Aula 05

Prévia do material em texto

Oficina de Redação em Língua Inglesa
Paula Bullio
Aula 5
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Narrative Texts
The basic purpose of narrative is to entertain, to gain and hold a readers' interest. However narratives can also be written to teach or inform, to change attitudes / social opinions e.g.: soap operas and television dramas that are used to raise topical issues. Narratives sequence people/characters in time and place but differ from recounts in that through the sequencing, the stories set up one or more problems, which must eventually find a way to be resolved.
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Types of narrative
There are many types of narrative. They can be imaginary, factual or a combination of both. They may include fairy stories, mysteries, science fiction, romances, horror stories, adventure stories, fables, myths and legends, historical narratives, ballads, slice of life, personal experience.
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Features
Characters with defined personalities/ identities.
Dialogue often included - tense may change to the present or the future.
Descriptive language to create images in the reader's mind and enhance the story.
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Structure: In a Traditional Narrative the focus of the text is on a series of actions.
Orientation: (introduction) in which the characters, setting and time of the story are established. Usually answers who? when? where? 
Complication or problem: The complication usually involves the main character(s) (often mirroring the complications in real life).
Resolution: There needs to be a resolution of the complication. The complication may be resolved for better or worse/happily or unhappily. Sometimes there are a number of complications that have to be resolved. These add and sustain interest and suspense for the reader.
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Plot: What is going to happen?
Setting: Where will the story take place? When will the story take place?
Characterization: Who are the main characters? What do they look like?
Structure: How will the story begin? What will be the problem? How is the problem going to be resolved?
Theme: What is the theme / message the writer is attempting to communicate?
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Language
Action verbs: Action verbs provide interest to the writing. 
Written in the first person (I, we) or the third person (he, she, they).
Usually past tense.
Connectives, linking words to do with time.
Specific nouns: Strong nouns have more specific meanings.
Active nouns: Make nouns actually do something, e.g. There was a large cabinet in the lounge could become A large cabinet seemed to fill the lounge.
Careful use of adjectives and adverbs.
Use of the senses
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Imagery
Simile: A direct comparison, using like or as or as though, eg. The sea looked as rumpled as a blue quilted dressing gown. Or The wind wrapped me up like a cloak.
Metaphor: An indirect or hidden comparison, e.g. She has a heart of stone 
 or He is a stubborn mule or 
 The man barked out the 
 instructions.
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Onomatopoeia: A suggestion of sound through words, e.g. crackle, splat, ooze, squish, boom, e.g. The tyres whir on the road. The pitter-patter of soft rain. The mud oozed and squished through my toes.
Personification: Giving nonliving things (inanimate) living characteristics, e.g. The steel beam clenched its muscles. Clouds limped across the sky. The pebbles on the path were grey with grief.
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Rhetorical Questions: Often the author asks the audience questions, knowing of course there will be no direct answer. This is a way of involving the reader in the story at the outset, e.g. Have you ever built a tree hut?
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Variety in sentence beginnings. There are a several ways to do this e.g by using:
Participles: "Jumping with joy I ran home to tell mum my good news.“
Adverbs: "Silently the cat crept toward the bird"
Adjectives: "Brilliant sunlight shone through the window"
Nouns: "Thunder claps filled the air"
Adverbial Phrases: "Along the street walked the girl as if she had not a care in the world."
Conversations/Dialogue: these may be used as an opener. This may be done through a series of short or one-word sentences or as one long complex sentence.
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Strategies
Narrative text includes any type of writing that relates a series of events and includes both fiction and nonfiction. Both forms tell stories that use imaginative language and express emotion, often through the use of imagery, metaphors, and symbols. The purpose of narrative text is to entertain, to gain and hold a reader's interest; however, writers of memoirs and novels often relate complex stories that examine universal ideas, events, and issues. In addition, speakers, advertisers, and politicians use stories to persuade us to accept or reject an idea.
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All in all, the narrative form is unique, because authors relate ideas they want to express about how people behave and what they believe. These ideas, or themes, generally relate to universal truths and make connections to the reader's experiences.
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Narrative Genres and Sub-genres
In the beginning, there was the Narrative, the story being told. Then things got complicated.
Genre (n): categories (and subcategories) of Narratives that have similar technique, style, form, and/or content
The two broadest divisions of genre are Fiction and Nonfiction.
Fiction (n): the class of literature comprising works of imaginative narration, especially in prose form.
