What are the Elements of Narration?

Elements of Narration

The narrative genre it's a literary genre in which a real or fictional world is recreated. Although real events can be narrated, they are always located within the scope of fiction because the author chooses a narrator from which they are transmitted descriptions and subjective perspectives.

For a text be considered as a narration must include a number of elements: the characters, the narrator, the plot, time and space.

In the narrative genre the referential function of language, because he tells a story about a particular topic or referent.

Types and examples of narrative elements

Storyteller

It is the point of view from which the story is told. He may or may not be a character within the story. The narrator is the one who organizes the plot by being the voice from which the facts of the story are told. The narrator may or may not be involved in the story. For instance:

• Second person narrator:
  • Internal. He tells the story from the perspective of a protagonist or witness to the story.
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  • External. He is a omniscient narrator, but that uses the second person at certain times to maintain a link with the reader.
• Third person narrator:
  • Omniscient. He knows everything the protagonists feel and think, and narrates descriptively and objectively.
  • Observer. He does not know everything that happens but he is deciphering the facts as if he were a character in the story (although he does not use the first person).
• First person narrator:
  • Witness. He is one of the characters in the story, although he is never the protagonist. He narrates what (according to his perception) happens to the protagonist, but as an observer, not as a "god" who knows what the protagonists think and feel.
  • Protagonist. He is the protagonist of the story, so he can tell, in a subjective way, what he lived, thinks and feels.
  • Interior monologue. His story is not intended for anyone but himself. This narrator seeks to capture the thinking of the character in real time.

Characters

They are the ones who are involved and intervene in the story. They carry out the actions and go through the causes and consequences of what is narrated. Characters can be people, objects, animals or imaginary beings. They always fulfill a function within the story. They must be "useful" for the plot to take place.

According to their role:

Space

It is the place where the story occurs. It can be imaginary or real, and it is the space where the events are set and the characters unfold. Its description gives greater credibility and authenticity to the story. There are different types of narrative spaces:

• • Closed. It is limited and conditions the action of the characters. For example: a prison, a room, a hotel.
  • Opened. It is a large outdoor space. It does not limit the actions of the characters. For example, a city, a country, a Mountain.

Weather

It is the specific moment in which the narrated events unfold and the way in which they are ordered. In every narrative three different times are identified:

The plot

It is the content of the story, that is, the actions that take place and that advance the story to its end. In long narratives, such as a novel, there may be more than one frame. All the plots must be linked to each other for the story to make sense.

In general, the plot is structured in three parts:

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