Narrative, Description, Dialogue, and Exposition in Texts
The Narrative
The Narrative: The story of real or fictitious actions created about a character.
Literary Texts: Literary, not factual, texts generally relate fictitious events, not news stories. They are transmitted on fictitious events.
Elements of the Narrative
- Narrator: This is the voice the author adopts. The narrator who does not participate in events is external. If the narrator is the protagonist or a witness, it is internal.
- Action: This is composed of the facts, the time, and the place where the events occur. External time is the era or time. Internal time is determined by the sequence and duration of the narrative. Narrative space can be real or imagined.
- Characters: These carry out actions. According to their relevance, characters can be classified as main or secondary. Main characters include the protagonist (central character) and the antagonist (opponent).
Narrative Structure
- Narrative Framework: Includes the spatial and temporal location of the story, the characters, and the presentation of the initial situation.
- Development of Action: Includes the event that breaks the initial equilibrium and triggers the conflict and actions that the event causes.
- Ending: Usually consists of a new equilibrium that is the result of the characters’ actions.
The Description
This is the presentation of the characteristic features of beings, objects, places, or events, both real and imaginary, so that the receiver has an accurate idea of them.
Types of Descriptions
- Objective or Subjective: Scientific descriptions tend to be objective; they show reality without including personal assessments. On the contrary, literary descriptions tend to be subjective; the issuer shows their particular perception of reality.
Order of Description
- Spatial Order: From right to left, top to bottom, inside out, from the overall level of the described reality to the various elements that compose it.
Language of Description
Features:
- Abundance of qualifying adjectives.
- Use of epithets (e.g., “cold winter”).
- Similes (e.g., “soft as a pillow”) and metaphors (e.g., “silk hair”).
- Spatial markers are used frequently.
Description in the Narrative
This is the description of a character. It can describe physical traits (prosopography) or psychological traits (ethopoeia). When a description includes both aspects, it is a portrait. The description of places is topography. The description of an imaginary place is topothesia. The description of an era is chronography.
Dialogue and Its Types
- Dialogue: An exchange of information between two or more partners who alternate in the use of the word.
Dialogues can be spontaneous or planned. Spontaneous dialogues, such as conversations, do not follow a predetermined plan. Planned dialogues, such as debates or interviews, follow a previously elaborated plan.
The Exposition
Exposition is a kind of discourse whose main purpose is to convey information in an objective and clear order.
Types of Expositions
- Outreach: Targets receivers without specific knowledge of the subject matter.
- Specialized: Directed to receivers who have knowledge.
Structure of Expository Texts
- Introduction: Presents the topic and the point of view from which it will be approached.
- Development: Explains the concepts and data that are to be transmitted.
- Cause-Effect: Used to explain the causes and consequences of an event or phenomenon.
- Spatial: Frequent in the technical description of objects or processes.
- Chronological: Appropriate for events or phenomena that develop over time.
- Enumerative: Used to analyze different components or aspects of the same concept.
- Conclusion: Summarizes the main aspects covered in the text.
Procedures of Exposition
- Definition
- Comparison
- Exemplification
- Question-Answer
- Problem-Solution
Language of Expository Texts
- Lexicon: Used with precision; words retain their literal or direct meaning. Technicalities are frequently used.
- Connectors or Discourse Markers: Indicate the relationship between statements and the order in which information progresses.
- Order: For this reason, and so.
- Space: In the foreground, in the background.
- Chronological: In the year, after, throughout.
- Enumerative: First, second.