Narrative Writing

The first paper that will be written in English 101 is a narrative. It is the first of many genres that will be written throughout the class. The narrative is the most informal writing that will be written. One week will be spent learning and reading narratives before it is written. A narrative is written a certain way that can be easily distinguished between other types of genres as will be seen below. The narrative paper will be worth 15% of the final grade in English 101 (Instructor Loudon’s syllabus).

Characteristics of a Narrative

A narrative has to have certain components in order for it be considered a narrative. First, there must be a clearly defined event in the story. Written correctly it will contain what happened and who was involved. There is a clearly defined setting that describes where and when something happened. The event and setting can be clearly described by using vivid and descriptive details that will make the story come alive and better portray the story to the specific audience the narrative is directed at. The narrative will be written for a specific audience whether it is written for a professor like it is in English 101 or maybe in other cases it could be for peers or other influential people. Always keep in mind who the audience is while writing. The narrative will tell a story and have a particular purpose of why it is being written. A good narrative will have a purpose that clearly shows why the event in the narrative matters throughout the whole paper. A consistent point of view must be used throughout the whole paper. It can be written in either first person or third person but it cannot change back and forth. Even though a narrative can “jump around” when portraying a story, unlike other genres, it still needs a set structure. It still needs a beginning, middle, and end that includes an introduction and conclusion paragraph. When writing a narrative, the rhetorical situations need to be considered as well (Lunsford et al 108-117).

Rhetorical Situations in a Narrative

Rhetorical situations include the audience, tone, purpose, stance, context, medium, and design of the writing piece. These are present and need to be in all types of genres but for a narrative, the tone, stance, context, and purpose of the narrative are all based on the audience that the narrative is being written for. These things all correlate with one another because of the way a narrative is written. The purpose of the narrative needs to match the tone and stance that the paper is written in. The tone of the paper should not be happy and upbeat if it is describing someone’s death and the anger that follows it. If the narrative changes feelings, the tone and stance also need to change to match it. A paper is read in the Crimson Quill that shows the students an example of this. Medium and design are not considered as often in a narrative because there is no certain design that it has to be written in. Again, mediums are not often used in narratives but quotes from articles or other stories could be used to enhance the narrative writing (Lunsford et al 122-127).

Different Topics of Narratives

Depending on the writer’s topic, research may have to be done. Two main types of narratives that are taught in English 101 include a personal narrative explaining a life-changing experiencing with an influential person or describing a memorable place for the author. Research may have to be done if the narrative is describing a place just so there are sufficient details that will make the narrative interesting. That is completely fine because some people are unable to write or share a personal narrative. It will likely need to rely on the author’s memory for the content since it is not personal (Lunsford et al 125).