Narrative and Descriptive Texts: Key Elements

Narrative Text: Key Elements

Narrative: The story is the relationship, real or imaginary, of events that occur to characters in a specific place and time. In every narrative, there is a story (the set of events that have occurred in reality) and an account or plot (the expression of these facts, presented as history).

Elements of Narration

• Narrator and Author: The author is the real writer who writes the story. The narrator is the one who tells the story. From the narrator's point of view, this can be in:
  • Third person: The narrator recounts what happens to others and can be omniscient (knows everything) or absent (only recounts what is visible).
  • First person: The narrator recounts what happened to them (protagonist narrator) or what they saw or learned (witness narrator).
• Characters: These are the beings to whom the events of the story happen. They can be:
  • Main: Protagonists and sometimes antagonists.
  • Secondary: Other characters, less important.
  • Collective: Multiple protagonists, or a character type (e.g., servants).
• Plot and Theme: The plot is the set of facts and adventures that happen to the characters. The theme is the fundamental idea that summarizes what is being told.
• Space and Time: Space is the place where the actions occur. Time is when the events occur. There are two types:
  • External time: When the action is situated.
  • Internal time: The duration of the action.

Narrative Structure

There are two types of formal structure: a story divided by chapters, parts, etc., and content structure. In content structure, we consider the finished or unfinished nature of the narrative (open or closed) and the order of the narrative.

Open and Closed Narratives

• Open: When the end and beginning of the novel do not involve fundamental facts, the narrative can end and begin at any time.
• Closed: When the end is an important or definitive change for the character.

Order of Narrative Parts

The narrative can be arranged in a linear manner (consisting of three parts: beginning, middle, and end) or circular (the story goes through different degrees or stages to return to the beginning).

Descriptive Text

Descriptive texts describe something or someone, listing their traits, properties, etc. Descriptions can take a strict stance (presenting the facts in a more scientific way, abundant in a natural tone and style) or a subjective stance (showing a closer point of view, abundant in suggestive tones).

Style

• Long paragraphs are used.
• Statements are often brief.
• Imperfect indicative is plentiful.
• Nouns and adjectives dominate.

Structure

• In the description of people, it is more normal to go from top to bottom.
• In spaces, usually from the general to the particular, or from top to bottom, or as we advance in space.
• In a process, a chronological order will be followed, and another important order is that of importance.