Narration

What is Narration?

Narration means the art of storytelling. Any time you tell a story to a friend or family
member about an event or incident in your day, you engage in a form of narration. Richard
Nordquist (2019) defines narrative as “a piece of writing that tells a story and it is one of
four classical rhetorical modes or ways that writers use to present information. The others
include an exposition, which explains and analyzes an idea or set of ideas;
an argument, which attempts to persuade the reader to a particular point of view; and
a description, a written form of a visual experience.” In addition, a narrative can be factual
or fictional. A factual story is one that is based on, and tries to be faithful to, actual events as
they unfolded in real life. A fictional story is a made-up, or imagined, story; the writer of a
fictional story can create characters and events as he or she sees fit.

Infact, narratives are a popular genre that provides the writer with an opportunity to
share their imagination, creativity, skill, and understanding of nearly all elements of
writing. On occasion, we refer to a narrative as ‘creative writing’ or story writing. The
purpose of a narrative is simple, to tell the audience a story. It can be written to motivate,
educate or most commonly entertain. Narratives can be both fact and fiction. The challenge
in writing a good narrative is to captivate the audience and keep them engaged as the story
is told.

Characteristics of narrative writing:

Although narratives can vary widely, most share several common features. Generally,
storytellers establish:

 Descriptive language: This type of language evokes feelings rather than directly stating
facts. Descriptive language techniques include metaphors, similes, personification, and
onomatopoeia.

 Characters: A story might have just one character, or it can have a huge cast of
characters. In some stories, the narrator is the only character present. The narrator is the
figure from whose point of view the story is being told, and they might (or might not)
interact with the other characters. Among the characters, nearly every narrative needs to
have a protagonist. The protagonist, also known as the main character, is the character
whose story is being told as they work toward a goal or face a challenge. Another character
found in nearly every narrative is the antagonist. The antagonist isn’t necessarily the “bad
guy”; they are simply the character or force imposing obstacles for the protagonist to
overcome. In many narratives, the antagonist is a person, a force of nature, the protagonist’s
society, or even an aspect of the protagonist’s personality.

 Plot: The plot is the series of events that happen in your narrative. A plot can be simple,
with only one or two events, or it can be complex and multi-layered. It includes:

 Conflict: or struggle in the story, that builds their audience’s interest

 Details: or descriptions, that appeal to the senses of sight, sound, smell, touch, and
taste
 A sequence of events in a plot: or order of what happens in the story, that keeps the
audience engaged as the story unfolds
 Reflection of events around a theme: or unifying idea, for telling the story

 Narrative structure: Every narrative, even nonlinear narratives, is organized in some

way. This is how the main character pursues their goal or faces the challenge presented to
them. No matter how you structure your narrative, it has three distinct parts:

 The beginning: This is where the reader meets your writing. Hooking their attention
at the beginning is crucial.
 The middle: The middle of your story or essay is where the action happens. This is
where your protagonist faces one or more conflicts and reaches the climax, the point
where the narrative pivots to the falling action after the protagonist either meets or
fails to meet their goal.
 The end: After the narrative’s climax, the ending wraps up loose story threads,
satisfies readers’ remaining curiosities, and positions the protagonist for life after the
story’s events.
 Remember:

 Narration is the art of storytelling.

 Narratives can be either factual or fictional. In either case, narratives should

emotionally engage the reader.

 Most narratives are composed of major events sequenced in chronological order.

 Time transition words and phrases are used to orient the reader in the sequence of a
narrative.

 The four basic components to all narratives are plot, character, conflict, and theme.

 The use of sensory details is crucial to emotionally engaging the reader.

 A strong introduction is important to hook the reader. A strong conclusion should

add resolution to the conflict and evoke the narrative’s theme.