverted (flashbacks or foreshadowing). Thus, it can be pointed out that narrative texts are
organized around a plot and that the user guides the plot structures through character
interactions. As a result, characters and the environment influence the narrative.
Then, the plot involves a problem or a conflict, which is presented in the story in a specific
order of events and sets the action in motion. The plot includes a series of episodes that are
written by the author to hold our attention and build excitement as the story progresses.

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Included in these events may be some roadblocks (setbacks) that the character encounters
while attempting to solve the problem. During these events the excitement of the story
builds as the character goes about solving the problem. The ending of the story contains the
resolution (the solving of the problem) and the ending of the story.
Therefore, the story grammar or structure of a narrative piece would contain these
components:
(1) Beginning, i.e., an initiating event that starts the main character off on a series of events
to solve the problem and in a specific setting (time and place). We may say it is the open
beginning or exposition of the story.
(2) Middle, i.e., a series of subsequent events that the character encounters, called
roadblocks, which are setbacks for him when attempting to solve the problem. During these
events the excitement of the story builds as the character goes about trying to find a
solution.
(3) End, i.e., the last sequence in which the author brings the story to a resolution (open
ending) and the problem is solved. Hence, the ending of the story and the ending to the
story. The main solutions to a problem are:

- Twist endings. In this type of endings, the writers (usually suspense and mystery ones)
often end the story in a way that the reader does not expect.
- Flashback. The story begins with an event and then goes back in time allowing the reader
to understand previous events.

e. Setting: space, time and atmosphere

The setting of a story is defined as the environment of the action as constituted by time,
space and atmosphere (Scholes and Kellogg, 1966). Hence, space, time reference and
atmosphere refers respectively to where or when the story takes place and the general
effect produced by these two concepts. Authors may tell the reader the exact time or place
of the story, but often these must be inferred by the reader. The time and place are usually
important to the plot of the story when the details of the setting have metaphorical
significance (i.e. furnishment of a room, a house structure). Actually, these details can help
the reader answer questions about the plot or character actions in the story:

- With respect to 'space', some stories are set in faraway lands or imaginary places, others
are set in familiar places. It may also be a universal place (the Universe, South Africa, the
ocean) or a specific place (London, a little village on the highest mountain). Regarding
number, the action may take place in only one setting (inside a cabin during all the film) or
in more places (different cities like James Bond's films). Moreover, we may find indoor
scenes (a house, a palace, a castle) or outdoor (a meadow, a football pitch).
- Regarding 'time reference', a story can be set in the present, past, or the future. The
relationship between the acting time and narrated time will give us four different
subclassifications of time: historical, internal, verbal and rhythmic. First, historical time is set
th
up in the time of the action (Viking Age, Victorian Age, 20 century); secondly, internal time
frames the story (one day in James Joyce's Ulises, 100 Years War); third, verbal time is
usually presented in past tense although the simple present is used to give a feeling of lively
actions; finally, the narrative rhythm is independent from the chronological setting the story
has since the author may slow the pace (in the sense of a longer temporal scope) by means

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of descriptions or, on the contrary, may summarise the pass of several years in a few
sentences.
- Another important element in the setting of a story is the atmosphere, that is, the general
effect or feeling produced by the theme, the characters, the place, etc. of the story (i.e. the
atmosphere produced in Edgar Allan Poe's stories by the strange doings of some characters,
mystery places, a dark and gloomy setting).
In general terms, the setting can also affect the characters in many different ways. This falls
into the following classification: causal - the features of the setting cause an effect on how
characters behave as in Romanticism- and analogical -the setting reinforces the tale by
being similar to a character as in Wuthering Heights-.
2
Following Gerard Genette , his major work, Nouveau Discours du Recit (1983), reduces
the narrative text to three grammatical categories, namely:
- Time, which refers to order, duration and frequency of the action.
- Voice, which refers to the narrative level and narrative voice.
- Mood, which refers to focalization.
This is a model which covers all the different elements of narrative texts analysed
above using a different terminology.

