The narrative structure

A detailed Summary of The narrative structure


Narrative structure is simply how a narrative is put together, so we may analyze the narrative. In other words it is the way the story unfolds. In order to arrest readers' attention fully, the story should be worth telling. It must be extraordinary. It may involve death or danger, something amusing, the unexpected or the uncommon. The narrator must show that what he is relating is worth one's time to hear. It all begins with a main idea. It tells us what the story is going to be about. He will pick the style according to his idea, either linear or non-linear and a genre ('high concept hook'), which he must stay with through out the story to prevent it from flying all over the place. The narrator then will throw main characters, purposeful direction, right pace, etc into the story. Buried beneath most great films are skeletons. Strip away a film's characters, location and story and underneath you will find the bare bones of structure. This is the framework on which the film is built. According to Syd Field, author of 'Screenplay - The Foundations of Screenwriting', 'Structure is what holds the story in place.'

2. Typical elements in a narrative structure

Reverse engineering; take something apart, see how


The story is coming towards the end and the readers need to know what happened. The result or resolution tells what finally happened. This, however, indicates the end of the action but may not be the end of discourse.

Orientation establishes the time, place, setting and opening cast. It sets a distance between the narrator and the narrative. Orientation generally placed first and sets the whole mood for the story to come. It may, however, be added to as need by the narrative. For example, a main character may be introduced later in the narrative and could be evaluative in nature.

Complicating action is the sequence of what happened. It may start with a transitional marker. It may be composed of episodes and scenes. The transitions are often marked by circumstantial clauses. Circumstantial clause is a statement of the particular circumstances under which the action of the main clause takes place. The transitions could also be marked by a shift in the narrator's point of view and/or from an introduction of a new main character.

Explications - It gives the reasons or motivation for certain actions. For example the words such as 'while', 'though', 'since', 'because', etc.



Some common words found in the essay are:
Result Resolution, Introduction Narrative, Orientation Orientation, Intensifiers Repetition, Evaluation Evaluation, Abstract Abstract, Foundations Screenwriting', Syd Field, main character, , result resolution, transitions marked, complicating action, tells story, narrative structure, syd field,

Approximate Word count = 979
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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