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Narrative mode
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The
narrative mode
(also known
as the
mode of narration
) is
the set of
methods
the
author
of
a
literary,
theatrical,
cinematic,
or
musical
story
uses to
convey the plot to the
audience
.
Narration
, the process of
presenting the narrative, occurs
because of the narrative mode. It
encompasses several overlapping areas
of concern, most importantly
narrative
point-of-view
,
which
determines
through
whose
perspective
the
story is viewed;
narrative
voice
, which determines the manner
through
which the story is communicated
to the audience;
narrative
structure
,
which
determines
in
what
order
events
are
presented;
and
narrative
tense
,
which
determines
with
what
sense
of
time
the
story
is
expressed,
whether
in the past,
present, or future.
The person who is
used to tell the story is called the
na
rrator
,
character developed
by the author expressly for the purpose of
relating
events to the audience. The
experiences and observations related by the
narrator are not generally
to be regarded as
those of
the
author, though
in
some
cases
(especially
in
non-fiction
),
it
is
possible
for
the
narrator
and
author to be the same person. However, the
narrator may be a fictive
person
devised
by
the
author
as
a
stand-alone
entity,
or
even
a
character.
The
narrator
is
considered
participant
if
an
actual
character
in
the
story,
and
nonparticipant
if
only
an
implied
character,
or
a
sort
of
omniscient
or semi-
omniscient being who does not take part in the
story but only
relates it to the
audience.
Ability to use the different
points of view is one measure of a person's
writing skill. The writing
mark schemes
used for
National Curriculum
assessments
in
England
reflect
this:
they
encourage
the
awarding
of
marks
for the use of viewpoint as part of a
wider judgment.
The
narrative
mode
encompasses
not
only
who
tells
the
story,
but
also
how
the story is
described or expressed (for example, by using
stream of
consciousness
or
unreliable narration
).
Contents
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]
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1 Narrative point of view
o
1.1 First-
person view
o
1.2 Second-person view
o
1.3 Third-
person view
o
1.4 Alternating person view
2 Narrative voice
o
2.1 Stream-of-
consciousness voice
o
2.2 Character
voice
?
2.2.1 Unreliable voice
o
2.3 Epistolary
voice
o
2.4 Third-person voices
?
2.4.1 Third-
person, subjective
?
2.4.2 Third-
person, objective
?
2.4.3 Third-
person, omniscient
3
Narrative structure
o
3.1 Linear
structure
o
3.2 Nonlinear structure
4 Narrative tense
o
4.1 Past
tense
o
4.2 Present tense
o
4.3 Future
tense
5 Other narrative
modes
o
5.1 Fiction-writing mode
o
5.2 Other types
and uses
6 See
also
7 Further
reading
8 Notes
[
edit
] Narrative
point of view
Narrative
point
of
view
(also
point-of-view
or
viewpoint
)
describes
from
which
grammatical
person
's perspective the story is
perceived.
[
edit
]
First-person view
Main article:
First-person narrative
In a
first,,-person
narrative
the story is relayed by a
narrator
who is
also a
character
within
the story,
so that
the narrator reveals
the plot
by
referring
to
this
viewpoint
character as
(or,
when
plural,
Oftentimes,
the
first-person
narrative
is
used
as
a
way
to
directly
convey
the deeply internal, otherwise unspoken
thoughts of the narrator.
Frequently,
the narrator's story revolves around him-/herself
as the
protagonist
and
allows this protagonist/narrator character's inner
thoughts
to
be
conveyed
openly
to
the
audience,
even
if
not
to
any
of
the
other characters. It
also allows that character to be further developed
through his/her own style in telling
the story. First-person narrations
may
be
told
like
third-person
ones,
with
a
person
experiencing the
story
without being aware that they are
actually conveying their experiences
to
an
audience;
on
the
other
hand,
the
narrator
may
be
conscious
of
telling
the story to a given
audience, perhaps at a given place and time, for a
given reason. In extreme cases, the
first-person narration may be told
as a
story within a story
, with
the narrator appearing as a character in
the story. The first-person narrator
also may or may not be the
focal
character
.
As
aforementioned,
the
first-person
narrator
is
always
a
character
within
his/her own story (whether the
protagonist or not) and this viewpoint
character takes actions, makes
judgments and has opinions and biases,
therefore,
not
always
allowing
the
audience
to
be
able
to
comprehend
some
of the other character's thoughts,
feelings, or understandings as much
as
this one character. In this case, the narrator
gives and withholds
information based
on his/her own viewing of events. It is an
important
task for the reader
to determine
as
much as possible about the character
of the narrator in order to decide what
Example:
could
picture
it.
I
have
a
rotten
habit
of
picturing
the
bedroom
scenes of my
friends. We went out to the Cafe Napolitain to
have
an
aperitif
and
watch
the
evening
crowd
on
the
Boulevard.
from
The
Sun
Also
Rises
by
Ernest
Hemingway
.
The
narrator
is
protagonist
Jake
Barnes.
