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NARRATIVE TEXTS:   STRUCTURE AND
MAIN FEATURES

0. INTRODUCTION
1. TEXT AND TEXT TYPOLOGY
1.1. Text
1.2. Text Types
2. NARRATIVE TEXT: STRUCTURE AND MAIN FEATURES
2.1. Elements of Narrative Texts
A. Narrator: Point of View
B. Character vs. Characterization
C. Theme: the story’s central idea
D. Plot: sequence of events
E. Setting: space, time, atmosphere
2.2. Structure of Narrative Texts
2.3. Literary Devices
3. CONCLUSION
4. BIBLIOGRAPHY
5. APPENDIXES

0. INTRODUCTION

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Narrative texts deal with the telling of a story, i.e., the author expresses in
words events which have taken place at a particular time, in a particular setting
and under particular circumstances. The elements of narrative texts – narrator,
character, theme, plot and setting, which shall be analysed throughout this unit-
and the different narrative techniques which impinge on the former elements,
have traditionally been the focus of literary texts as well as of narratology.

This unit comprises three parts; the first one being a brief introduction to the
notion of text and text types. The second part focuses on the definition and
structure of narrative texts. Finally, a detailed analysis of its major features will
be provided. All of this will be examined under the influence of relevant authors
in the field, namely de Beaugrande and Dressler, Halliday and Hasan, who
have thrown light over the notion of text; as well as Gerad Genette, Scholes and
Kellogg or Rimmon-Kenan, who have largely contributed to the study and
analysis of narrative texts.

1. TEXT AND TEXT TYPOLOGY

How do we reach the notion of narrative text types? First of all, we should
start looking at the notion of text so as to fully grasp its typology.

1.1. Text

The notion of text has chiefly been tackled by the field of Text Linguistics,
which following de Beaugrande and Dressler, two major exponents in the field,
designates ‘any work in language science devoted to the text as the primary
object of inquiry’ (See unit 31). The analysis and articulation of text was formerly
studied by Rhetoric, which can be traced back to Ancient Greece and Rome
through the Middle Ages up to the present under the name of Text Linguistics or
Discourse. Traditional rhetoricians were influenced by their major task of
training public orators on the discovery of ideas: inventio (the discovery of
ideas), dispositio (the arrangement of ideas) and elocutio (the discovery of

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appropriate expressions for ideas). Thus, rhetoric still shares several concerns
with the kind of Text Linguistics we know today, for instance, the use of texts as
vehicles of purposeful interaction (oral and written), the variety of texts which
express a given configuration of ideas, the arranging of ideas and its disposition
within the discourse and the judgement of texts which still depends on the
effects upon the audience.
Following Halliday & Hasan (1976), “the word text is used in linguistics to
refer to any passage, spoken or written, of whatever length, that does form a
unified whole”. As a general rule, we know whether an utterance or sequence of
utterances constitute a text or not though it may be “spoken or written, prose or
verse, dialogue or monologue, and also anything from a single proverb to a
whole play, from a momentary cry for help to an all-day discussion on a
committee”. In addition, a text is best regarded as a semantic unit and not a unit
of form.
Textual features such as texture and cohesion give a text the status of
‘being a text’. First of all, the concept of texture is defined as the textual
resource that functions as a unity with respect to its environment and, secondly,
cohesion is defined as the resources that English has for creating texture so as
to contribute to its total unity by means of cohesive relations (reference,
substitution, ellipsis, conjunction, and lexical cohesion).
In the approach to Text Linguistics by de Beaugrande & Dressler (1988), a
text, oral or printed, is established as a communicative occurrence, which has to
meet seven standards of textuality1: cohesion, coherence, intentionality and
acceptability, informativity, situationality and finally, intertextuality. If any of
these standards are not satisfied, the text is considered not to have fulfilled its
function and not to be communicative.
Within the previous standards, intertextuality links with narrative texts.
Intertextuality concerns the factors which make the use of one text dependent
upon knowledge of one or more previously encountered texts, that is, the ways
in which the production and reception of a given text depends upon the
participants knowledge of other texts. The usual mediation is achieved by
means of the development and use of text types, being classes of texts

1
Textuality is involved in rules governing written discourse.

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expected to have certain traits for certain purposes: descriptive, narrative,
argumentative, literary and poetic, scientific and didactic.

