Week 4: paragraph development - narration, description and definition Flashcards
originated from the Latin word narrare—which means related or told. It gives a written account of an event or story, or simply, storytelling. The sequence of events is told in chronological order. It usually contains the following: the who, what and when.
narrate
vital in a story as they are the ones primarily involved in it
characters
serve as the main character/s
protagonists
initiates conflict for the protagonists in a story
antagonists
determines a clear picture of the place where the story takes place. It may be a significant part of the story or it may set the mood.
setting
gives life to the characters and gives sense to the setting.
plot
refers to the perspective in which the narrative was written.
plot
There are three main types of point-of-view:
first-person pov
second-person pov
third person pov
where the writer tells the story from his/her own perspective
first person pov
the writer tells the story in his own words from an observer’s point of view
second person ppov
the writer objectively tells the story or events that happened to another individual.
third person pov
often used as techniques in building a narrative writer’s style
figures of speech
Some notable figures of speech used in narratives are the following:
- Personification
- Metaphor or simile
- Hyperbole
This is a narrative technique that “flashes back” to an event in the not so distant past. This contributes to the story as it adds background, meaning and depth to the current situation in the story.
flashback
the technique that the writer uses to present hints to future events. Hints may be inserted into dialogues and into the events occurring in the story, suggesting the possibilities and what is going to happen.
foreshadowing
gives the readers a view of the story behind the story and how the characters and the events came to be. This will give insight to the characters’ personalities, upbringing, and history, leading to a better understanding and analysis of the story as a whole.
backstory
gives life to the characters. This shows their spoken language and the manner in which they speak it.
dialogue
information about the setting, character’s backstories, and other important and related plot events
exposition
where and when the story took place
setting
the individuals involved in the story
characters
the individuals involved in the story
characters
the problem that the characters are facing
conflict
a character’s struggle with himself/herself
internal conflict
a character’s struggle with other character/s
external conflict
the sequence of events leading up to the climax
rising action
the most interesting and the highest point in the story where the conflict is addressed
climax
consequences or events caused by the climax
falling action
the outcome of the characters’ actions
resolution
emphasizes a reader’s ability to paint vivid pictures using words on a reader’s mind. This relies on the writer’s ability to appeal to his/her five senses: the sight, smell, touch, taste, and hear
descriptive writing
According to Dagdag (2010), there are two types of description:
objective and subjective
is a factual description of the topic at hand. This relies its information on physical aspects and appeals to those who crave for facts.
objective description
allows the writer to explore ways to describe an emotion, an event, a thing, a place or person, appealing to emotions. Often, this is an artistic way of describing things, mostly from the eye and perspective of the writer.
subjective description
the formal definition of a term, usually from the dictionary or a source.
denotation
on the other hand, does not follow the dictionary definition of a word, but instead, relies on the author’s perspective and experiences in shedding light on the term.
connotation
another technique in defining that makes the reader understand the difference between two similar/related terms.
contrast
shows the evolution of the word and how it was formed
etymology
“includes the term to be defined, the class to which the term belongs, and the characteristic/s that make it different from other members in the same class or species.” (Dagdag, 2010)
intensive definition
by its root word, this extends the definition formed in the intensive sentence into a paragraph using other techniques in paragraph development such as description, comparison and contrast, cause and effect and others.
extensive definition