2.2. Structure of Narrative Texts

The structure of narrative texts is determined by the relationships established between the
constitutive elements of the narration, namely action, space, time, character and narrator,
giving rise to different structures according to the element used. Yet, the traditional
structure of narrative texts has been presented along with 'the plot' since it is the order of
events that are structured by time, rather than space, what marks a text as narrative. The
order is given by the focus on the story ending. Thus, we may find three types of narrative
developments:
1. Firstly, in order to know the ending of the story, we shall find a linear development which
follows a chronological order from the beginning to the end of the story.
2. Secondly, if the focus is not on the ending but on the circumstances leading to the ending,
events may start at the end of the story and be described, then, in terms of flash-backs in
order to attract the reader's attention.
3. Thirdly, if the focus is on both the beginning and the ending, the telling may start at an
intermediate point within the story for events to be described in terms of backwards and
forwards movements. This technique is to be called in medias res narration.
By studying the textual and lexical elements of text types, one can learn to regularly
recognize the overall structure of a text. For example, when one identifies vocabulary items
that signal doubt or skepticism, (words such as appear, suggests, speculation, etc.), we know
we are dealing with a Claim-Counterclaim structure. In fact, while the sequence of these
structures may be varied, we should always find all the elements we are looking for in a
well-formed text. Next, we shall briefly look into some literary devices pervading narrative
texts.

2.3. Literary devices

The main textual features in narrative texts are given by textual and lexical items, that is,
literary devices which are words used to enrich the understanding of the story (i.e. dynamic

2
Many authors refer to Genette when dealing with 'time' and 'localization'.

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and static verbs, common and concrete nouns, quantity and quality adjectives, time and
place adverbs, etc). Yet, these and other literary devices may be stated indirectly and reflect
the author's style of writing word choice. In addition, the author may use a wide range of
word choice for different purposes, to entertain, to inform and to persuade the reader
about the telling.
The author uses vocabulary to enhance the reader's understanding of characters and events
in the story. In addition, the author's choice of vocabulary produces the mood and tone of
the story. Readers must understand the meaning of vocabulary as used in the story context,
for instance, the meaning a word has in the story (i.e. 'A ring' in The Lord of the Rings), the
clues that are given in the text toward understanding of the word (i.e. the action around the
ring), the synonyms that can be used in place of that word (i.e. My treasure), and finally,
what that word suggests (i.e. The power and control of the reign).
Other two main literary devices are those of 'stream of consciousness' and 'free indirect
style' by means of which the narrator reports the character's thoughts or speech. Regarding
the 'stream of consciousness', we must say it is an ambiguous form of narration in which the
characters' thoughts are introduced in an immediate manner, literally as a copy of the
thoughts itself, rather than a 'reported thought'. This way of reporting what the character
was thinking is quite complex.
On the other hand, the 'free indirect style' is used when the narrator reports the characters'
thoughts or speech directly, that is, with no accompanying reporting clause (i.e. He said) as
in direct speech. These two devices approach the mind of characters by getting fused with
them and not by standing outside the character. This choice in narrative texts makes the
story lively and quite dynamic (Bal, 1985).

3. CONCLUSION

Throughout this unit we have provided an in-depth analysis of narrative texts in terms of
both features and structure, paying special attention to how these are articulated. In
general terms, narrative texts aim at entertaining, but also at instructing. It is, in fact, one of
the most popular text-types among students.
It is more than evident that narrative texts differ from other text-types in the language itself,
which strives to have an effect upon the addressee, all the more so since we can all tell
whether the language used is colloquial or literary. It is then literary language what strikes
the reader as different as well as appealing. This links with the so-called poetic function of
language, which deviates from the norm.
All in all, narrative texts prove to be, to a large extent, useful for the teaching of the L2 for
the wide range of possibilities it offers.

4. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bal, M. Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative. University of Toronto Press,

1985.
Barthes, R. Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narratives. London: Fontana,
1977. Beaugrande, R. & Dressler, W. Introduction to Text Linguistics. London: Longman,
1988.
Brown, G. and G. Yule. Discourse Analysis. Cambridge University Press, 1983. Halliday, M.A.
K. and R. Hasan. Cohesion in English. London: Longman, 1976. Genette, G. Noveau discours

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du recit. Paris: Seuil, 1983. Rimmon-Kenan, S. Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics.
London: Methuen, 1985.
Scholes, R. and R. Kellogg. The Nature of Narrative. New York: Oxford University Press,
1966.
Toolan, M.J. Narrative, A Critical Linguistic Introduction. London: Routledge,
1988.
Traugott, E. and M. L. Pratt. Linguistics for Students of Literature. New York: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, 1980.
van Dijk, T. Text and Context: Explorations in the Semantics and Pragmatics of Discourse.
London: Longman, 1984.