1.2. Text Typology

Text can be classified following many different criteria. Yet, the most
important one is that of mode of discourse. As a matter of fact, and following
Trimble (1985) we may classify texts in two ways. Firstly, according to purpose,
and, secondly, according to type or mode. According to purpose, in terms of
communicative functions, the discourse is intended to inform, express an
attitude, persuade and create a debate. According to type or mode, the
classification distinguishes among descriptive, narrative, expository,
argumentative, and instrumental modes.
Therefore, narrative texts are not only intended to tell a story in terms of
communicative functions but also, according to the category or text types it is
included within the type of narration, that is, the fact of narrating events, facts
and situations. In our next section the narrative text will be explored in detail,
paying special attention to its structure and main features.

2. NARRATIVE TEXTS

A narrative text is usually defined as a type of discourse concerned with

action, with events in time and with life in motion which answers the question
“What happened?” in order to tell a story (Bal, 1985). The basic purpose of
narrative is to entertain, to gain and hold readers' interest. However, narratives
can also be written to teach or inform, to change attitudes / social opinions e.g.
soap operas and television dramas that are used to raise topical issues.
Narratives sequence people/characters in time and place but differ from
recounts in that through the sequencing, the stories set up one or more
problems, which must eventually find a way to be resolved.
Narrative text is based on life experiences and is person-oriented using
dialogue and familiar language (Tonjes, Wolpow & Zintz, 1999). Narrative text is
organized using story grammar, which is the knowledge of how stories are

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organized with the beginning of the story containing the setting, the characters,
and the characters' problem(s). Story grammar also gives account of interesting
events which constitute part of our daily life (jokes, personal letters, e-mails,
diaries, reports, school essays, curricula vitae, reviews, biography,
autobiography, novels, thrillers, post-it notes among many others). The genres
that fit the narrative text structure are folktales (wonder tales, fables, legends,
myths, tall tales, and realistic tales); contemporary fiction; mysteries, science
fiction, realistic fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction. Thus, narrative text may be
either fiction or non-fiction. Examples of fiction include realistic fiction, science
fiction, mysteries, folk tales, fairy tales, and myths, whereas on-fiction is fact-
based text such as reports, factual stories, and biographies.

Narratology is a theory of narrative. It examines what all narratives, and

only narratives, have in common as well as what enables them to differ from
one another, and it aims to describe the narrative-specific system of rules
presiding over narrative production and processing. The term narratology is a
translation of the French term narratologie -introduced by Tzvetan Todorov in
Grammaire du Décaméron (1969)- and the theory historically falls into the
tradition of Russian Formalism and French Structuralism. Narratology
exemplifies the structuralist tendency to consider texts (in the broad sense of
signifying matter) as rule-governed ways in which human beings (re)fashion
their universe. It also exemplifies the structuralist ambition to isolate the
necessary and optional components of textual types and to characterize the
modes of their articulation.
One important starting point in the development of narratology was the
observation that narratives are found, and stories told, in a variety of media: oral
and written language (in prose or in verse), of course, but also sign languages,
still or moving pictures (as in narrative paintings, stained-glass windows, or
films), gestures, (programmatic) music, or a combination of vehicles (as in
comic strips). Furthermore, a folktale can be transposed into a ballet, a comic
strip turned into a pantomime, a novel brought to the screen, and vice versa.
This arguably means that narrative, or more specifically, the narrative

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component of a narrative text, can and should be studied without reference to
the medium in which it occurs.
Now, within the medium -say, written language- a given set of events can
be presented in different ways, in the order of their (supposed) occurrence, for
example, or in a different order. The narratologist should therefore be able to
examine the narrated, the story presented, independently not only of the
medium used but also of the narrating, the discourse, the way in which the
medium is used to present the what.