In
very
rare
cases,
stories
are
told
in
first
person
plural
,
that
is,
using
Twenty-Six Men and
a Girl
by
Maxim
Gorky
and
A Rose for
Emily
by
William
Faulkner
, and the
novels
Anthem
by
Ayn
Rand
,
The Virgin
Suicides
by
Jeffrey
Eugenides
,
During the Reign
of the Queen of Persia
by
Joan Chase
,
Our
Kind
by
Kate
Walbert
,
I,
Robot
by
Isaac
Asimov
, and
Then We Came to
the End
by
Joshua
Ferris
.
[1]
The
narrator
can
be
the
protagonist
(e.g.,
Gulliver
in
Gulliver's
Travels
),
someone
very close to him who is privy to his thoughts and
actions (
Dr.
Watson
in
Sherlock Holmes
), or an
ancillary character who has little to
do
with
the
action
of
the
story
(such
as
Nick
Carraway
in
The
Great
Gatsby
).
Narrators
can
report
others'
narratives
at
one
or
more
removes.
These
are
called
'frame narrators': examples are Mr. Lockwood, the
narrator in
Wuthering
Heights
by
Emily
Bront?
, and the unnamed narrator in
Heart of
Darkness
by
Joseph Conrad
.
In
autobiographical
fiction
, the first person narrator is
the character
of the author (with
varying degrees of accuracy). The narrator is
still
distinct
from
the
author
and
must
behave
like
any
other
character
and
any
other first person narrator. Examples
of this kind of narrator include
Jim
Carroll
in
The
Basketball
Diaries
and
Kurt
Vonnegut
Jr.
in
Timequake
(in
this
case,
the
first-person
narrator
is
also
the
author).
In
some
cases,
the narrator is
writing a book
—
—
therefore
it
has most of the powers and knowledge of the
author. Examples include
The Name of
the Rose
by
Umberto
Eco
, and
The Curious
Incident of the Dog
in the Night-
time
by
Mark
Haddon
.
A
rare
form
of
first
person,
is
the
first
person
omniscient,
in
which
the
narrator is a character in the story,
but also knows the thoughts and
feelings of all the other characters.
It can seem like third person
omniscient at times. An example of this
form is
The Book Thief
by
Markus
Zusak
.
Typically, however, the narrator restricts the
events relayed in
the narrative to
those that he could reasonably have knowledge of.
[
edit
] Second-
person view
Main article:
Second-person narrative
Probably
the
rarest
mode
in
literature
(though
quite
common
in
song
lyrics)
is
the
second-person
narrative
mode
,
in
which
the
narrator
refers
to
one
of
the
characters
as
therefore
making
the
audience
member
feel
as
if
he
or
she
is
a
character
within
the
story.
The
second-person
narrative
mode is often paired with the first-
person narrative mode in which the
narrator makes emotional comparisons
between the thoughts, actions, and
feelings of
character in his
or her story, in which case it would technically
still
be
employing
the
first-person
narrative
mode;
an
example
of
this
form
is
A Song of Stone
by
Iain Banks
.
In
letters
and
greeting
cards,
the
second-person
narrative
mode
is
often
used in a non-
fictional atmosphere.
Perhaps
the
most
prominent
example
of
this
mode
in
contemporary
literature
is
Jay
McInerney
's
Bright Lights,
Big City
. In this novel, the
second-person point of view is intended
to create an intense sense of
intimacy
between
the narrator
and
the
reader,
causing
the
reader
to
feel
implicit
in
and
powerless
against
a
plot
that
leads
him,
blindly,
through
his (the reader’s and the narrator’s)
own destruction and redemption:
this time of the morning.
But here you are, and you cannot say the
terrain
is
entirely
unfamiliar,
although
the
details
are
fuzzy.
You
are at
a nightclub talking to a girl with a shaved head.
The club
is either Heartbreak or the
Lizard Lounge. All might become clear
if you could just slip into the
bathroom and do a little more
Bolivian
Marching Powder. Then again, it might not. A small
voice
inside you insists that this
epidemic lack of clarity is a result
of
too much of that already.
Other
notable
examples
of
the
second-
person
narrative
mode
include
Italo
Calvino
's
If
on
a
winter's
night
a
traveler
,
and
Tom
Robbins
'
Half
Asleep
in
Frog Pajamas
. As well, Damage by A.M.
Jenkins uses the second-person
to
show
how
distant
the
depressed
main
character
has
become
from
himself.
And the narrator of
Joseph Olshan
's novel
Nightswimmer
intimately
explains a story that his lover only
partially understands. The
second-
person has also been used in many short stories.
Second-person narration can be a
difficult style to manage. But some
[
who?
]
believe that when done well, this type
of narration allows (or forces)
the
reader to imagine him or herself within the action
of the novel. One
possible (and
frequently exploited) effect of the second-person
is a
strong accusatory
tone,
[
citation
needed
]
which can be
achieved if the narrator
condemns or
expresses strong feelings about the actions of the
focal
character
(“you”).
The
technique
can
also
be
used
effectively
to
place
the
reader
in
unfamiliar,
disturbing,
or
exciting
situations.
For
example,
in
his
novel
Complicity
,
Iain
Banks
uses
the
second-person
in
the
chapters
dealing with the actions of a murderer.
