Characteristics of narrative writing and style tips NARRATIVE WRITING

Transcription

1 Characteristics of narrative writing and style tips NARRATIVE WRITING

2 CHARACTERISTICS In general, narrative writing is used to tell a story of some importance While its purpose is almost always to tell a story, identifying the author s purpose requires more detail Tell the story of a grandfather s influence on your life Tell the story of a critical moment in one s life

3 CHARACTERISTICS Shows and doesn t tell Actions are used to express feelings instead of be verbs. TELL: Mrs. Regan was sad when I dumped her. SHOW: Mrs. Regan collapsed to the floor, tears streaming from her eyes. She weakly called my name several times as I gently closed the door, whispering, I m sorry. This just isn t working out for me. AVOID AM, IS, ARE, WAS, WERE as the main verb in the sentence. They can be used as helping verbs.

4 CHARACTERISTICS Semi-formal voice in narrative portions. Can be more casual, but narrative portions should not include slang or other non-standard English. When using dialogue (Portions meant to represent the exact words being spoken to another person these words are in quotation marks), slang may appear, but should be clear to all readers what is being discussed.

5 CHARACTERISTICS Narrative writing tends to make use of Imagery: detailed descriptions that appeal to the senses of the reader. Good imagery paints a mental picture in the mind of a reader to put them in the setting and moment. Figurative language (more on this later): Personification Similes / Metaphors Hyperbole 1 st Person Point of View The narrator is also the author telling the story using First-Person pronouns (I, me, we, us) in the non-dialogue portions. Other points of view may be utilized, but first person is most common as it creates the experience in the same way the author experienced it.

6 ORGANIZING A NARRATIVE Most narratives are told in chronological order. Events are told in the order they happened from beginning to end Advanced styles may utilize flashbacks (jumping back in time) or begin the story in the middle or even at the end. These style choices must be done carefully and still make logical sense to the reader.

7 PERSONIFICATION Giving human characteristics or abilities to something non-human The chocolate chip cookies stared at me from across the room, calling my name, beckoning me to come closer. I had avoided breaking my diet for three days, but those cookies were persistent and would not give up until I ate every last one of them. Cookies do not have the ability to speak or stare. However, when we describe them in this way, we give them traits of people. This makes the writing come alive and is far more interesting than: The cookies were on the plate. I wanted to eat them even though I was on a diet. I ate them.

8 SIMILES A comparison between two unlike things using the words like or as. Similes are meant to highlight some sort of similarity between these two things. He s as mad as a hippo with a hernia. Hippos are generally nasty, mean creatures. When subjected to an injury they are even meaner. To say a person is as mad as a hippo with a hernia means that they are really, really angry. Describing in this manner is far more appealing than saying: He was so mad. Talking to Mr. Hostetler is like talking to a brick wall. A brick wall does not have ears, nor is it capable of listening. Anything said to a brick wall is completely ignored by the wall since it is not alive. Saying talking to Mr. Hostetler is like talking to a wall means that he is a terrible listener and does not care what people say to him.

9 METAPHORS A comparison between two unlike things without using the words like or as. These have the same purpose as similes (show a similarity) but do so by equating the two things being compared. Mr. Hostetler is a slithering snake in the grass. Notice there is no like or as. Instead, you have the word IS. It s not completely clear what is meant here, but we need to think of traits that we associate with snakes: They are sneaky, disliked, sometimes even a sign of the devil. While we may not know exactly what the writer of the statement meant, we can at least know that the speaker dislikes Mr. Hostetler and does not trust him.

10 HYPERBOLE Exaggeration used for humorous effect While hyperbole isn t fall on the floor laughing funny, it usually makes a point. It will take a thousand years to do the homework Mr. Hostetler assigned. No one honestly believes it will take a thousand years to do homework. The point is that it will take a long time and there was a lot of homework. That guy must be ten feet tall! No human has ever been ten feet tall. The point is that the person being spoken about is extremely tall to the speaker.