WEB PAGES:
http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/resources/text forms/narrative.html
http://www.beaugrande.com/introduction to text linguistics.htm
http://books.google.es/books?id=PqzWemM8C3cC&pg=PA131&dq=narrative+t
exts#v=onepage&q=narrative%20texts&f=false (Google books: Narrative Fiction.
Contemporary Poetics by S. Rimmon-Kenan.)

APPENDIX:

NARRATIVE TEXTS Purpose

The basic purpose of narrative is to entertain, to gain and hold a readers' interest. However
narratives can also be written to teach or inform, to change attitudes / social opinions eg
soap operas and television dramas that are used to raise topical issues. Narratives sequence
people/characters in time and place but differ from recounts in that through the
sequencing, the stories set up one or more problems, which must eventually find a way to
be resolved.
Types of Narrative
There are many types of narrative. They can be imaginary, factual or a combination of both.
They may include fairy stories, mysteries, science fiction, romances, horror stories,
adventure stories, fables, myths and legends, historical narratives, ballads, slice of life,
personal experience.
Features
• Characters with defined personalities/identities.
• Dialogue often included - tense may change to the present or the future.
• Descriptive language to create images in the reader's mind and enhance the story.
Structure
In a Traditional Narrative the focus of the text is on a series of actions:
Orientation: (introduction) in which the characters, setting and time of the story are
established. Usually answers who? when? where? eg. Mr Wolf went out hunting in the
forest one dark gloomy night.
Complication or problem: The complication usually involves the main character(s) (often
mirroring the complications in real life).
Resolution: There needs to be a resolution of the complication. The complication may be
resolved for better or worse/happily or unhappily. Sometimes there are a number of

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complications that have to be resolved. These add and sustain interest and suspense for the
reader.
To help students plan for writing of narratives, model, focusing on:
• Plot: What is going to happen?_
• Setting: Where will the story take place? When will the story take place?
• Characterisation: Who are the main characters? What do they look like?
• Structure: How will the story begin? What will be the problem? How is the problem going
to be resolved?
• Theme: What is the theme / message the writer is attempting to communicate?

Language
• Action verbs: Action verbs provide interest to the writing. For example, instead of The old
woman was in his way try The old woman barred his path. Instead of She laughed try She
cackled.
• Written in the first person (I, we) or the third person (he, she, they).
• Usually past tense.
• Connectives,linking words to do with time.
• Specific nouns: Strong nouns have more specific meanings, eg. oak as opposed to tree.
• Active nouns: Make nouns actually do something, eg. It was raining could become Rain
splashed down or There was a large cabinet in the lounge could become A large cabinet
seemed to fill the lounge.
• Careful use of adjectives and adverbs: Writing needs judicious use of adjectives and
adverbs to bring it alive, qualify the action and provide description and information for the
reader.
• Use of the senses: Where appropriate, the senses can be used to describe and develop
the experiences, setting and character:
• What does it smell like?
• What can be heard?
• What can be seen - details?
• What does it taste like?
• What does it feel like?
• Imagery
• Simile: A direct comparison, using like or as or as though, eg. The sea looked as rumpled as
a blue quilted dressing gown. Or The wind wrapped me up like a cloak.
• Metaphor: An indirect or hidden comparison, eg. She has a heart of stone or He is a
stubborn mule or The man barked out the instructions.
• Onomatopoeia: A suggestion of sound through words, eg. crackle, splat, ooze, squish,
boom, eg. The tyres whir on the road. The pitter-patter of soft rain. The mud oozed and
squished through my toes.
• Personification: Giving nonliving things (inanimate) living characteristics, eg. The steel
beam clenched its muscles. Clouds limped across the sky. The pebbles on the path were grey
with grief.
• Rhetorical Questions: Often the author asks the audience questions, knowing of course
there will be no direct answer. This is a way of involving the reader in the story at the
outset, eg. Have you ever built a

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tree hut?
• Variety in sentence beginnings. There are a several ways to do this eg by using:
• Participles: "Jumping with joy I ran home to tell mum my good news."
• Adverbs: "Silently the cat crept toward the bird"
• Adjectives: "Brilliant sunlight shone through the window"
• Nouns: "Thunder claps filled the air"
• Adverbial Phrases: "Along the street walked the girl as if she had not a care in the world."
• Conversations/Dialogue: these may be used as an opener. This may be done through a
series of short or one-word sentences or as one long complex sentence.
• Show, Don't Tell: Students have heard the rule "show, don't tell" but this principle is often
difficult for some writers to master.
• Personal Voice: It may be described as writing which is honest and convincing. The author
is able to 'put the reader there'. The writer invests something of him/her self in the writing.
The writing makes an impact on the reader. It reaches out and touches the reader. A
connection is made.

