final
The Rhetorical Mode of Narration
Any time you “tell what happened” or “tell a story” you are using NARRATION.
Strictly speaking, narration is any writing that lays out the events of a story in a dramatic and climactic order. Narration typically uses the chronological organization of events to make a point. It may also include flashback (analpsis) or begin in medias res (L. “in the middle of things”) a classical method of telling a story in which the narrator works backward from the action or climax to bring the reader up to the present time. (Examples: the novel: Identity Lost and the epic poems: The Iliad and The Odyssey
1.
Narration tells a story by presenting events in an orderly, logical sequence. Some examples of narration: histories biographies autobiographies memoirs jokes diaries tales television and news reports biblical accounts
A narrative essay is usually written to recount a series of events, usually to support a THESIS or THEME.
Narrative writers don’t just tell a story, but they tell a story to make a point. For purposes of a narrative essay, we’ll use the words theme and thesis interchangeably.
A theme is the central topic of the work that functions like a thesis, but is usually IMPLIED, not stated.
A thesis is usually stated outright.
In a narrative, you will typically have to discern the theme on your own; in other words, you will have to figure out what the writer is trying to convey beyond the actual story itself. Skilled writers don’t TELL readers the theme. Skilled writers IMPLY a theme; skill readers
INFER the theme. In this AP class, you’ll do BOTH!
Narratives are usually told in chronological order, for the purpose of coming to a new insight.
(“losing” and “finding”) –a discovery about yourself or a truth.
Examples: Nahirny WSJ article, “Son for a
Season,” and Conniff, NY Times article,
“Manchild Coming of Age.” (We will read in class.)
Narratives are generally
Any time you “tell what happened” or “tell a story” you are using NARRATION.
Strictly speaking, narration is any writing that lays out the events of a story in a dramatic and climactic order. Narration typically uses the chronological organization of events to make a point. It may also include flashback (analpsis) or begin in medias res (L. “in the middle of things”) a classical method of telling a story in which the narrator works backward from the action or climax to bring the reader up to the present time. (Examples: the novel: Identity Lost and the epic poems: The Iliad and The Odyssey
1.
Narration tells a story by presenting events in an orderly, logical sequence. Some examples of narration: histories biographies autobiographies memoirs jokes diaries tales television and news reports biblical accounts
A narrative essay is usually written to recount a series of events, usually to support a THESIS or THEME.
Narrative writers don’t just tell a story, but they tell a story to make a point. For purposes of a narrative essay, we’ll use the words theme and thesis interchangeably.
A theme is the central topic of the work that functions like a thesis, but is usually IMPLIED, not stated.
A thesis is usually stated outright.
In a narrative, you will typically have to discern the theme on your own; in other words, you will have to figure out what the writer is trying to convey beyond the actual story itself. Skilled writers don’t TELL readers the theme. Skilled writers IMPLY a theme; skill readers
INFER the theme. In this AP class, you’ll do BOTH!
Narratives are usually told in chronological order, for the purpose of coming to a new insight.
(“losing” and “finding”) –a discovery about yourself or a truth.
Examples: Nahirny WSJ article, “Son for a
Season,” and Conniff, NY Times article,
“Manchild Coming of Age.” (We will read in class.)
Narratives are generally