NARRATION

Narration

■ It tells a story and relates an incident or series

of events that leads to a conclusion or ending.
It tells the readers when, where, and what
happened.
 Elements Of Narration
– Setting
– Character
– Plot
– Theme
– Point Of View
 Setting
■ Place
- is where the story took place

■ Time( Tense Consistency)

-is when the story happens
-The time period or markings used in the
narration should be consistent
 12 Basic Verb Tenses
Present simple
-a verb tense with two main uses
-when an action is happening right now, or
when it happens regularly
Example:
I feel great!
Pauline loves pie.
I’m sorry to hear that you’re sick.
 Present Continuous
■ indicates that an action or condition is happening
now, frequently, and may continue into the future
Formula: to be [am, is, are] + verb [present participle]
Example:
Aunt Christine is warming up the car while Scott
looks for his new leather coat. They are eating at
Scott’s favorite restaurant today, Polly’s Pancake
Diner.
 Present Perfect
■ refers to an action or state that either occurred
at an indefinite time in the past or began in
the past and continued to the present time
Formula: have/has + the past participle
Example:
We have talked before before lunch.
He has grown impatient over the last hour.
 Present Perfect Continuous
■ shows that something started in the past and
is continuing at the present time
Formula: has/have been + the present participle
(root + -ing)
Example:
I have been reading War and Peace for a
month now.
 Past Simple
■ is used to talk about things that happened or
existed before now
Example:
Wolfgang entered a hula hoop contest.
He won the silver medal.
 Past Continuous
■ refers to a continuing action or state that was
happening at some point in the past
Formula: the past tense of to be (i.e., was/were) +
the verb’s present participle (-ing word)
Example:
The sun was shining every day that summer.
As I spoke, the children were laughing at my
cleverness.
 Past Perfect
■ is a verb tense used to talk about actions that
were completed before some point in the past
Formula: had + the past participle
Example:
We were shocked to discover that someone
had graffitied “Tootles was here” on our front
door. We were relieved that Tootles had used
washable paint.
 Past Perfect Continuous
■ shows that an action that started in the past continued
up until another time in the past
Formula: had been + the verb’s present participle (root + -
ing)
Example:
He had been drinking milk out the carton when
Mom walked into the kitchen.
I had been working at the company for five years
when I got the promotion.
 Future Simple
■ is a verb tense that’s used to talk about things
that haven’t happened yet
Formula: will + [root form of verb]
Example:
I will learn a new language. Jen will read
that book. My brothers will sleep till noon if no
one wakes them up. You will see what I mean.
 Future Continuous
■ is a verb tense that indicates that something
will occur in the future and continue for an
expected length of time
Formula: will + be + the present participle (the
root verb + -ing
Example:
At five o’clock, I will be meeting with the
management about my raise.
 Future Perfect
■ a verb tense used for actions that will be
completed before some other point in the
future
Formula: will have + [past participle]
Example:
The parade will have ended by the time
Chester gets out of bed. At eight o’clock I will
have left.
 Future Perfect Continuous
■ is a verb tense that describes actions that will continue up
until a point in the future
Formula: will + have + been + the verb’s present participle
(verb root + -ing)
Example:
In November, I will have been working at my company f
or three years.
At five o’clock, I will have been waiting for thirty
minutes.
When I turn thirty, I will have been playing piano for
twenty-one years.
 Character
⎻ are the “ fuel of the narrative”
⎻ perform the actions and speak dialogue,
moving the story along the plot line
⎻ Protagonist and antagonist
⎻ Flat character and round character
 Protagonist vs. Antagonist
■ Protagonist
- usually the “ hero or heroine of the story”
- being portrayed with virtuous traits and
usually resolves his or her problems without
the help from others
■ Antagonist
- usually being called as the “villain”
- He or she brings conficts, issues or
problems to the protagonist
 Flat Character vs. Round
Character
■ Flat Character
- is a type of character in fiction that does not
change too much from the start of the narrative
to its end
- are often said not to have any emotional depth
■ Round Character
- is a character that is well-developed in the story
- the reader knows details about this
character because they are important to the
plot and to how this character's actions
advance the plot
- is more complex, and like a real person,
the character has depth and emotion
 Plot
-backbone of the story
-usually the highlight of the story
-determines the flow of events
■ Sequence Outline
■ Plot Pyramid
Sequence Outline
Plot Pyramid
 Theme
-is what the author is trying to convey
- is woven all the way through the story, and
the characters' actions, interactions, and
motivations all reflect the story's theme
 Point of View
■ First Person Point Of View
■ Second Person Point Of View
■ Third Person Point Of View
 First Person Point of View
■ Writes or reveals the story as if the author was
also the one telling the story
■ Uses the pronoun such as “I” and “we”
■ Example:
- “I felt like I was getting drowned with
shame and disgrace.”
Second Person Point Of View
■ employs the pronoun” you”
■ Example:
“You are not the kind of guy who would be at a
place like this at this time of the morning. But here
you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is
entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy.”
 Third Person Point Of View
■ Also known as the narrator
■ uses pronouns like “he,” “she,” “it,” “they,” or
a name
■ Third Person-limited
■ Third person-omniscient
■ Third Person-objective
 Third Person- Limited
■ The narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of
one character
■ Example:
The intervention is not Marilyn’s idea but it might as
well be. She is the one who has talked too much. And she
has agreed to go along with it, nodding and murmuring
“all right” into the receiver while Sid dozes in front of the
evening news. Things are so horrible all over the world
that it makes them feel lucky just to be alive. Sid is 65. He
is retired. He is disappearing before her very eyes.
 Third Person- Omniscient
■ is a method of storytelling in which the narrator
knows the thoughts and feelings of all of the
characters in the story
■ Example:
From Anna's Point of View
Some sections of the novel are told from Anna's
point of view:
"All the same, he's a good man, truthful, kind and remarkable
in his sphere,' Anna said to herself, going back to her room as
if defending him before someone who was accusing him and
saying that it was impossible to love him. 'But why do his ears
stick out so oddly? Did he have to have his hair cut?”
"Exactly at midnight, when Anna was still sitting at her
desk finishing a letter to Dolly, she heard the measured steps
of slippered feet, and Alexei Alexandrovich, washed and
combed, a book under his arm, came up to her.”
“’It's time, it's time,' he said with a special smile, and went
into the bedroom.”
“’And what right did he have to look at him like that?'
thought Anna, recalling how Vronsky had looked at Alexei
Alexandrovich."
 Third Person- Objective
■ A narrator who tells a story without describing any
character’s thoughts, opinions, or feelings;
instead, it gives an objective, unbiased point of
view
■ Example:
Chris slowly walked up to Emma with his hands
behind his back. “So… you want to go with me?” he
said nervously. Emma blushed. “Okay” Chris smiled.
 Way Of Narration

