Features of Narrative Texts (VCE SSCE English): Revision Notes

Features of Narrative Texts

Introduction to narrative texts

Storytelling is a powerful way to invite readers and viewers into different lived experiences. It helps expand our understanding of humanity and the wider world. Both fiction and nonfiction narratives can be created in various forms, including:

Forms of narrative storytelling

Written narratives for individual readers:

• Fiction: novels and short stories
• Nonfiction: biographies and memoirs

Visual and performance narratives:

• Drama: plays performed on stage
• Film: stories told through images and sound
• Graphic novels: stories told through words and illustrations in comic-strip format

Authors and filmmakers make deliberate choices when crafting their stories. They use specific features and techniques unique to their chosen form to create meaning through characters, plot and the exploration of core ideas, concerns and tensions.

Plot and narrative structure

Understanding plot

Plot refers to the events that happen in a story. Authors carefully arrange these events to capture their audience's attention, present an engaging story and help the audience feel invested in how events unfold and resolve for the characters.

Narrative structure

Narrative structure is how plot points are arranged or sequenced. The order in which events are presented is crucial because it guides the reader's understanding of the story, their comprehension of characters and their engagement with central ideas.

Narratives can order plot points in two main ways:

Chronological (linear) plot:

• Events are presented from earliest to most recent
• The audience experiences events in the same order as the characters
• This creates a straightforward, easy-to-follow narrative

Nonchronological (nonlinear) plot:

• Events are presented out of order
• The story moves backwards and forwards in time
• This allows authors to emphasise how the past impacts the present
• It draws direct connections between events that occur at different times

Temporal shift is an important concept, referring to any significant change in time within the narrative, whether the plot is chronological or not.

Key points in narrative structure

Understanding narrative structure involves recognising key moments where tension rises and falls throughout the story:

Exposition: This introduces the main characters, the setting and the central conflict. It establishes the world of the story and sets up what's at stake.

Crisis points: These are moments when a character faces a problem or challenge that tests their values and beliefs. Multiple crisis points of varying intensity typically occur throughout a narrative, building towards the climax.

Turning points: These are decisive changes in the course of events. They often happen during or shortly after a crisis point, when a character makes an important decision or something significant is revealed.

Climax: This is where tension reaches its highest point. The main conflict between characters and ideas reaches a peak and must be resolved. Everything has been building to this moment.

Denouement: This creates a sense of closure when all (or most) aspects of the story are explained and mysteries are revealed. The French term translates as 'untie the knot', which perfectly describes its function.

Resolution: This brings the narrative to a close. The key tension or conflict of the story is resolved, though not always happily.

Narrators and narrative viewpoint

Types of narrators

The narrator is the character or voice telling the story. There are two main forms of narration:

Character-bound narration: The story is told by a character within the story itself. This narrator is part of the action and events.

External narration: The story is told by a voice located outside the story, often described as omniscient (all-knowing). This narrator observes but doesn't participate in events.

Understanding narrative viewpoint

Narrative viewpoint is the perspective or lens through which the story is perceived. Viewpoints can be:

Character-bound viewpoint: The narrator is a character involved in the story. This creates a subjective, personal narrative.

External (omniscient) viewpoint: The narration is not connected to any character involved in the main action. This creates a more objective, detached narrative.

External (character-bound) viewpoint: The perspective aligns with a particular character or several characters, but it's not voiced by the characters themselves. An external narrator tells the story whilst focusing on specific characters' experiences.

Effects of different narrators

Character-bound narration (first-person: I, me, us, we):

• Creates intimacy and immediacy
• Readers access one character's subjective view
• Knowledge is limited to what that character knows and experiences
• Provides rich, detailed understanding of the narrator's personality, beliefs, vulnerabilities and motivations
• The tone and style reflect the narrator's personality, background and social context
• Readers feel like participants rather than observers

External omniscient narration (third-person: he, him, she, her, they, them):

• Presents a more detached and objective account
• Positions readers as observers rather than participants
• The narrative voice appears all-knowing
• Tone and style are usually more formal, presenting the voice as reliable
• Readers can access multiple characters' thoughts and motivations
• Encourages readers to form their own judgements about complex situations

External character-bound narration (third-person: he, him, she, her, they, them):

• Introduces different perspectives whilst maintaining narrative distance
• Can show different sides of conflicts or problems
• Conveys information available to some characters but not others
• Creates contrast between how characters see themselves and how others view them
• Allows for a more balanced view of events whilst still focusing on specific characters

Characterisation

What is characterisation?