One notable example of the use of
second-person narration is the
Choose
Your Own Adventure
series of
children's books, in which the reader
actually
makes
decisions
and
jumps
around
the
book
accordingly.
Similarly,
most
interactive fiction
is in
the second person.
An even more
unusual, but potentially stylish version of second
person
narration takes the form of a
series of
imperative
statements with the
implied subject
as
in
this
example
from
Lorrie
Moore
's
a
Writer
that
you
like
college
life.
In
your
dorm
you
meet
many
nice
people.
Some
are
smarter
than
you.
And
some,
you
notice,
are
dumber
than
you. You will continue, unfortunately, to view the
world in
exactly these terms for the
rest of your
life.
[
edit
]
Third-person view
Third-person
narration provides the greatest flexibility to the
author
and thus is the most commonly
used narrative mode in literature. In the
third-person narrative mode
,
each and every character is referred to by
the narrator as
(
first-person
),
or
(
second-
person
).
In
third-person
narrative,
it
is necessary that the
narrator be merely an unspecified
entity
or
uninvolved
person
that
conveys
the
story,
but
not
a
character
of
any
kind
within the story being
told. Third-person singular (he/she) is
overwhelmingly the most common type of
third-person narrative, although
there
have
been
successful
uses
of
the
third-
person
plural
(they),
as
in
Maxine
Swann
's
short
story
Children
[2]
Even
more
common,
however,
is to see singular
and plural used together in one story, at
different
times, depending upon the
number of people being referred to at a given
moment in the plot. Sometimes in third-
person narratives, a character
would
refer
to
himself
in
the
third-
person
e.g.,
name)
would
like to come with you
The
third-person
modes
are
usually
categorized
along
two
axes.
The
first
is the
subjectivity/objectivity axis, with
describing one or more character's
feelings and thoughts, while
characters. The second axis
is between
distinction that refers to
the knowledge available to the narrator. An
omniscient
narrator
has
omniscient
knowledge
of
time,
people,
places
and
events; a limited narrator, in
contrast, may know absolutely everything
about
a
single
character
and
every
piece
of
knowledge
in
that
character's
mind,
but
it
is
to
that
character
—
that
is,
it
cannot
describe
things unknown to
the focal character.
[
edit
]
Alternating person view
While the
general rule is for novels to adopt a single
approach to point
of view throughout,
there are exceptions. Many stories, especially in
literature, alternate between the first
and third person. In this case,
an
author
will
move
back
and
forth
between
a
more
omniscient
third-person
narrator
to
a
more
personal
first-person
narrator.
Often,
a
narrator
using
the
first
person
will
try
to
be
more
objective
by
also
employing
the
third
person for important
action scenes, especially those in which he/she is
not directly involved or in scenes
where he/she is not present to have
viewed the events in first person. This
mode is found in the novel
The
Poisonwood Bible
.
Epistolary
novels
,
which
were
very
common
in
the
early
years
of
the
novel,
generally
consist
of
a
series
of
letters
written
by
different
characters,
and necessarily switching when the
writer changes; the classic books
Frankenstein
by
Mary Shelley
,
Dracula
by
Abraham
and
The
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde
take this approach. Sometimes,
though, they may all be letters from
one character, such as
C. S.
Lewis
'
Screwtape
Letters
and
Helen
Fielding
's
Bridget Jones's
Diary
.
Robert
Louis
Stevenson
's
Treasure
Island
switches
between
third
and
first
person,
as
do
Charles
Dickens
's
Bleak
House
and
Vladimir
Nabokov
's
The
Gift
.
Many
of
William
Faulkner
's
take
a
series
of
first-person
points
of view.
E.L.
Konigsburg's
novella
The
View
from
Saturday
uses
flashbacks
to
alternate
between
third
person and
first
person
throughout
the
book;
as
does
Edith
Wharton's novel
Ethan Frome
.
After the First
Death
,
by
Robert
Cormier
,
a
novel
about
a
fictional
school
bus
hijacking
in
the
late
seventies,
also
switches
from
first
to
third
person
narrative
using
different
characters.
The novel
The Death of
Artemio Cruz
,
by Mexican
writer
Carlos Fuentes
,
switches between the three persons from
one chapter to the next, even
though
all refer to the same
protagonist
. The novel
Dreaming in Cuban
,
by
Cristina
García
, alternates between third person
limited and first
person depending on
the generation of the speaker; the grandchildren
recount
events
in
first
person
while
the
parents
and
grandparent
are
shown
in
third person limited.
[
edit
] Narrative
voice
The
narrative
voice
describes
how
the
story
is
conveyed
(for
example,
by
for someone, by a retelling
of a character's experiences, etc.).
[
edit
] Stream-of-
consciousness voice
Main article:
Stream of consciousness (narrative
mode)
A
stream of
consciousness
gives the (almost always
first-person)
narrator's perspective by
attempting to replicate the thought processes
(as opposed to simply the actions and
spoken words) of the narrative
character. Often, interior monologues
and inner desires or motivations,
as
well as pieces of incomplete thoughts, are
expressed to the audience
(but
not
necessarily
to
other
characters).
Examples
include
the
multiple