Narrative Techniques

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The use of narrative techniques such as point of view, plot, and characterization to create a particular effect or mood in a text.

Point of View: The perspective that the author uses to narrate the story, such as first-person, second-person, or third-person.
Characterization: The way that a writer reveals character traits and personalities through actions, descriptions, and dialogue.
Plot: The sequence of events that make up the story, including the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
Setting: The time and place where the story takes place, including the physical and social environments that shape the characters' experiences.
Dialogue: The spoken or written words that characters use to communicate with each other, revealing their attitudes, values, and beliefs.
Description: The way that a writer uses sensory details and other language features to create vivid and memorable images of people, places, and things.
Theme: The underlying meaning or message of the story, often related to universal human experiences and values.
Symbolism: The use of objects, images, or actions to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
Irony: The use of language to convey meanings that are opposite to or different from the literal meaning, often for dramatic or comic effect.
Foreshadowing: The use of clues, hints, or suggestions to indicate what may happen later in the story.
Flashback: The interruption of the chronological sequence of events to show past events that are relevant to the present.
Tone: The attitude or mood conveyed by the language and style, often reflecting the author's perspective towards the subject matter.
Imagery: The types of sensory details used to create vivid and memorable images, including visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, and gustatory.
Metaphor: The comparison of two unlike things to highlight similarities and deepen the reader's understanding.
Simile: The comparison of two unlike things using "like" or "as" to highlight similarities and deepen the reader's understanding.
Personification: The attribution of human qualities to nonhuman objects, animals, or ideas.
Hyperbole: The use of exaggeration to emphasize a point or make a statement more powerful.
Allusion: The reference to a person, place, event, or work of literature that the reader is expected to recognize and understand.
Alliteration: The repetition of initial consonant sounds to create a rhythmic and memorable effect.
Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds to create a rhythmic and memorable effect.
Point of view: The perspective from which a story is told, such as first-person, third-person omniscient, or third-person limited.
Tone: The attitude or emotional state conveyed by a speaker or writer in a piece of writing.
Mood: The atmosphere or feeling created by a piece of writing, which can be conveyed through language, setting, or the actions of the characters.
Dialogue: The spoken words of characters, which reveal their personalities, motivations, and beliefs.
Imagery: The use of vivid, sensory details to create a mental picture in the reader's mind.
Symbolism: The use of objects or actions to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
Foreshadowing: The use of hints or clues to suggest upcoming events or to create suspense.
Irony: The use of words or actions that convey a meaning opposite to their literal interpretation.
Flashback: A device used to interrupt the chronological flow of a story by moving back to an earlier event.
Stream of consciousness: A narrative technique that presents the continuous flow of a character's thoughts, feelings, and perceptions as they occur in their mind.
Narrator reliability: The degree to which the reader trusts the narrator's account of events.
Allegory: A story in which characters or events represent abstract ideas or moral principles.
Allusion: A reference to a well-known person, place, or event within a story that creates a connection between the story and the outside world.
Anecdote: A brief, entertaining story that illustrates a larger point or idea.
Epistolary: A narrative composed of letters or other forms of personal correspondence between characters.
"A narrative technique is any of several specific methods the creator of a narrative uses to convey what they want..."
"...a strategy used in the making of a narrative to relay information to the audience and particularly to develop the narrative..."
"...usually in order to make it more complete, complex, or interesting."
"Narrative techniques are distinguished from narrative elements, which exist inherently in all works of narrative."
"Some scholars also call this technique a narrative mode..."
"...a literary technique, literary device, or fictional device..."
"...usually in order to make it more complete, complex, or interesting."
"...to develop the narrative..."
"...though this term can also more narrowly refer to the particular technique of using a commentary to tell a story."
"Narrative techniques are distinguished from narrative elements, which exist inherently in all works of narrative." Note: Additional questions can be generated by referring to specific phrases or ideas in the original paragraph.