rhetoric: organization introduction to narration virginia walz a.p. english language coral springs...
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Rhetoric: Organization
Introduction to Narration
Virginia Walz
A.P. English Language
Coral Springs High School
© 2004
Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High
Narration - defined
To NARRATE is to tell a story, to relate a sequence of events that are linked in time.
Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High
Purpose of Narration
The emphasis in narration can be on the story itself, as in fiction, biography, autobiography, some history, and much journalism.
OR, a narrative can serve a larger point: a brief story about an innocent person’s death may help strengthen an argument for stricter handling of drunk drivers.
Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High
Purpose of Narration, cont’d
The point of the narrative – the idea the reader is to take away – then determines the selection of events, the amount of detail devoted to them, and their arrangement.
Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High
Narration – Time
Narrative Time is not REAL time.Dilation: an important event which
took only minutes can fill an entire page.
Contraction: a less important event which took several hours can be dispensed with in a single sentence.
Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High
Narration - Arrangement
The point of a narrative influences not only which events are covered and how fully, but also how the events are arranged.
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Straight Chronology This arrangement is easiest to
manage because it relates events in the order of their actual occurrence.
1. Short narratives2. Last event most dramatic3. Events preceding and following
climax contribute to the point being made
Virginia Walz, Coral Springs High
Inverted Chronology
The final event, such as a self-revelation, may come first, followed by an explanation of the events leading up to it.
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Summation
The entire story may be summarized first and then examined in detail
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FlashbacksShifts backward rather than
forward in time.May recall events whose
significance would not have been apparent earlier.
Common in movies and fiction: a character in the midst of one scene mentally replays another.
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Transitions
Whatever the arrangement of a narration, the writer needs to help readers through the sequence of events with transitional expressions.
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Transitions
Transitional expressions signal the order of events (afterward); the duration of events (for an hour); or the amount of time between events (a week later).
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Point of View
The writer of a narrative helps readers by adopting a consistent point of view, a position relative to the events, conveyed in two main ways:
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Point of View
Pronouns indicate the writer’s place in the story: first-person; third-person
Verb tense indicates the writer’s relations in time to the sequence of events: present or past.
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Sample ParagraphWriting Topics
Select One: An incident from family legend A storm, flood, earthquake or other natural
event An act of generosity The first time you met someone who
became important to you A trip to an unfamiliar place
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Narration/Description EssayAssignment Guidelines/Due Date
Final Paper due Monday 8/30/04 – NO EXCEPTIONS ●● NO LATE PAPERS
Body consists of 500-750 words. Typed, double-spaced, 1” margins, 12-pt
font, Times New Roman Cover page: Title, Name, Period, Date Do not place the Title on the first body
page.