Characterisation is the way an author constructs a character. By creating compelling, complex and nuanced characters, authors guide readers to feel invested in the story, its outcomes, character development and the narrative's ultimate messages.

Knowing the characters

Whilst you'll focus most attention on the protagonist and main characters, it's important to understand all characters, even those with minor roles. How main characters interact with one another and with minor characters reveals a great deal. Each character plays an integral role in exploring the text's ideas and values.

Analysing and interpreting characters

Authors use characters to reveal the complexity of humanity. How an author constructs a character's behaviour, attitudes and choices enables the text to endorse or challenge various views and values within society. A sophisticated analysis goes beyond merely describing a character; it conveys understanding of how characterisation and narrative structure work together to explore ideas, concerns and tensions.

Characters at crisis points

Characters are tested at moments of crisis, revealing their values through decision-making. These crucial moments show what characters truly believe and what they're willing to sacrifice or fight for. Examining how characters respond to challenges provides deep insight into their values, priorities and development.

When analysing characters, consider:

• What they say and how they say it
• What they do, especially at key moments
• What others say about them
• How they change over time
• What choices they make when tested
• What they learn or fail to learn

Setting

Setting is the place and time in which a narrative's action occurs. It's not simply the physical environment but a combination of several factors:

Geographical location: Where the story takes place—this could be a specific city, country, landscape or imaginary place.

Historical context: When the story occurs—the time period, historical events and era that shape the world of the narrative.

Social context: The social structures, class systems, relationships and communities that characters navigate.

Cultural context: The beliefs, values, traditions and cultural practices that influence characters and events.

Short stories

Short stories share the narrative features discussed so far—plot, narrative structure, narrators, characterisation and setting. However, they have distinctive characteristics:

Key differences from longer narratives:

• Time frame is usually shorter
• Fewer settings and characters
• Main characters undergo less dramatic change
• More concentrated structure

Concentrated story structure

Short stories typically commence with a moment of conflict or tension rather than extensive exposition. The narrative structure is presented in a much more condensed manner, moving quickly through crisis points to climax and resolution.

Links between stories in collections

When studying a short story collection, you need to understand each story individually whilst also recognising what connects them as a whole. Stories within a collection may be united by:

Thematic connections:

• Exploration of various facets of an emotion, event or place
• Recurring themes examined from different angles

Structural connections:

• Recurring characters appearing in multiple stories
• Repeated settings or types of settings
• Particular images or metaphors that appear throughout

Conceptual connections:

• A linking idea (such as family, growing up, loss) explored from various narrative perspectives
• Different characters facing similar challenges or situations

Drama

Plays share the fundamental narrative features of plot, narrative structure, characters and settings with other forms. However, they also have special features unique to performance.

Key considerations for studying drama

Exposition in drama

In plays, exposition refers to the opening section that introduces main characters and the current situation, which usually involves tension or conflict. The script uses stage directions to detail how the playwright intends the stage to appear, including:

• Stage set design
• Lighting
• Costumes
• Actors' positioning on stage (blocking)

Soliloquies and asides

Soliloquy: A significant speech given by a character alone on stage. It reveals the character's inner thoughts, emotions and motivations to the audience.

Aside: A shorter speech than a soliloquy, delivered by a character when not alone, but only the audience can hear it. Other characters on stage don't hear asides.

Stage directions

Stage directions are the playwright's instructions to the director, set designer, costume designer and actors. Usually printed in italics within square brackets, they provide information about:

Performance elements:

• Set appearance, including props and furnishings
• Use of lighting and sound
• Costumes and physical appearances of characters
• Movements, gestures and physical interactions
• Tone and pace of line delivery

Stage directions help readers understand how the narrative should be staged and performed, sometimes providing guidance on how to interpret characters or situations.

Film

Films use plot, narrative structure, characters and setting alongside features unique to the medium: mise en scène, cinematography, editing and sound.

