Narrative Text: Elements, Structure, and Analysis
Narrative Text: An Overview
Narrative text tells a story, real or fictional, about characters and events in a specific time and place. Key elements shape narratives, including structure, narration (point of view), space and time, characters, and the narrative itself. These elements vary in complexity depending on the narrative form, reaching their fullest development in novels.
Structure
External Structure
External structure refers to the physical organization of the text. This includes divisions like paragraphs (short stories), chapters (novels), parts (novels, plays), treatises (philosophical narratives), books, sequences (films), acts and scenes (plays), and sections (news reports). The external structure is often reflected in a story’s table of contents or index.
Internal Structure
Internal structure refers to the organization of the narrative’s content. This can be viewed in two ways:
- Content Organization: Narratives often follow a three-part structure:
- Exposition: Introduces the context, characters, relationships, setting, time, and circumstances, establishing a baseline.
- Rising Action/Conflict: A conflict arises where the protagonist faces challenges from nature, other characters, or internal struggles. This conflict disrupts the initial state and creates change.
- Resolution: The conflict is resolved, leading to a new stable situation. Some narratives include a moral or lesson.
- Chronological Order: While events logically follow a chronological order, narratives can present them differently:
- Linear: Events unfold chronologically.
- In Medias Res: The story begins in the middle, then flashes back to provide context before proceeding linearly.
- Flashback: The narrator recounts past events from the present.
- Flashforward: The narrator anticipates future events.
- Counterpoint: Multiple storylines intersect throughout the narrative.
The author’s organization of events distinguishes the story (chronological order of events) from the plot (the order events are presented).
Narrator and Point of View
The narrator is the voice that tells the story, a construct created by the author. The narrator can speak in the characters’ voices, address a narratee (a fictional character within the story), or even the reader directly. Different voices (polyphony) offer multiple perspectives, enriching the narrative’s meaning.
Point of view is the perspective from which the story is told:
- External Point of View (Third Person):
- Omniscient Narrator: Knows everything about the characters and events, including inner thoughts and feelings. May offer commentary and anticipate events.
- Objective Narrator: Presents events without explanation, like a camera recording, focusing on observable actions.
- Internal Point of View (First Person):
- Protagonist Narrator: The main character tells the story from their perspective.
- Minor Character Narrator: A secondary character recounts the events they witnessed.
Modern novels may use a shifting, kaleidoscopic point of view, alternating between different characters’ perspectives, especially in narratives with a collective protagonist or counterpoint structure.
Space and Time
Space is the physical setting of the story. It can be a simple backdrop or a significant element influencing characters and creating atmosphere.
Time has two aspects:
- External Time: The historical period of the story (e.g., Middle Ages, 22nd century).
- Internal Time: The timeframe of the events (e.g., a moment, days, centuries).
Authors use ellipsis, omitting periods, to focus on significant moments.
Characters
Characters drive the narrative:
- Protagonist: The central character(s), who may face an antagonist. Round characters evolve throughout the story.
- Secondary Characters: Interact with the protagonist. Often flat characters who remain static and represent archetypes.
Narrative and Other Text Types
Pure narrative focuses on actions and events. However, narratives often incorporate other text types:
- Description: Details about characters, settings, and objects.
- Dialogue: Direct or indirect speech, interior monologue, and free indirect style.