2.1. Elements of Narrative Texts

Two types of narrative elements can be distinguished depending on the

type of narrative text: common elements for all narrative text types and
specific elements for literary texts. It is worth noting that currently, narration is
always present at different levels but it is perhaps in the domains of literature
that narrative texts have been analysed in more detail.
Thus, first of all, for general narrative texts to exist, they must satisfy
these elements: characters, plot and intention. The element ‘character’ gives
coherence to the story and must undergo transformation changes. Secondly,
the ‘plot’ is said to be a sequence of predictable events which must be altered
so as to change the normal story line. Finally, the concept of ‘intention’ gives
sense and orientation to the text and it may be explicit (off voice in
advertisements) or inferred (the same news on two different newspapers).
On the other hand, literary texts are said to have five common
elements: narrator (point of view, voice); characters (people or animals in the
story) vs. characterization (round vs. flat characters); theme (central ideal of the
story); plot (sequence of events, conflicts which change the normal rhythm of
the story) and setting (time and place, when or where the story takes place).

a. Narrator: Point of View

The narrator is defined as the voice that tells a story (not to be confused
with ‘author’, the person who creates the story) from a very specific point of

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view. Then, the narrator is the author’s creation and belongs to the narrative
world as well as characters (Rimmon-Kenan, 1985). He is defined as the person
who bears some relation to the action, either as an observer or a participant
who serves the reader as a kind of guide to the action (Toolan, 1988). As such,
the narrator is understood as a structural element of the narration. Yet, we may
approach the figure of the narrator regarding who the narrator is in the story
(a main character, a secondary character, an invented narrator) depending on
the relation they bear to the action, that is, how much they know about the story
(omniscient vs. mere observer); the point of view the story is told (first
person, second person, third person, the narrator’s explicit address); and the
mode of presentation (telling vs. showing).

Regarding who the narrator is and how much he knows about the story,
the narrator may be a main character, a secondary character or an invented
narrator. The two first options would be considered as internal narrators, unlike
the last one, invented narrator, would be an external narrator, as he is not a
participant of the story and simply tells us about it. Often, secondary characters
coincide with being mere observers and an invented narrator is used by the
author to talk explicitly through the story. The narrators can be omniscient, if
they know all the aspects of the plot, express the characters’ feelings and
thoughts and even may anticipate actions; in contrast to non-omniscient
narrators who are external observers and are objective. Hence, they are
compared with a cinema camera, which films facts, gestures and words.

With respect to the point of view the story is told, that is, the relation the
narrator keeps with the story, we distinguish the narration in third person
singular, first person, second person singular and explicit address on the part of
the narrator:
- Third person singular is the most usual form. It offers and impersonal
point of view about the story. The narrator can have an omniscient point of
view (panoramic narrator) who reports all aspects of an action and may go into
the head of any or all of the characters involved in the action. But there is also a
non-omniscient point of view where the author does not sweep the entire

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field of the action but keeps his intention focused on one character and on that
character’s relation to the action ((Toolan, 1988).
- The first person singular is used when the narrator is a character in the
story and talks in first person singular. His knowledge on the story will depend
on he being the main character or an internal observer. If he is the main or, at
least, an important participant in the story, he will tell the story from his own
point of view (main character). On the contrary, if the narrator (real or
imaginary) recounts an action of which he is an external observer, we shall talk
about a narrator-observer.
- The author can make the narrator speak in second person singular
when he wants to transmit the feeling of confession or internal story facts.
- The author can also invent a narrator so as to offer his point of view
about the story.

The mode of the story, which can be ‘telling’ or ‘showing’ depending on

the intention of the narrator. If the narrator reports actions from his own point of
view, we talk about ‘telling’; in contrast, if the narrator reports actions from an
objective point of view, we talk about ‘showing’.

