Narration

Hannah Pezzi

Nicole Tierney

Kelsey King

Eilisha Manandhar

Definition

• Purpose: To tell a story often using a sequence of events in chronological order to do so– Author tries to establish a particular

mood or impression

Characteristics: Of essay

• Sequence of events• Tells a story• Recount events or create

mood/impression• Provide structure for an entire

essay• Structure based on sequence of

events or steps in an specific, logical order

Narrative Essay: Story Form

• Plot Structure:– introduction (base)– rising action (staggered)– climax (top of the mountain)– falling action (down the

other side)– resolution (base)– Often contain an underlining theme or moral to what

is being told

Narrative Essay: Story Form

• Also should contain along with the plot progression– Setting– Theme or lesson to the story– Characters

Tips

• Use detail! This helps create picture.• Use exact time, date, geographic location if

possible• Eliminate repetitive sentences by using different

sentence structures or consolidating those ideas in fewer sentences

• Typically written in 1st or third person– 1st I

– 3rdHe, she, it

Tips Continued (POV)…

• Choose a Point of View (POV)– Methods used to convey the plot (view of the

narrator)• First Person: see the story from the character’s view

including their unspoken thoughts protagonist • Second Person: refers to the main character as “you”

– Reader is involved

• Third Person: Narrator is directly uninvolved– “silent observer”

• Multiple Person– Jumps between characters involved

Tips Continued…

• Show DON’T tell– Use detail to create what is occurring

rather than just stating it

• Pick a tone: how you want the piece to feel and the emotion it implies– Sets up a feeling– Consider the message you want to get

across

Tips on Characters and Setting• Quotes: how a character talks can imply a lot about

them– Where they are from– Give the readers insight into their thoughts

• Use details to clarify the people and places in the story – Relatable and interesting for the reader– Make the characters seem real with your details

• The detail and character descriptions, in most cases, should not be all positive or all negative realistic

Grammatical Tips: verbs and transitions

Use correct verb tenses and clear transitions– Verb tense: tenses indicate temporal (time)

relationship– Keep consistent

• Transitions: connect words that help link ideas– Without: narrative lack coherence– Indicate order of events and signal shifts in

time

Ideas for Gaining Interest

• Narrative Story– Start with a flashback or flash forward – Surprising event

• Process Essay– Give background information on the topic– How it started, Why its important, Who the process

at hand might influence especially if the topic is directed at a certain audience

– Short anecdote

Examples• Biographies• Histories• Personal letters• Diaries• Conversation• Process Essay: Progression of events• Cause and effect• Also in: poetry (ballads), fairy tales, folk

lore

Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police

• Summary

• AP Eng-Narritive Summary.doc

Analysis

• Purpose: This teaches a lesson of doing the right thing and acting instantly to one’s surroundings or else the consequences are fatal.

• Example of process essay:– Outlines the murder in a series of steps– “She turned off the lights, locked the door, started to walk

100 feet…”• Plenty of detail

– Uses exact time: “3:20 a.m.”– “…parked her red Fiat in a lot adjacent to Kew Gardens Long

Island…” (121)– “At night…neighborhood shrouded in the slumbering

darkness…” (121)• Uses flashback strategy, starts off with the event in past tense

and explains the murder in chronological order– Grabs attention

Sample Essay Topics

1. Describe a life experience that has shaped you into a person you are today.

2. Describe how Perry’s childhood influenced his decision surrounding the Clutters, in In Cold Blood.

Sample Essay Topics

3. Write a story in third person point of view about a historical event following the format of a narrative essay.

4. Analyze how multiple perspectives in a narrative piece may influence the scope the reader receives on what is occurring as well as how the event is perceived.

Citations• Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. Patterns for

College Writing. 10th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007. Print.

• Narrative Essay. Easy Info. Web. 29 Oct. 2009. <http://essayinfo.com/essays/narrative_essay.php>.

• Narrative Essay. Write Express. Web. 29 Oct. 2009. <http://www.writeexpress.com/narrative-essay.html>.

• Narrative Writing. The Writing Site. Web. 29 Oct. 2009. <http://www.thewritingsite.org/resources/genre/narrative.asp>.