Narrative Case

Extract A:

This example shows an interesting opinion to which it seems somebody has written an article or column in a magazine or newspaper. The first-person narration is a giveaway of this.

Throughout this piece we can see many considerations of emotions and feelings. Where the author describes the 'passion for celebrity', or how he would 'happily confess' with passionate and/or intimate connections between celebrity and shame, he keeps this to a descriptive component only. This is not a narrative unit as it lacks verbs and events. According to H. Porter Abbott, verbs are the key function of a narrative unit. The writer has made attempts at giving potential events such as "Is it true that you read Hello!?", but in saying this, there is no evidence these events have actually occurred in the storyline.

As a whole this extract is not a narrative. The piece does not represent any events or any series of events, however as it is just an extract, I cannot say this for the entirety of the text. If the writer were to produce events - for example we were to say later on "I read Hello! Magazine with interest..." we could then assume he is representing an event, and could argue that although it may be subtle, the author has represented an event, therefore has created a narrative.

Extract B:

The instructions and tips of applying mascara all contain imperative verbs. These are instructions or commands. Although the verbs can appear to be narrative units such as "pull your hair back or use a head band so that your hair does not interfere when applying..." they do not represent an event or series of events that have actually occurred. Here they represent informing us of what to do when applying mascara.

As a whole this piece contains elements of time perception. As we read through each step we assume that time is taken as we imagine that, if not actually doing, someone is applying mascara. This narrative time could be argued to be a narrative unit, however the piece as a whole does not represent any events of applying mascara, therefore does not qualify as a narrative.

Extract C:

Assuming this extract is a play, I can already say that this piece strongly qualifies as a narrative. We have staging directions containing a lot of character action and micro-narratives such as pausing, turning pages, smiling and gazing. These all represent the physical gestures made by Winnie and Willie.

The pausing in this extract is vital in terms of narrative. The perception of time taken by the reader is probably a lot quicker than the time it takes to read. So here is an anachrony as we assume that the pauses are very small and subtle, yet reading them and thinking about them would take us a lot more time.

As a whole this piece represents a long series

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