narration and point of view Flashcards
point of view
voice (verbal quality) + focus (visual angle); needs to be recognized in order to understand a story
irony
gaps between vision and voice/ intentions and understanding/expectations and outcome
third-person narration
- tells what happened
- refers to all characters using the pronouns he/she/they
- virtually always external → narrator is not a character
in the story
omniscented/unlimited narrator:
3rd person
has access to the thoughts, perceptions and experiences of more than one character
limited narrator
external, third person narrator who tells the story from a distinct point of view (usually a single character→ known as central consciousness)
objective narrator
3rd person
mostly dialogue interspersed with minimal description
first-person narration
- most common: first-person singular narration (uses I);
internal narration (major/minor character) - narrator sometimes addresses an auditor (listener
within the fiction whose possible reaction is part of the
story)
unreliable narrator
effective at producing irony, might make claims that are known to be false, might unintentionally reveal their flaws
first person plural
pronoun we, might be used to express the shared perspective of community (maybe: isolated, close-knit, highly regulated)
second-person narration
pronoun: you; might sound like instructional manuals/how-to books/parents/elders speaking to children
tense
- verb tense used has an effect on the narration of a
story - mostly past tense → narration wrapped up in memory
- contemporary fiction often uses present → can lend
an impression of immediacy, frequent repetition or of a
dreamlike state in which time seems suspended - future tense for a strange prophetic outlook
narrator vs implied author
- narrator is neither real or implied author
- keeps author out of the picture