POINT OF VIEW OF THE NARRATION

Who the narrator is in the story
(Participation in the story)
Point of view
External narrator
Protagonist
Internal narrator Secondary character
Witness
First Person: when the narrator is the
protagonist of the story.
Second Person: the narrator or a character
becomes the addressee of the story.
Third Person: the narrator simply tells the
story (often an external narrator).

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b. Character vs. Characterisation

Characters are necessary to maintain coherence and consistency in a

story and they are defined as the people (or animals) that perform actions in
narrative texts. Three main types can be distinguished: the main characters,
who participate most in the plot, secondary characters, who are actually a
support for the main characters and juncture characters, who are not even
introduced as individuals (extras).
According to the way participants are characterized, characters are
classified into characters as individuals -round characters- and characters as
stereotypes -flat characters-. There are two main ways of characterization:
direct and indirectly. In direct characterization, the narrator describes the
person’s physical appearance and also accounts for his personality (attitudes,
thoughts, behaviour) whereas in indirect characterization, all we know about
characters is drawn from actions, not from their personal description.
Then, regarding round characters, the plot is organized around them,
their feelings, thoughts, conflicts, and life in general. They are presented as
individuals who have real existence and they attract all the narrator’s attention.
On the other hand, flat characters are presented as stereotypes, that is,
representing conventional attitudes or ideas about human behaviour. They
represent stereotypes of personality, attitudes, thoughts, physical appearance,
and so on but they are not considered to be relevant in the plot.

c. Theme: the story’s central idea

The theme is the central idea of the story which can be directly stated or
through use of story elements, i.e., characters. When we express the theme
through use of the story, the aim is to make readers infer the ending of the
story; it sometimes involves a lesson to be learned from the story; or the author
wants the readers to get the theme because of the way characters’ actions
affect the story by means of a particular sentence or main topic.

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d. Plot: Sequence of events

The plot of the story is defined as the story grammar, that is, the
knowledge of how stories are organized with the beginning of the story
containing the setting, the characters, and the characters’ problem(s). In fact,
the plot is causally related to actions, which, as single episodes, merely add up
to a loosely knit story. This story telling may be chronological or reverted
(flashbacks or foreshadowing). Thus, it can be pointed out that narrative texts
are organized around a plot and that the user guides the plot structures through
character interactions. As a result, characters and the environment influence the
narrative.
Then, the plot involves a problem or a conflict, which is presented in the
story in a specific order of events and sets the action in motion. The plot
includes a series of episodes that are written by the author to hold our attention
and build excitement as the story progresses. Included in these events may be
some roadblocks (setbacks) that the character encounters while attempting to
solve the problem. During these events the excitement of the story builds as the
character goes about solving the problem. The ending of the story contains the
resolution (the solving of the problem) and the ending of the story.
Therefore, the story grammar or structure of a narrative piece would
contain these components:
(1) Beginning, i.e., an initiating event that starts the main character off
on a series of events to solve the problem and in a specific setting (time and
place). We may say it is the open beginning or exposition of the story.
(2) Middle, i.e., a series of subsequent events that the character
encounters, called roadblocks, which are setbacks for him when attempting to
solve the problem. During these events the excitement of the story builds as the
character goes about trying to find a solution.
(3) End, i.e., the last sequence in which the author brings the story to a
resolution (open ending) and the problem is solved. Hence, the ending of the
story and the ending to the story. The main solutions to a problem are:

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- Twist endings. In this type of endings, the writers (usually suspense and
mystery ones) often end the story in a way that the reader does not
expect.
- Flashback. The story begins with an event and then goes back in time
allowing the reader to understand previous events.