Nonfiction (n): the branch of literature comprising works of narrative prose dealing with or offering opinions or conjectures upon facts and reality, including biography, history, and the essay
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In short, Fiction is a Narrative that is imagined. It is, at least in part, made up by the writer. Nonfiction is a Narrative that is (mostly) an account of events that actually occurred, or opinions on those real events. Nonfiction is history; Fiction is a work of the imagination.
Genre may be specific to the length of the Narrative as well, so here are the different definitions of story length:
Short story: 2,000 – 7,500 words.
Novel: 11,000 - 100,000 words.
Epic Novel: 101,000 words – 200,000 words.
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Genres
Action/Adventure: Action/Adventure stories include lots of activity, and high-concept effects. Historically, these were aimed at male readers, but this is no longer the case. Action/Adventure stories are fast-paced, designed for pure audience escapism, and primarily plot driven. Elements may include: a quest, lots of physical action, exotic locales, etc. Themes for action may include: Revenge; Savior; Superhero. Themes for Adventure may include: Discovery; Expeditions; Treasure Hunts. Adventures are filled with risk and the unknown, something outside the ordinary experience and that may be hazardous. 
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Crime: Centered on characters that have done something wrong or are at least accused of doing so as the real criminal gets away. Diary/Journal: First-person accounts given in diary entries written by the main character. These accounts are presented as being the true thoughts of the main character. The diary can take up the entire story 
 or just be small entries 
 sprinkled throughout the 
 story. 
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Drama: Serious stories that portray realistic characters in realistic settings. Can also be over-the-top, exaggerating the seriousness of the problem and the character’s reactions to those problems.
Fantasy: Transcend the bounds of human possibility and physical laws, moving into the magical realms and otherworld dimensions. Magic, myth, and impossibilities abound. Other worlds are explored, characters may have supernatural powers, and the laws of physics are challenged. Anything is possible.
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Folk Tales/Fairy Tales: Stories that have been passed down to us overthe years by real people. There are many types of folk tales, including fables, tall tales, myths, and fairy tales.
Historical/Epic: Mixes detailed historical research with imagined characters. Epics are often Historical in nature and cover a large expanse of time set against a rich, vast setting. Think Gone With The Wind.
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Horror: Meant to frighten the audience. Challenging common fears works best because people can relate to them, such as being left alone in the dark, having a car break down in the middle of the night on a deserted street, or getting into an elevator with a scary-looking man. Themes may include: Dark Aspects of Life (other types of Horror expose the darker, more sinister aspects of human nature); Psychological (this type of horror plays with the reader’s mind; Violence (many horror stories have violence or the threat of violence).
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Nonfiction
Nonfiction writing includes the following sub-genres:
Autobiographies: The history of an individual’s life and accomplishments. May be limited to specific event, time, and/or place, or more all-encompassing. The difference is that these stories are written by the person who experienced the event. Possibly written with the assistance of a second party. Self-portraits.
Biographies. Books about a person’s life, or a segment of a person’s life. A biography would be written by a secondary party, not the person who experienced the event. Could relate to contemporary or historical events.
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Cookbooks: Related to cooking, with recipes detailed, creating menus. On the subjects of cooking, baking, mixing ingredients, in a variety of ways.
Crafts: Creating craft items, designing projects, such as embroidery, woodcrafts, ceramics, etc.
Creative Nonfiction: Hybrid of literature and Nonfiction that is based on true-life events. True story dramatization. The Nonfiction elements are based on facts, and the Fiction elements are based on setting, scene, place, and bringing out characterization. Typically this sub-genre might include Biographies, Autobiographies, Journalistic reporting.
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Essays: Short prose that makes a point, states an opinion, or describes an event. A Persuasive Essay may be one-sided and directed at converting the reader to a certain belief or idea. A Political essay might make a statement regarding social or political views. The primary focus would be to support and explore the social or political view, and/or to possibly consider it’s short-falling as well.
History: Books focused on historical events, both world and local. American History would focus on historical events taking place in the United States; British History would focus on historical events which took place specifically related to England; World History would include books related to cultures around the world, etc.
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How-to: Self-explanatory. These books described how to do something.
Journalistic Reporting: Reports the news through creative retelling of the events as they happened rather than giving just the bare, minimum facts; a more first-hand, personal look into the events.
Memoirs: Limited autobiographies. Many times speaking of a specific event in their lives.
Music/Art/Architecture: Covering present as well as Historical information on these subjects, including examples.
Persuasive. May be one-sided and directed at converting the reader to a personal/belief or concept.
