Essential Forms of Expression: Narration, Description, and Argumentation
Narration: Defining the Narrative Form
Narration is a form of expression in which the issuer discloses some events (real or fictional) that happen to characters in time and space.
Elements of Narration
- Narrative Action: The sequence of events happening in the narration. This usually includes a beginning, middle, and end.
- Narrator: A creation of the author used to tell the story.
- Types: 1st person (protagonist, witness), 3rd person (omniscient, observer).
- Characters: Those who star in the narrative action. They can be protagonists, antagonists, or secondary characters.
- Time: Includes story time (when the incident occurred and its duration) and time of speech (how the narrator orders the events).
Description: Displaying Qualities and Characteristics
Description is the form where the transmitter displays the qualities and technical characteristics of objects, people, or landscapes.
Types of Description
Descriptions are categorized based on reality, purpose, and attitude:
- According to the reality described:
- People (portrait, prosopography, etopeya, self-portrait, caricature)
- Objects
- Abstract realities
- Depending on the issuer's purpose:
- Technical (scientific purpose)
- Literary (artistic purpose)
- According to the issuer's attitude:
- Objective (faithfully representing reality)
- Subjective (presenting reality from a specific point of view)
Descriptive Structures
- Linear: The items described follow a sequential order.
- General to the Particular: Moving from general aspects to specific details.
- Specific to General: Starting with specific details, then generalizing.
Dialogue: Exchange of Information
Dialogue is the speech in which an exchange of information occurs between two or more persons. It is characteristic of spoken language.
Exposition: Explaining and Developing Topics
Exposition is a form of expression that serves to explain and develop information on particular topics and ideas.
Types of Exposition
- Informative: Addresses a generic topic with an informative intention.
- Specialty: Addresses a subject that requires prior knowledge and is aimed at a more restricted audience.
Expository Structures
- Deductive: Begins with the general idea and then presents more specific aspects.
- Inductive: Starts with specific details, then generalizes.
Argumentation: Defending Opinions and Convincing
Argumentation is a form of expression used to defend an opinion and provide reasons or evidence to convince the receiver.
Elements of Argumentation
- Thesis: The issuer's point of view on a particular topic.
- Arguments: The reasons or evidence the author presents to support the thesis (data, facts, examples, arguments from authority).
Argumentative Structures
- Analytical: First develops the thesis, then presents the arguments.
- Synthetic: First presents the arguments, then concludes with the thesis.