e. Setting: space, time and atmosphere

The setting of a story is defined as the environment of the action as

constituted by time, space and atmosphere (Scholes and Kellogg, 1966).
Hence, space, time reference and atmosphere refers respectively to where or
when the story takes place and the general effect produced by these two
concepts. Authors may tell the reader the exact time or place of the story, but
often these must be inferred by the reader. The time and place are usually
important to the plot of the story when the details of the setting have
metaphorical significance (i.e. furnishment of a room, a house structure).
Actually, these details can help the reader answer questions about the plot or
character actions in the story:
- With respect to ‘space’, some stories are set in faraway lands or
imaginary places, others are set in familiar places. It may also be a
universal place (the Universe, South Africa, the ocean) or a specific
place (London, a little village on the highest mountain). Regarding
number, the action may take place in only one setting (inside a cabin
during all the film) or in more places (different cities like James Bond’s
films). Moreover, we may find indoor scenes (a house, a palace, a castle)
or outdoor (a meadow, a football pitch).
- Regarding ‘time reference’, a story can be set in the present, past, or
the future. The relationship between the acting time and narrated time
will give us four different subclassifications of time: historical, internal,
verbal and rhythmic. First, historical time is set up in the time of the
action (Viking Age, Victorian Age, 20th century); secondly, internal time
frames the story (one day in James Joyce’s Ulises, 100 Years War);
third, verbal time is usually presented in past tense although the simple

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present is used to give a feeling of lively actions; finally, the narrative
rhythm is independent from the chronological setting the story has since
the author may slow the pace (in the sense of a longer temporal scope)
by means of descriptions or, on the contrary, may summarise the pass of
several years in a few sentences.
- Another important element in the setting of a story is the atmosphere,
that is, the general effect or feeling produced by the theme, the
characters, the place, etc. of the story (i.e. the atmosphere produced in
Edgar Allan Poe’s stories by the strange doings of some characters,
mystery places, a dark and gloomy setting).

In general terms, the setting can also affect the characters in many different
ways. This falls into the following classification: causal – the features of the
setting cause an effect on how characters behave as in Romanticism- and
analogical –the setting reinforces the tale by being similar to a character as in
Wuthering Heights-.
Following Gerard Genette2, his major work, Nouveau Discours du Récit
(1983), reduces the narrative text to three grammatical categories, namely:

- Time, which refers to order, duration and frequency of the action.

- Voice, which refers to the narrative level and narrative voice.
- Mood, which refers to focalization.

This is a model which covers all the different elements of narrative texts
analysed above using a different terminology.

2.2. Structure of Narrative Texts

The structure of narrative texts is determined by the relationships

established between the constitutive elements of the narration, namely action,
space, time, character and narrator, giving rise to different structures according
to the element used. Yet, the traditional structure of narrative texts has been

2
Many authors refer to Genette when dealing with ‘time’ and ‘focalization’.

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presented along with ‘the plot’ since it is the order of events that are structured
by time, rather than space, what marks a text as narrative. The order is given by
the focus on the story ending. Thus, we may find three types of narrative
developments:

1. Firstly, in order to know the ending of the story, we shall find a linear
development which follows a chronological order from the beginning to the end
of the story.
2. Secondly, if the focus is not on the ending but on the circumstances leading
to the ending, events may start at the end of the story and be described, then, in
terms of flash-backs in order to attract the reader’s attention.
3. Thirdly, if the focus is on both the beginning and the ending, the telling may
start at an intermediate point within the story for events to be described in terms
of backwards and forwards movements. This technique is to be called in medias
res narration.

By studying the textual and lexical elements of text types, one can learn to
regularly recognize the overall structure of a text. For example, when one
identifies vocabulary items that signal doubt or skepticism, (words such as
appear, suggests, speculation, etc.), we know we are dealing with a Claim-
Counterclaim structure. In fact, while the sequence of these structures may be
varied, we should always find all the elements we are looking for in a well-
formed text. Next, we shall briefly look into some literary devices pervading
narrative texts.