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Political: Also considered social writing,. Makes a statement regarding social or political views or ways of being. Primary focus of the work supports a social or political view or critiques it. There is an element of exploration within them.
Religion: Books within the Nonfiction genre of religion will look at modern religions as well as ancient religions.
Science and Technology: A gamut of subjects within these genres, going from natural science, to astronomy, to Internet technologies.
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Self-help/Psychology/Sociology: Self-help books usually describe how to improve your life in some way, either by raising your self-esteem, increasing your health, or learning a new skill. Psychology and sociology books describe how people behave and interact.
Travel/Geography. Would include description of the terrain, the sights, the locale and customs of individual places, countries, cities, town, rural destinations, cultures, etc. Travel books would be geared toward people planning to travel, possibly with details about restaurants, hotels, local attractions. Geography would be more limited in scope in discussing terrain, relevant statistics about an area, etc.-it would not include travel planning.
True Crime: Narrative that follows the criminal’s or the detective’s perspective. A re-telling of events surrounding the nature of the crime.
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Poetry/Prose: Have a rhythm and meter. Poems create imagery. May be humorous, serious, lyrical, or narrative (tells a story - referred to as prose). Meter, rhyme, and intonation are prevalent tools of poetry. 
Pornography: Adult explicit, sexual Fantasy Fiction. Gritty, frank language.
Romance: A romance centers around the romantic relationship of the main characters. Traditional Romances include a “happily ever after” ending. Not all Romances are Traditional Romances - some may include opened-ended possibilities. Some Non-traditional Romances may be referred to as “Dark Romances”.
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Science Fiction/Futuristic: Based on newly emerging or futuristic technological, and/or environmental or biological advances. Related to science, technology, space, and the future. Think Minority Report, Star Trek. Science Fiction has been specifically identified as those stories with plots rooted in science and technology. Note Futuristic may not necessarily contain the same degree of technological aspects/elements as Science Fiction, but it would take place at a future time.
Western: Involve settings in the American West, with a feeling of the open range. Westerns have themes of honor, redemption, revenge, and finding one’s identity or place in life. 
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Further reading
Bardovi-Harlig, K. (1996). Tense and aspect in (con)text. In T. Miller (Ed.), Grammar and discourse. The Journal of TESOL France, 3, 19-33.
Bardovi-Harlig, K. (1995). A Narrative Perspective on the Development of the TenseAspect System in Second Language Acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition,17, 2, 263-91.
Bardovi-Harlig, K. (1992). The Telling of a Tale: Discourse Structure and Tense Use in Learners' Narratives. ERIC No.: ED395527.
Bardovi-Harlig, K. and Bergstrom, Anna . (1996). Acquisition of Tense and Aspect in Second Language and Foreign Language Learning: Learner Narratives in ESL and FFL. Canadian Modern Language Review,52, 2,308-30.
Reid, J. and Byrd, P. (1998). Grammar in the composition classroom. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
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References
DAVIS, J. and LISS, R. Effective academic writing 3 – the essay. Oxford, OUP, 2006
SMALLEY, R., RUETTEN, M. and KOZYREV, J. Developing writing skills 2, 2006.
_____________. Developing writing skills 3, 2006.
_____________. Developing writing skills 4, 2006.
SPRATT, M., PULVERNESS, A. and WILLIAMS, M. The TKT Course. Cambridge, CUP, 2005
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Oficina de Redação em Língua Inglesa
Paula Bullio
Atividade 5
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Vídeo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4BYbNfx1uU&hd=1 
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One day, a hound dog went hunting by himself in the woods. He saw a rabbit in the bush and chased him out into an open. The rabbit ran. The dog followed. The rabbit ran around trees and through an open field.
When the dog began to be tired, the rabbit, with its last energy, jumped into the bush and disappeared.
As the dog turned back home, a goat herder who had seen the chase smiled at him saying, “Why did you let that rabbit go?”
“You forget,” replied the tired dog,“I was only running for my dinner. He was running for his life!”
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1- The story tells us about how……save his precious life.
a. the hound dog
b. the poor rabbit
c. the rabbit’s friend
d. the goat herder
2. The story happened….
a. on an open field
b. behind the bush
c. around trees
d. in the woods
3. What can you learn from the above story?
a. People should protect endagered rabbits
b. A big and strong hound dog is the best man’s friend
c. We should have a dog to chase any dangerous animals
d. One should make any possible efforts to safe his or her life
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