ІІ. Narrative Compositional Forms.
1) Description
Description can be considered a temporally indexed invariable background, which
actualizes factual information of static character. Three types of description can be
distinguished:
(1) the description of location;
(2) the description of character(s), either in groups or individually;
(3) The description of temporal situations.
Traditional forms of description include as follows: a portrait and a landscape. Portrait
is one of the major means of individualizing a character. Apart from outer physical
characteristics, it can convey information about his/her haircut, cloths, manners,
accessories, i.e. thing reflective of one’s taste, predilections, and habits. Unlike the
landscape, he portrait both defines one’s social status and relates to the temporal
continuum of text as far as the costume refers to the epoch, time of the year and time
of the day.
Description creates word pictures of objects, persons, scenes, events or situations. It is
static.
DESCRIPTION usually takes one of the three forms: external, analytical/technical,
evocative.
The external description enables the reader to visualize & recognize the object
described. The external description commonly focuses on shape & color of objects &
on their arrangement in space.
Ex. : “Baby turtles in a turtle bowl are a puzzle in geometry. They are as decorative
as pansy petals, but they are also selfdirected building blocks, propping themselves on
one another in different arrangement, before upending the tower…. ”
The technical description enables the reader to understand the structure of an object:n
The technical description enables the reader to understand the structure of an object:
E. g. : “The panda’s “thumb” is not, anatomically, a finger at all. It is constructed
from a bone called the radical sesamoid, normally a small component of the wrist.
”(St. Jay GOULD, The Panda’s Thumb).
The evocative description re-creates the impression made by an object, it appeals ton
The evocative description re-creates the impression made by an object, it appeals to
the eye & other senses: n E. g. : “The heat of summer was mellow & produced sweet
scents which lay in the air so damp & rich you could almost taste them. Mornings
smelled of purple wisteria, afternoons of the wild roses which tumbled over stone
fences, & evenings of honeysuckle…”
2) Argumentation
The author expresses his/her position in a most explicit way in the argumentation
form. As far as it is always a highly generalized presentation of the author’s position,
argumentation is highly autonomous and can be attributed to several situations of
similar kind. Therefore, cohesion needs to be strengthened in order to stick author’s
words to the previous and succeeding contexts: "This story I am telling... These
characters I create... This is a novel...".
It presents n the author’s or the character’s reasoning, n arguments, offering causes &
effects of the personage’s behavior,
The personages’ or the author’s considerations about moral, ethical, ideological &
other issues.
3) Narrative proper
NARRATIVE PROPER, which is a dynamic unfolding of the plot.
Narration relates to a series of events (real, biographical, imaginary);
The events may be real (historical), or imaginary (short stories, novels);
The action plays a central role in any narrative.