Mise en scène

This French term translates as 'placing on stage'. It refers to all visual elements that appear in a frame:

Key elements:

• Setting: the physical environment and location
• Lighting: natural or artificial light creating mood and atmosphere
• Costumes: what characters wear, reflecting their personality and context
• Acting style: how actors express emotions and inhabit characters
• Props and composition: objects and how elements are arranged within the frame

Cinematography

Cinematography is the process of capturing still and moving images on film. Cinematographers use various camera positions, angles and distances to create contrasting and engaging shots.

Camera distance:

Close-up shot:

• Shows a person or object at short distance
• Often shows a person's face with fine detail
• Draws attention to facial expressions and emotions
• Can suggest an object's importance

Medium shot:

• Shows people from the waist up
• Background details are clearly visible
• Often reveals relationships between people
• Shows body language, costumes, setting and lighting

Medium long shot:

• Shows the whole body and surrounding setting
• Displays interactions between several individuals
• Places characters in social, cultural and physical context

Long shot:

• Presents people as smaller figures within the setting
• Gives strong sense of environment
• Can suggest relative insignificance or powerlessness of people within a landscape

Camera movement:

Pan: The camera rotates horizontally whilst remaining stationary, following character movement or showing the setting.

Tilt: The camera rotates vertically, following subjects moving up or down or showing height or depth.

Track (tracking shot): The whole camera moves along with the action, creating a feeling of active involvement in the scene.

Editing

Editing is the process of selecting shots and joining them in a meaningful sequence.

Key editing techniques:

Crosscutting: Allows films to tell multiple characters' stories by cutting from one scene to another, advancing two or more storylines.

Matching scenes: Allows crosscuts to occur smoothly, encouraging audiences to see connections between different characters' experiences. Matches can be created through similar objects, patterns or colours.

Montage sequence: A series of brief shots, often accompanied by music, depicting a relatively long passage of time or a rapid series of thoughts and images.

Quick editing (fast cutting): Successive shots are short, increasing tension or conveying rapid events.

Slow editing: Each shot lasts longer, used when characters are reflecting or during periods of little action.

Sound

A film's soundtrack has two main components:

Diegetic sound: Sounds that occur within the world of the story, including dialogue and sounds made by characters and objects in that world (traffic noise, footsteps, etc.). This creates authenticity and relatability.

Non-diegetic sound: Sounds added in post-production that the audience hears but characters don't, such as music soundtracks or voice-overs. This creates mood and atmosphere, heightening emotional resonance.

Analysing characters in film

Graphic novels

Graphic novels are multimodal forms of storytelling that combine text and images in comic-strip format. Despite the word 'novel', they can be fiction or nonfiction, short story collections or single long narratives.

Key features of graphic novels

Like other narratives, graphic novels have plot, narrative structure, characters and setting, but they use unique visual features.

Visual structure:

• Arranged as sequences of panels
• Read left to right, top to bottom
• Images and text are nested within panel borders
• The space around borders is called the gutter
• Sometimes images or text break into the gutter to emphasise intensity, significance or magnitude

Nonfiction

Nonfiction narratives tell true stories about real individuals and actual events. They can take the form of prose, plays, films or graphic novels.

Understanding nonfiction

Whilst narrative fiction can relate stories of real people or events, it often embellishes moments, adds characters or alters timelines to enhance drama or emphasise messages. In narrative nonfiction, writers are limited to describing what they know, or have reasonable grounds to believe, to be reality.

Main genres of nonfiction narrative

Biography: The story of a person's life, usually from childhood to at least middle age, written by someone else. Most biographies are written in a formal style with high objectivity and balance.

Autobiography: The story of the author's own life, usually very subjective, presenting the subject's views and opinions alongside factual material.

Memoir: An account of part of the writer's life, often focusing on social and cultural contexts rather than a complete life story.

Journalistic nonfiction (literary journalism): Draws on journalistic techniques like interviews, archival research, attending events and visiting key locations. Though sometimes written in first person, the focus is on other people and events.

Travel writing: An account of the writer's travels, often including reflections on other aspects of life or comparisons between encountered communities and the writer's own society.

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