Narrative Elements in Storytelling
Narrative Elements
The Narrator
The narrator’s primary purpose is to present the story understandably. The narrator, created by the author, is a crucial element like the story and characters. Their characterization depends on the information available and the chosen point of view.
Types of Narrators
Third Person
- Omniscient: Possesses total knowledge of facts, including characters’ thoughts, feelings, and intentions. This perspective may involve varying levels of narrator involvement, including comments and direct addresses to the reader.
- Observer: Presents the story objectively, similar to a film camera, focusing only on observable actions and events.
First Person
- Protagonist: The narrator is the main character, often seen in autobiographical works.
- Secondary Character: The narrator witnesses the events but isn’t the central figure. Multiple witnesses can create a multi-perspectival narrative.
Second Person
- Represents a split within the self, creating the effect of telling the story to oneself.
Narrative Techniques
The author controls the narrative pace, accelerating or slowing down the action, allowing characters to speak, manipulating the timeline, and selectively revealing information to create tension and evoke emotions like expectation, uncertainty, and intrigue.
Narrative Structure
Narrative structure comprises external and internal components. External structure refers to the organization of content (chapters, parts, etc.), while internal structure concerns the order of events.
Types of Narrative Structures
- Linear/Chronological: The order of discourse follows the order of events.
- In Medias Res: The story begins in the middle of the action without prior context.
- Breaks in Time:
- Flashback (Analepsis): The narrative shifts to the past.
- Flashforward (Prolepsis): The narrative jumps to the future.
- Counterpoint: Multiple storylines intertwine.
- Circular: The narrative begins and ends in the same way.
Characters
Characters are essential elements, categorized by their level of involvement:
- Protagonist: The central focus, often a rounded character who evolves. May be opposed by an antagonist.
- Secondary Characters: Flat characters who don’t evolve, often representing archetypes.
- Extras: Minor characters with minimal impact.
Speech Representation
- Direct Style: Reproduces exact character dialogue (e.g., “Here I can not take two days.”).
- Indirect Speech: Reports character speech without direct quotation (e.g., John thought that he couldn’t take it for two days).
- Free Indirect Style: Blends narrator and character voices, presenting character thoughts or speech without explicit tags (e.g., “The situation was chaotic. There could not take him two days.”).
- Monologue: A character speaks to themselves, revealing inner thoughts and feelings.
Time
- External/Historical Time: The time period in which the story takes place.
- Narrative Time: The time span covered by the narrative. Authors use ellipsis (time skips) to focus on significant moments.
Space
Space is the physical and social setting of the story. It can be open or closed, and often influences character behavior, reflects their mood, or even becomes a central element of the narrative.