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The Nature of Narratives

This document defines and discusses key concepts related to narratives. It begins by defining a narrative as a recounting of true or fictional events told by a narrator. It then lists common narrative forms and discusses important narrative elements like characters, setting, plot, conflict, and theme. The document also categorizes different types of characters, settings, and conflicts, and examines point of view and Freytag's pyramid model of plot structure.

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Anna Liza Lope - Motol
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146 views13 pages

The Nature of Narratives

This document defines and discusses key concepts related to narratives. It begins by defining a narrative as a recounting of true or fictional events told by a narrator. It then lists common narrative forms and discusses important narrative elements like characters, setting, plot, conflict, and theme. The document also categorizes different types of characters, settings, and conflicts, and examines point of view and Freytag's pyramid model of plot structure.

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Anna Liza Lope - Motol
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Nature

of
Narratives
E.P. SALAZAR
“We are, as a species, addicted to story.
Even when the body goes to sleep, the
mind stays up all night, telling itself
stories.”

- JONATHAN GOTTSCHALL, THE STORYTELLING ANIMAL


Narrative
A narrative is the telling of some true or fictitious event or
connected sequence of events, recounted by a narrator to
a narratee.
A narrative is distinguished from a description.
It consists of a set of events told in a process of narration.
- Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, ed. C. Baldick (2004)
Narratives include:
* shortest account of events
(Ex. The cat sat on the mat.)
* longest historical/biographical works, diaries, memoirs,
travelogues as well as ballads, epics, short stories, and
other fictional forms (like novels)
Key Terms
Story – sometimes used to substitute for the term narrative
Plot – the logical sequence of events as they unfold in the story.
Narrator – story teller; the one who tells the story/narrative
Conflict – the tension that exists between forces at work in the narrative
Character – an agent of action in the narrative. This maybe human persons
or other such agents that possess human like (anthropomorphic) traits
ELEMENTS OF A STORY
1. CHARACTER
2. SETTING
3. PLOT
4. CONFLICT
5. THEME
TYPES OF CHARACTERS

CATEGORIES
Based on depiction in the story ROUND FLAT
Based on the story’s focus MAJOR MINOR
Based on development DYNAMIC STATIC
Based on point of view PROTAGONIST ANTAGONIST
SETTING

The story’s setting refers to the geographic space and


time (the world) in which the story takes place.

A work of fiction or non-fiction features the setting of a


narrative.
PLOT

Fig. 1 Freytag’s Pyramid


Elements of Freytag’s Pyramid
Also called Freytag’s pyramid, the narrative arc is made up of the following pieces:
1.Exposition — The opening of the story, including a reader’s introduction to characters and settings.
2.Rising Action — A series of events that complicates matters for your characters, and results in increased
drama or suspense.
3.Climax — The big showdown where your characters encounter their opposition, and either win or lose.
4.Falling Action — A series of events that unfold after the climax and lead to the end of the story.
5.Resolution — The end of the story, in which the problems are resolved (or not resolved, depending on the
story.) Also called the denouement, catastrophe, or revelation.
Source: https://thewritepractice.com/plot-structure/
TYPES OF CONFLICT
1. Man vs. Himself
2. Man vs. Society
3. Man vs. Nature
4. Man vs. Supernatural
POINT OF VIEW –
- the perspective from which a story is told
1. FIRST PERSON
2. SECOND PERSON
2. THIRD PERSON LIMITED
3. THIRD PERSON OMNISCIENT

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