Examples of Poor Narrator

He poor narrator It is one that tells the facts of a story in a limited way, because it only refers to what can be perceived with the senses, especially with sight and hearing. For example: They sat down in the restaurant at about eight o'clock at night. The waiter approached them and asked what they were going to order. They replied that they would not order anything until the boss arrived.

• See also: Storyteller

Poor Storyteller Characteristics

• He only describes and narrates how the places, objects and the characteristics and actions of the characters are, because he only knows what can be perceived with the senses. Therefore, it does not refer to the feelings, thoughts and emotions of the characters.
• He is usually in third person, although in some cases it is in first person and he is a witness to the plot, but has limited information about what happened.
• It does not know all the important events of the plot, therefore it is ideal for creating suspense or ambiguity.
• It is impartial and objective, because it does not judge the characters, it does not issue an opinion on the facts, it does not give explanations or make hypotheses in relation to the plot.
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• It is used in different types of novels and stories, but especially in police genres and non-fiction.

Examples of Poor Narrator

1. Excerpt from "Cross Country in the Snow" by Ernest Hemingway

Nick Adams brushed past George, his broad shoulders, his blond hair still smeared with snow. His skis began to slide off the edge, and then he sped up, hissing through the crystalline powder. He seemed to float and submerge as he moved up and down the undulating slopes, supporting himself on his left leg. Finally, when he charged toward the fence, keeping his knees close together and straining his body as if he were squeezing a screw, he made a sudden turn to the right, sending up a whirlwind of snow, and continued slowly, parallel to the slope and the wiring.
Then he looked up at the crest of the hill. George was walking down the undulating slope, kneeling, one leg bent forward and the other dragging. His sticks dangled like the spindly legs of certain insects, skipping chunks of snow as they skimmed the surface. At last the body that seemed to be crawling on its knees took the curve splendidly and George squatted down, rocked back and forth. He held both legs and he leaned in the opposite direction, the skis accentuating the curve like luminous points, all in a wild cloud of snow.
- I was afraid of christy said George; the snow was very soft. You gave yourself a beautiful blow.
—Since I have the leg, I cannot do the Telemark Nick said.

1. fragment of Elephants can remember by Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot got out of the taxi, paid the driver, adding a tip, checked the address by consulting his diary, he took from his pocket an envelope addressed to Dr. Willoughby, went up the steps of the house and pressed the button on the doorbell. A servant opened the door for him. Giving his name, Poirot was informed that Dr. Willoughby was expecting him.
He entered a small, tastefully furnished room, one wall of which was hidden behind a bookcase full of books. In front of the fireplace there were two armchairs and in the middle of them a small table with some glasses and glasses, apart from a couple of bottles.
Dr. Willoughby rose to greet his visitor. He was a man between the ages of fifty and seventy, thin, with a high forehead, dark hair, and penetrating gray eyes. He shook hands with Poirot and indicated to him the vacant chair. Poirot handed him the letter.

1. fragment of maltese falconby Dashiell Hammett

Spade left the parapet and started up Bush Street, toward the alley where the group was. A uniformed policeman, chewing gum under an enamel plaque reading Burritt Street in white letters on a dark blue background, held out his arm and asked:
"What are you looking for here?"
I'm Sam Spade. Tom Polhaus has called me on the phone.
"Of course you are Spade!" the guard said, lowering his arm. So, suddenly, I didn't recognize him… Well, there you have them,” he added, jerking a thumb. Bad business.
"Yeah, that's bad," Spade said, as he started down the alley.
Halfway up, not far from the mouth of the alley, a dark colored ambulance was stopped. On the other side of the ambulance, to the left, the alley ended at a waist-high fence, made of rough horizontal slats. The alley sloped down steeply from the fence to the Stockton Street billboard.

1. fragment of Cold-bloodedby Truman Capote

The River Valley farm owner, Herbert William Clutter, was forty-eight years old, and as a result From a recent medical examination for his insurance policy, he knew that he was in excellent physical condition. Although he wore rimless glasses and was of medium height - just under five foot four - Mr. Clutter had a very masculine appearance. His shoulders were broad, his hair was dark, his face, square-jawed, had he kept a youthful color and his teeth, white and strong enough to crack nuts, were intact. He weighed seventy-six kilos… the same as the day he had graduated from Kansas State University finishing his agricultural studies. He wasn't as rich as the richest man in Holcomb…Mr. Taylor Jones, owner of the neighboring farm. But he was the community's best-known citizen, prominent there and in Garden City, county seat, where he had headed the committee to build the new Methodist church, a building that had cost eight hundred thousand Dollars. At that time he was president of the Kansas Confederation of Farm Organizations and his name was cited with respect among the farmers of the Midwest, as well as in certain offices in Washington, where he had been a member of the Committee on Farm Credit during the administration of eisenhower.

1. Excerpt from "I'll Be Waiting" by Raymond Chandler

It was one in the morning when Carl, the night porter, switched off the last of the three table lamps in the main lobby of the Windermere Hotel. The blue of the carpet darkened a couple of shades and the walls receded until they were distant. The chairs filled with lazy shadows. Memories hung like cobwebs in the corners.
Tony Reseck yawned. He cocked his head and listened to the brittle, nervous music coming from the radio room behind the small archway that ended the hall. He frowned. That should be his radio room, starting at one in the morning. No one should be in it.

Interactive test to practice

Follow with:

• equiscient narrator
• observant narrator
• protagonist narrator
• witness narrator
• Omniscient narrator
• multiple narrator
• First, second and third person narrator

References

• Orejuela, S. AND. (July 19, 2008). Critique of narrative omniscience. sign and sign, (19), 17-32. Available in: Scientific journals of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters (UBA) 
• Tacka, O. (2000). The voices of the novel. Editorial Gredos.