-refers to how the writers presents the story

- includes the pace by which scenes are
given out
■ Clipped Narration
He came and talked to us. Then he left the
house and the he drove the car back home.
■ Paced Narration
“He came and talked to us for a few moments.
He seemed upset, but he managed to get through
all the bad news. Shaking our hands before he left
the house come twilight, he seemed to feel better
now that he had delivered the news. He waved
from the car as he pulled out of the driveway,
narrowly missing the mailbox again, and drove off
to return home.”
 Transitional Words Used in
Narration
-first, second, third, fourth, etc.
-after, next, then, eventually, soon
-meanwhile, a short time later
-during, at the same time, simultaneously
-suddenly, instantly, momentarily
-the next day, following, thereafter
- In the end, ultimately
FORMS OF
NARRATION
 Narration of event
-should include a beginning, a middle, and an
end
-should have a setting and at least one
character
-problem is usually introduced, and some
outcome to the problem is indicated
-may include some emotional impact or an
insight about human nature or behavior
Example of narration of event:
One afternoon in late August, as the summer's
sun streamed into the car and made little
jumping shadows on the windows, I sat gazing
out at the tenement-dwellers, who were
themselves looking out of their windows from
the gray crumbling buildings along the tracks of
upper Manhattan. As we crossed into the Bronx,
the train unexpectedly slowed down for a few
miles.
Suddenly from out of my window I saw a large
crowd near the tracks, held back by two
policemen. Then, on the other side from my
window, I saw a sight I would never be able to
forget: a little boy almost severed in halves, lying
at an incredible angle near the track. The ground
was covered with blood, and the boy's eyes were
opened wide, strained and disbelieving in his
sudden oblivion.
A policeman stood next to him, his arms folded,
staring straight ahead at the windows of our
train. In the orange glow of late afternoon the
policemen, the crowd, the corpse of the boy
were for a brief moment immobile, motionless, a
small tableau to violence and death in the city.
Behind me, in the next row of seats, there was a
game of bridge.
I heard one of the four men say as he looked out
at the sight, "God, that's horrible." Another said,
in a whisper, "Terrible, terrible." There was a
momentary silence, punctuated only by the
clicking of wheels on the track. Then, after the
pause, I heard the first man say: "Two hearts."
(© Willie Morris, "On a Commuter Train")
Another Example:

Chapter 23 in The Story of Cole Younger, by

Himself, first published in Chicago in 1903 by
the Henneberry Company
 Narration Of Process
-tells how to do something or how something is
done
-should include a straightforward sequence of
steps necessary to recreate a how-to process
-essay should include the materials needed, a
clear sequence of steps, a cautionary list of do's
and don'ts, and any tips or shortcuts that will
facilitate the process.
Example:

The Art of Money Getting, or Golden Rules

for Making Money by P.T. Barnum (1810-1891),
first published in 1880
 True economy consists in always making the income
exceed the out-go. Wear the old clothes a little longer if
necessary; dispense with the new pair of gloves; mend
the old dress: live on plainer food if need be; so that,
under all circumstances, unless some unforeseen
accident occurs, there will be a margin in favor of the
income. A penny here, and a dollar there, placed at
interest, goes on accumulating, and in this way the
desired result is attained. It requires some training,
perhaps, to accomplish this economy, but when once
used to it, you will find there is more satisfaction in
rational saving than in irrational spending.
 Here is a recipe which I recommend: I have found it
to work an excellent cure for extravagance, and especially
for mistaken economy: When you find that you have no
surplus at the end of the year, and yet have a good
income, I advise you to take a few sheets of paper and
form them into a book and mark down every item of
expenditure. Post it every day or week in two columns,
one headed "necessaries" or even "comforts," and the
other headed "luxuries," and you will find that the latter
column will be double, treble, and frequently ten times
greater than the former. The real comforts of life cost but
a small portion of what most of us can earn.
Dr. Franklin says "it is the eyes of others and not
our own eyes which ruin us. If all the world were
blind except myself I should not care for fine
clothes or furniture." It is the fear of what Mrs.
Grundy may say that keeps the noses of many
worthy families to the grindstone. In America many
persons like to repeat "we are all free and equal,"
but it is a great mistake in more senses than one.