2.3. Literary devices

The main textual features in narrative texts are given by textual and lexical
items, that is, literary devices which are words used to enrich the understanding
of the story (i.e. dynamic and static verbs, common and concrete nouns,
quantity and quality adjectives, time and place adverbs, etc). Yet, these and
other literary devices may be stated indirectly and reflect the author’s style of

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writing word choice. In addition, the author may use a wide range of word
choice for different purposes, to entertain, to inform and to persuade the reader
about the telling.
The author uses vocabulary to enhance the reader’s understanding of
characters and events in the story. In addition, the author’s choice of vocabulary
produces the mood and tone of the story. Readers must understand the
meaning of vocabulary as used in the story context, for instance, the meaning a
word has in the story (i.e. ‘A ring’ in The Lord of the Rings), the clues that are
given in the text toward understanding of the word (i.e. the action around the
ring), the synonyms that can be used in place of that word (i.e. My treasure),
and finally, what that word suggests (i.e. The power and control of the reign).
Other two main literary devices are those of ‘stream of consciousness’ and
‘free indirect style’ by means of which the narrator reports the character’s
thoughts or speech. Regarding the ‘stream of consciousness’, we must say it is
an ambiguous form of narration in which the characters’ thoughts are introduced
in an immediate manner, literally as a copy of the thoughts itself, rather than a
‘reported thought’. This way of reporting what the character was thinking is quite
complex.
On the other hand, the ‘free indirect style’ is used when the narrator reports
the characters’ thoughts or speech directly, that is, with no accompanying
reporting clause (i.e. He said) as in direct speech. These two devices approach
the mind of characters by getting fused with them and not by standing outside
the character. This choice in narrative texts makes the story lively and quite
dynamic (Bal, 1985).

3. CONCLUSION

Throughout this unit we have provided an in-depth analysis of narrative texts

in terms of both features and structure, paying special attention to how these
are articulated. In general terms, narrative texts aim at entertaining, but also at
instructing. It is, in fact, one of the most popular text-types among students.
It is more than evident that narrative texts differ from other text-types in the
language itself, which strives to have an effect upon the addressee, all the more

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so since we can all tell whether the language used is colloquial or literary. It is
then literary language what strikes the reader as different as well as appealing.
This links with the so-called poetic function of language, which deviates from
the norm.
All in all, narrative texts prove to be, to a large extent, useful for the teaching
of the L2 for the wide range of possibilities it offers.

4. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bal, M. Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative. University of
Toronto Press, 1985.
Barthes, R. Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narratives. London:
Fontana, 1977.
Beaugrande, R. & Dressler, W. Introduction to Text Linguistics. London:
Longman, 1988.
Brown, G. and G. Yule. Discourse Analysis. Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Halliday, M.A. K. and R. Hasan. Cohesion in English. London: Longman, 1976.
Genette, G. Noveau discours du récit. Paris: Seuil, 1983.
Rimmon-Kenan, S. Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics. London:
Methuen, 1985.
Scholes, R. and R. Kellogg. The Nature of Narrative. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1966.
Toolan, M.J. Narrative, A Critical Linguistic Introduction. London: Routledge,
1988.
Traugott, E. and M. L. Pratt. Linguistics for Students of Literature. New York:
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980.
van Dijk, T. Text and Context: Explorations in the Semantics and Pragmatics of
Discourse. London: Longman, 1984.

WEB PAGES:
http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/resources/text_forms/narrative.html
http://www.beaugrande.com/introduction_to_text_linguistics.htm
http://books.google.es/books?id=PqzWemM8C3cC&pg=PA131&dq=narrative+t
exts#v=onepage&q=narrative%20texts&f=false (Google books: Narrative
Fiction. Contemporary Poetics by S. Rimmon-Kenan.)

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APPENDIX:

NARRATIVE TEXTS

Purpose

The basic purpose of narrative is to entertain, to gain and hold a readers'

interest. However narratives can also be written to teach or inform, to change
attitudes / social opinions eg soap operas and television dramas that are used
to raise topical issues. Narratives sequence people/characters in time and
place but differ from recounts in that through the sequencing, the stories set up
one or more problems, which must eventually find a way to be resolved.