OUTLINE OF GENETTE'S MODEL:

TIME Order Analepsis: flashbacks Prolepsis: flashforward

Duration Ellipsis => Acceleration Descriptive Pause => Deceleration

Frequency Singulative
Iterative: Absalom, Absalom!

VOICE Diagesis Narrative level Extradiegetic: the narrator

(story) (Narrator inside the belongs to a different level of
story) narration.
Intradiegetic. The
narrator belongs to belongs to
the different level of narration.

Metadiegetic: level of narration

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 within the narration.

Narrative voice Heterodiegetic: Not part of the

story. Generally, the omniscient
narrator, eg.: Joseph Andrews

Homodiegetic: part of the story

but told from the outside, eg.:
Wuthering Heights

MOOD Zero N> C: Omniscient

Focalization Internal N=C: Free Indirect Speech // Autobiography
Point View External N< C: We know about it if a character tells another
character.

LITERARY TERMS:
Alliteration: repetition of the same sound beginning several words in sequence. *Let us go
forth to lead the land we love. J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural
Anaphora: the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or
lines. Antithesis: opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction.
*Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no
virtue. Barry Goldwater
Apostrophe: a sudden turn from the general audience to address a specific group or person or
personified abstraction absent or present.
*For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel. Judge, O you
gods, how dearly Caesar loved him. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar Archaism: us e of an older or
obsolete form.
Assonance: repetition of the same sound in words close to each
other. *Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.
Asyndeton: lack of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words. *We shall pay any
price, bear any burden, meet any hardships, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the
survival and the success of liberty. J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural
Cacophony: harsh joining of sounds.

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*We want no parlay with you and your grisly gang who work your wicked will. W. Churchill
Chiasmus: two corresponding pairs arranged not in parallels (a-b-a-b) but in inverted order (a-b-b-
a); from shape of the Greek letter chi (X).
*Those gallant men will remain often in my thoughts and in my prayers always. MacArthur
Climax: arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of ascending power. Often the
last
emphatic word in one phrase or clause is repeated as the Euphemism: substitution of an agreeable
or at least non-offensive expression for one whose plainer meaning might be harsh or unpleasant.
Hyperbaton: separation of words which belong together, often to emphasize the first of the separated
words or to create a certain image. Hyperbole: exaggeration for emphasis or for rhetorical effect.
Litotes: understatement, for intensification, by denying the contrary of the thing being affirmed.
(Sometimes used synonymously with meiosis.)
Metaphor: implied comparison achieved through a figurative use of words; the word is used not in
its literal sense, but in one analogous to it.
*Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage. Shakespeare,
Macbeth Metonymy: substitution of one word for another which it
suggests. *He is a man of the cloth.
*The pen is mightier than the sword.
Onomatopoeia: use of words to imitate natural sounds; accommodation of sound to sense.
Oxymoron: apparent paradox achieved by the juxtaposition of words which seem to contradict
one another.
*I must be cruel only to be kind. Shakespeare, Hamlet
Paradox: an assertion seemingly opposed to common sense, but that may yet have some truth in
it. *What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young. George Bernard Shaw
Personification: attribution of personality to an impersonal
thing. *England expects every man to do his duty. Lord Nelson
Pleonasm: use of superfluous or redundant words, often enriching the
thought. *No one, rich or poor, will be excepted.
Polysyndeton: the repetition of conjunctions in a series of coordinate words, phrases, or clauses.
Prolepsis: the anticipation, in adjectives or nouns, of the result of the action of a verb; also, the
positioning of a relative clause before its antecedent. Simile: an explicit comparison between two
things using 'like' or 'as'. *Reason is to faith as the eye to the telescope. D. Hume [?]
Synecdoche: understanding one thing with another; the use of a part for the whole, or the whole for
the part. (A form of metonymy.) *Give us this day our daily bread.

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