Lecture 7 Types of Narration and Compositional Forms

Lecture 7. Types of Narration and Compositional Forms I. Types of narration. 1. The author’s narrative; 2. The entrusted narrative; 3. The dialogue; 4. The interior speech: a) inner/interior monologue; b) short insets of interior speech 5. Represented speech: a) inner RS; b) uttered RS

II. Compositional forms 1) Narrative proper (dynamic) 2) Description (static) 3) Argumentation (static)

1. The author’s narrative (the 3 d person narrative) : A work of creative prose is never homogeneous as to the form and essence of the information it carries. Naturally, it is the author who organizes this effect of polyphony. Functions n To unfold the plot; n To characterize personages; n To describe the time and place of actions; n To create images

Third person narrative, limited n Third person limited is where the narrator describes events in third person grammar but as if seen through the eyes of only one character (hence "limited"), the protagonist. n The narrative will include thoughts and feelings of only the protagonist, while other characters are presented externally. Since the reader learns the events of the narrative entirely through the perceptions of the protagonist, anything that the protagonist cannot perceive must be excluded from the narrative otherwise it "breaks" the point of view. Because of this, third person limited is sometimes called the "over the shoulder" perspective. n Sh. Bronte “Shirley”, D. H. Lawrence “Sons and Lovers”, S. Maugham “Theatre”, R. Bradbury “ 451 Farenheit”

Third person, omniscient/dramatic n An omniscient narrator is also disembodied; he takes no actions and has no physical form in or out of the story. But he witnesses all events, even some that no characters witness. The omniscient narrator knows all things past, present and future - as well as the thoughts of all characters. n As such, an omniscient narrator offers the reader a bird's-eye view about the story. The story can focus on any character at any time and on events where there is no character. The third-person omniscient narrator is usually the most reliable narrator; n This was common in the 19 th century, as seen in the works of Jane Austen, W. Thackeray or George Eliot.

2. The entrusted narrative (1 st person narrative): n In contemporary prose, in an effort to make writing more plausible, the writer gives some fictitious character the task of story-telling. 1. The entrusted narrative can be carried out in the 1 st person singular (“The Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger, or “The Great Gatsby” by Sc. Fitzgerald ). 2. The entrusted narrative may also be anonymous. The narrator does not openly claim responsibility for the views but the manner of presentation, the angle of description suggest that the story is told not by the author himself but by some of his characters (E. Hemingway ).

n Since the narrator is within the story, he or she may not have knowledge of all the events. For this reason, firstperson narrative is often used for detective fiction, so that the reader and narrator uncover the case together. Dr Watson in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.

Examples n “It was a marvelous day in late August and Wimsey’s soul purred within him as he pushed the car along” (the author’s narrative) n “I am always drawn back to places where I have lived, the houses and their neighborhoods” (entrusted narrative)

3. The Dialogue n DIALOGUE or a conversation between characters (uttered speech) where the personages express their minds. It is one of the most significant forms of the personages’ self-characterization or indirect characterization, when the author eliminates himself from the process. E. g. : - Henry, let’s try again! - Try what? Living here? Speaking polite down to all the old men like you? (Dialogue)

4. The interior speech: a) the inner/interior monologue n THE INTERIOR SPEECH OF THE PERSONAGE is widely used in contemporary prose to allow the author to penetrate into the inner world of the character, to witness his thoughts, ideas & views in the making. n Its main form is THE INTERIOR MONOLOGUE, a lengthy piece of the text dealing with one main topic of the character’s thinking, his reminiscences of the past, references to the presence & future.

Soliloquy/Interior speech n n n n To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life (W. Shakespeare)

b) short insets of interior speech n SHORT INSETS OF INTERIOR SPEECH present immediate mental & emotional reactions of the personage to the remark or action of other characters. n E. g. : “Exercise”, he thought, “and no drinking at least a month. That’s what does it. The drinking. Beer, martinis, have another. And the way your head felt in the morning” (Short insets of interior speech)

n To portray the disjointed, purely associative manner of thinking, the authors resort to the stream-ofconsciousness technique, popular in modern literature esp. in modernism.