Types of Narrative

There are many types of narrative. They can be imaginary, factual or a

combination of both. They may include fairy stories, mysteries, science fiction,
romances, horror stories, adventure stories, fables, myths and legends,
historical narratives, ballads, slice of life, personal experience.

Features

• Characters with defined personalities/identities.

• Dialogue often included - tense may change to the present or the future.
• Descriptive language to create images in the reader's mind and enhance
the story.

Structure

In a Traditional Narrative the focus of the text is on a series of actions:

Orientation: (introduction) in which the characters, setting and time of the

story are established. Usually answers who? when? where? eg. Mr Wolf went
out hunting in the forest one dark gloomy night.

Complication or problem: The complication usually involves the main

character(s) (often mirroring the complications in real life).

Resolution: There needs to be a resolution of the complication. The

complication may be resolved for better or worse/happily or unhappily.
Sometimes there are a number of complications that have to be resolved.
These add and sustain interest and suspense for the reader.

To help students plan for writing of narratives, model, focusing on:

• Plot: What is going to happen?

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• Setting: Where will the story take place? When will the story take
place?
• Characterisation: Who are the main characters? What do they look
like?
• Structure: How will the story begin? What will be the problem? How is
the problem going to be resolved?
• Theme: What is the theme / message the writer is attempting to
communicate?

Language

• Action verbs: Action verbs provide interest to the writing. For example,
instead of The old woman was in his way try The old woman barred his
path. Instead of She laughed try She cackled.
• Written in the first person (I, we) or the third person (he, she, they).
• Usually past tense.
• Connectives,linking words to do with time.
• Specific nouns: Strong nouns have more specific meanings, eg. oak as
opposed to tree.
• Active nouns: Make nouns actually do something, eg. It was raining
could become Rain splashed down or There was a large cabinet in the
lounge could become A large cabinet seemed to fill the lounge.
• Careful use of adjectives and adverbs: Writing needs judicious use of
adjectives and adverbs to bring it alive, qualify the action and provide
description and information for the reader.
• Use of the senses: Where appropriate, the senses can be used to
describe and develop the experiences, setting and character:
• What does it smell like?
• What can be heard?
• What can be seen - details?
• What does it taste like?
• What does it feel like?
• Imagery
• Simile: A direct comparison, using like or as or as though, eg.
The sea looked as rumpled as a blue quilted dressing gown. Or
The wind wrapped me up like a cloak.
• Metaphor: An indirect or hidden comparison, eg. She has a heart
of stone or He is a stubborn mule or The man barked out the
instructions.
• Onomatopoeia: A suggestion of sound through words, eg.
crackle, splat, ooze, squish, boom, eg. The tyres whir on the
road. The pitter-patter of soft rain. The mud oozed and squished
through my toes.
• Personification: Giving nonliving things (inanimate) living
characteristics, eg. The steel beam clenched its muscles. Clouds
limped across the sky. The pebbles on the path were grey with
grief.
• Rhetorical Questions: Often the author asks the audience questions,
knowing of course there will be no direct answer. This is a way of
involving the reader in the story at the outset, eg. Have you ever built a

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tree hut?
• Variety in sentence beginnings. There are a several ways to do this eg
by using:
• Participles: "Jumping with joy I ran home to tell mum my good
news."
• Adverbs: "Silently the cat crept toward the bird"
• Adjectives: "Brilliant sunlight shone through the window"
• Nouns: "Thunder claps filled the air"
• Adverbial Phrases: "Along the street walked the girl as if she had
not a care in the world."
• Conversations/Dialogue: these may be used as an opener. This
may be done through a series of short or one-word sentences or
as one long complex sentence.
• Show, Don't Tell: Students have heard the rule "show, don't tell" but this
principle is often difficult for some writers to master.
• Personal Voice: It may be described as writing which is honest and
convincing. The author is able to 'put the reader there'. The writer
invests something of him/her self in the writing. The writing makes an
impact on the reader. It reaches out and touches the reader. A
connection is made.

