Narrative construction

Question 1

What is narrative?

Answer 1

A chain of events linked by cause and effect and occurring in time and space.

Question 2

Diegesis

Answer 2

Part of the story world of the characters - what they can perceive

Question 3

Non-diegetic

Answer 3

The non-diegetic elements are those that can’t be perceived within the reality of the story.

Question 4

Examples of Non-Diegetic

Answer 4

-Film Score
-Voiceover
-Credits
-Montage
-Flashbacks and Flash-forwards
-Title Cards
-Sound Effects
-Narrative Commentary

Question 5

STORY/PLOT distinction:

Question 6

STORY

Answer 6

-All diegetic events that are shown onscreen
-Relevant diegetic events that are referred to, but not explicitly shown onscreen

Question 7

PLOT

Answer 7

-All diegetic events that are shown onscreen
-Added nondiegetic elements that are seen or heard onscreen

Question 8

STORY

Answer 8

Characters experience

Question 9

PLOT

Answer 9

Also includes what audience sees and hears even if the characters don’t

Question 10

Temporal order

Answer 10

flashback, flashforward: the plot reorders the chronology of the story events

Question 11

Temporal duration

Answer 11

-story duration (earliest to latest “referred to” or shown narrative events)
-plot duration (earliest to latest actually-shown events)
-screen duration (the runtime of the film)
-ellipsis: trimming story events from the plot, often for the sake of narrative focus

Question 12

Temporal frequency

Answer 12

see or hear the same story event multiple times in the plot, even though
the event would’ve happened only once in the character’s life

Question 13

Characterization, and cause and effect patterns:

Question 14

Characters as causes:

Answer 14

they make things happen, or respond to events.

Question 15

Characters have traits

Answer 15

attitudes, skills, habits, tastes, and psychological drives that distinguish them

Question 16

Characters face external and internal conflicts:

Answer 16

external conflicts come from the environment or other
characters, and internal conflicts come from within.

Question 17

Openings, closings, and patterns of development:

Answer 17

-a narrative sets up specific narrative elements, that it later develops and resolves
-in medias res: the plot begins “in the middle of things”
-then, the plot further develops what has been introduced
-the plot ends “open” or “closed” - to what degree are loose ends resolved?