Example n “A star was shaking. A light was waking. Wind was quaking. The star was far. The night, the light. The light was bright. A chant, a song, the slow dance of the little things within him… Star night, earth, light… O lost!… a stone… a leaf… a door… O ghost!… (stream of consciousness).

5. Represented (reported) speech n REPRESENTED (REPORTED) SPEECH is a peculiar blend of the viewpoints & lg. spheres of both the author & the character. It serves: n to show either the mental reproduction of a once uttered remark (represented uttered speech) or the character’s thinking (represented inner speech). The latter is close to the interior speech in essence, but differs from it in form: n it is rendered in the 3 rd person sg. , n It may have the author’s qualitative words, reflecting his viewpoint alongside the lg. peculiarities of the character.

n E. g. : Could she do anything for Mr. Freeland? No, thanks, she could not, only, did she know where Mr. Freeland’s room was? (represented inner speech) n Rosita sniffed and…in her well-bottom voice declared that yes, it was better that they stay out of the sun , as it seemed to be affecting Ottilie’s head. (represented uttered speech)

6. Compositional forms a) Narrative proper n NARRATIVE PROPER, which is a dynamic unfolding of the plot. n Narration relates to a series of events (real, biographical, imaginary); n The events may be real (historical), or imaginary (short stories, novels); n The action plays a central role in any narrative.

Any narrative has the following categories: n The event n Personages n Time n Place n The narrator Any narrative develops according to the narrative scheme: n Introduction n Setting n Rising action n Climax n Falling action n Catastrophe n Summary

n “ In a very few minutes an ambulance came, the team was told all the nothing that was known about the child & he was driven away, the ambulance bell ringing, unnecessarily. ” (W. Gl. ) (NARRATION) n “VENI, VIDI, VICI”- CEASAR’S narration. n “For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn”. (E. Hemingway)

b) Description n Description creates word pictures of objects, persons, scenes, events or situations. It is static. n DESCRIPTION usually takes one of the three forms: n external, n analytical/technical n evocative.

The external description enables the reader to visualize & recognize the object described. The external description commonly focuses on shape & color of objects & on their arrangement in space. n Ex. : “Baby turtles in a turtle bowl are a puzzle in geometry. They are as decorative as pansy petals, but they are also selfdirected building blocks, propping themselves on one another in different arrangement, before upending the tower…. ” n

n The technical description enables the reader to understand the structure of an object: n E. g. : “The panda’s “thumb” is not, anatomically, a finger at all. It is constructed from a bone called the radical sesamoid, normally a small component of the wrist. ”(St. Jay GOULD, The Panda’s Thumb).

n The evocative description re-creates the impression made by an object, it appeals to the eye & other senses: n E. g. : “The heat of summer was mellow & produced sweet scents which lay in the air so damp & rich you could almost taste them. Mornings smelled of purple wisteria, afternoons of the wild roses which tumbled over stone fences, & evenings of honeysuckle…”

c) Argumentation (also static) – presents n the author’s or the character’s reasoning, n arguments, offering causes & effects of the personage’s behavior, n The personages’ or the author’s considerations about moral, ethical, ideological & other issues.

1. What functional style do different types of 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. narration belong to? What are the main types of the author’s narrative? Give examples of books containing different types of narration. What are the main subtypes of the characters speech? What are the markers of the inner and uttered represented speech? Name the main types of description Give the narrative scheme

Identify types of narration and compositional forms of the following excerpts: n Holmes was certainly not a difficult man to live with. He was quiet in his ways & his habits were regular. … His eyes were sharp & piercing; & his thin hawk-like nose gave his whole expression an air of alertness & decision. (C. Doyle) n The girl noted the change for what she deemed the better. He was so nice now, she thought, so white-skinned and clear-eyed and keen. (Th. Dreiser) n The Mayor of Maycomb asked us to please help the garbage collector by dumping our own trees and trash (H. Lee) n Human life. Dignam. Ugh, that rat's tail wriggling! Five bob I gave. Corpus paradisum. Corncrake croaker: belly like a poisoned pup. Gone. Forgotten. I too. And one day she with. Leave her: get tired. Suffer then. Snivel. Big Spanishy eyes goggling at nothing. Her wavyavyeavyheavyevyevy hair uncombe'd. (J. Joyce)