OUTLINE OF GENETTE’S MODEL:

Analepsis: flashbacks
Order
Prolepsis: flashforward

Ellipsis  Acceleration
Duration
TIME Descriptive Pause  Deceleration

Singulative
Frequency

Iterative: Absalom, Absalom!

Extradiegetic: the narrator
belongs to a different level of
narration.
Narrative level Intradiegetic. The narrator
(Narrator inside the belongs to belongs to the different
story) level of narration.
Diagesis
VOICE (story) Metadiegetic: level of narration

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within the narration.

Narrative voice Heterodiegetic: Not part of the

story. Generally, the omniscient
narrator, eg.:
Joseph Andrews
Homodiegetic: part of the story
but told from the outside, eg.:
Wuthering Heights
MOOD Zero N> C: Omniscient
Focalization Internal N=C: Free Indirect Speech // Autobiography
Point View External N< C: We know about it if a character tells another
character.

LITERARY TERMS:

Alliteration: repetition of the same sound beginning several words in sequence.

*Let us go forth to lead the land we love. J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural

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Anaphora: the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases,
clauses or lines.
Antithesis: opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel
construction.
*Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no
virtue. Barry Goldwater
Apostrophe: a sudden turn from the general audience to address a specific group or
person or personified abstraction absent or present.
*For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel.
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
Archaism: use of an older or obsolete form.
Assonance: repetition of the same sound in words close to each other.
*Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.
Asyndeton: lack of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.
*We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardships, support any friend,
oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. J. F. Kennedy,
Inaugural
Cacophony: harsh joining of sounds.
*We want no parlay with you and your grisly gang who work your wicked will. W.
Churchill
Chiasmus: two corresponding pairs arranged not in parallels (a-b-a-b) but in inverted
order (a-b-b-a); from shape of the Greek letter chi (X).
*Those gallant men will remain often in my thoughts and in my prayers always.
MacArthur
Climax: arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of ascending power.
Often the last emphatic word in one phrase or clause is repeated as the
Euphemism: substitution of an agreeable or at least non-offensive expression for one
whose plainer meaning might be harsh or unpleasant.
Hyperbaton: separation of words which belong together, often to emphasize the first of
the separated words or to create a certain image.
Hyperbole: exaggeration for emphasis or for rhetorical effect.
Litotes: understatement, for intensification, by denying the contrary of the thing being
affirmed. (Sometimes used synonymously with meiosis.)
Metaphor: implied comparison achieved through a figurative use of words; the word is
used not in its literal sense, but in one analogous to it.

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*Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage. Shakespeare, Macbeth
Metonymy: substitution of one word for another which it suggests.
*He is a man of the cloth.
*The pen is mightier than the sword.
Onomatopoeia: use of words to imitate natural sounds; accommodation of sound to
sense.
Oxymoron: apparent paradox achieved by the juxtaposition of words which seem to
contradict one another.
*I must be cruel only to be kind. Shakespeare, Hamlet
Paradox: an assertion seemingly opposed to common sense, but that may yet have
some truth in it.
*What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young. George Bernard Shaw
Personification: attribution of personality to an impersonal thing.
*England expects every man to do his duty. Lord Nelson
Pleonasm: use of superfluous or redundant words, often enriching the thought.
*No one, rich or poor, will be excepted.
Polysyndeton: the repetition of conjunctions in a series of coordinate words, phrases,
or clauses.
Prolepsis: the anticipation, in adjectives or nouns, of the result of the action of a verb;
also, the positioning of a relative clause before its antecedent.
Simile: an explicit comparison between two things using 'like' or 'as'.
*Reason is to faith as the eye to the telescope. D. Hume [?]
Synecdoche: understanding one thing with another; the use of a part for the whole, or
the whole for the part. (A form of metonymy.)
*Give us this day our daily bread.

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