Narration – uses and elements Scope: • •

to present human characters, both through description and dialogue and to show them in action. ideally, the author suggests to the reader an attitude or view about what occurs without giving a specific opinion, but the chief emphasis is upon what happens

Characteristics:

1. unity: every detail should be carefully selected and included with a purpose 2. coherence: the details should follow in a logical sequence (even if the narrative is not given in chronological order) 3. emphasis: important information should be highlighted, as it sets the plot or story into motion. This can be achieved by placing it at the beginning of the text, delaying it until the end or constantly repeating it. Techniques used in narration: To be effective, narration must be interesting and must provide an approximation of reality for the reader. To achieve this reality or verisimilitude, a narrator makes use of description and exposition within the narrative.

1. description:

may recreate the place or the scene of the story, the people involved, the weather, the time of the day, etc. Everything we narrate happens somewhere and to somebody; it is description that makes us able to see these places and people. 2. exposition: makes the narrative seem real, probable, and reasonable, since it explains (or comments on) why things are as they are as well as where and when they happen. 3. plot movement: the plot of each narrative will vary greatly depending upon the kind and the number of details given. The proportion of straight narration, description, and exposition has a direct influence on the plot movement, or pace. Point of view: Point of view concerns the relationship between the teller of the story and his narrative and between the narrative and the reader. We must know who is telling the story and from what point of view and attitude he is telling it. The major types of point of view are:

1. first person participant:

the narrator is a participant in the experience he is relating and tells the story in the first person; he tells the story of his life, or part of his life, and is the major character (as in most autobiographies). 2. first person observer: the narrator is not telling his own story; he is present, but his interest is in someone else. The story is told in the first person, however. 3. third person: there are two points of view in the third person. One is called the third person omniscient and the other the third person limited. The third person omniscient is used by an author who is observing all the story from a distance. He sees and knows all and his range of understanding is broad since he can enter the thoughts and feelings of all his characters. In the third person limited point of view thee author gives his attention to one person and concentrates on the attitude, the action, the thinking of only one main character. 4. objective view: occasionally, an author may choose to present his material in a strictly objective manner, by giving the material in dramatic fashion. Everything is shown; nothing is told. This is similar to watching a play, where the audience will know nothing, except what they see and hear. The writer is entirely absent from the narrative, and there is no narrator or intelligence to interpret the story for the reader.