Types of Narrative Structure

ENGL 0349
 What is Narrative Structure?
• A method of telling a story.
 Why Use Narrative Structure?
• Engages the reader
• Allows for creativity and originality
• Gives a human perspective to the arguments
you are making
• Connects the reader to your ideas
 Types of Narrative Structure
• Different Frames
• Three-Act Structure
• Collage
• Braiding
 Different Frames
• Manipulate the order of events in the story
• Tell the story in an interesting and orderly way
• Chronological
• Time Manipulation
• Circular structure
• Parallel narrative
 Chronological Frame
• Tell the story from beginning to end, in
chronological order.
• Example: fairy tales, summary of an event
• When to use:
– When your essay focuses on a single day/event
– When your essay has a moral at the end
 Time Manipulation
• Rearrange the order of events
– Compress time (blend all the action together)
– In Media Res (start the action in the middle of the story)
– Flashbacks (switch from present time to something that
happened in the past)
• Examples: “The Teacher Who Changed My Life”
• When to Use:
– Great for introductions (grabs the reader’s attention)
– Using an empirical example for a message (journalism)
 Circular Narrative
• End the story at the beginning. The entire narrative forms a circle.
– Can do this by repeating a key word/phrase
• When to use:
– to show a relationship/correlation of ideas
– To indicate that a situation has not changed/will not change

Wake up as Fight at a
yourself statue

Wake up in a
Kiss at the
different
same statue
body

Learn a new
lesson about
someone
you hate
 Parallel Narrative
• Two (or more) separate stories merge
together at the end
• When to use: highlight significance/deeper
meaning
Rafael crosses the
border using a coyote
who has kidnapped
his son and demands
payment
Ghledya’s parents
Anna meets a man allow their daughter
online who promises to sign up with a
to marry her and take modeling agency that
her to America promises to get her a
job in American

All three
become
slaves in
Houston
 Three-Act Structure
• Act I: Exposition (starting action); introduce
characters, conflict, and problem

• Act II: Introduce challenges, obstacles, and

setbacks

• Act III: Resolve the conflict; show the growth and

change of the characters; answer any
unanswered questions
 Three-Act Structure
• Why important?
– We are used to stories that have a three-act structure, so your
analysis and arguments are instantly familiar and easy to follow
• When to use:
– for longer essays, where a lot of action takes place
– When focusing on a single person/event, and telling that event
in its entirety

• In the Three-Act Structure, you can use multiple different

time frames to tell your narrative
 Collage
• The writer creates a story by using various
sources
What
How the happened the
prosecution day of the fire
found and
analyzed
evidence

The trial and

appeals
process

Was Cameron Todd Willingham

wrongly executed?
 Collage
• Why Important?
– Collage structure uses multiple sources, which
makes your arguments more convincing
• When to Use:
– For longer essays
– When investigating an event/mystery
– When writing a biography