Types of Speech Acts and Narrative Techniques
Types of Speech Acts
- Assertive: Its purpose is to represent a real state of affairs. They are expressed with verbs such as ser, estar, do, describe, believe, and so on. Example: "I am in Santiago."
- Commissives: Their purpose is to commit the speaker to a future course of action. They use verbs like promise, swear, assure, and so on. Example: "I promise that I will never..."
- Directives (Leadership): The purpose is to engage the listener in a future course of action. They use verbs such as invite or order. Examples: "I invite you to leave." "I order you..."
- Declaratives (Declared): Their purpose is to create a new situation. Verbs used include declare, pronounce (e.g., baptisms, official acts). Example: "I pronounce you husband and wife."
- Expressive: Used to express the feelings and attitudes of the speaker, using verbs like congratulate, thank, etc. Example: "Congratulations on your promotion. I feel very good."
Abelardo, you have to be president. Steering.
Narration: Objective and Subjective
Objective: To accurately reflect reality and present the writing faithfully and adjusted to the facts.
Subjective: Introducing the environment from the narrator's own vision; it highlights what is most interesting for that perspective.
- Topography: Description of places or landscapes.
- Prosopography: Physical portrait of a person or living being.
- Etopeya: Psychological portrait or description of behavior of a person.
- Timeline: Description of an era, an environment, or circumstances over time.
Focalization Types
- Focalization zero: No restrictions on the delivery of information. Omniscient narrator: he knows more than the characters.
- Focalization internal: Narration from an experienced perspective; the narrator is a character. Knowledge is relative and partial. It can be fixed (one focalizer), variable (changes), or multiple (a fact represented by several focalizers). See related Knowledge.
- Focalization external: External view of the events; objective stance. The narrator does not know the characters' inner thoughts.
Stereotypes and Social Types
Stereotypes: Series that pertain to a predefined image and a ritual of conduct. Example references: Imagna and Mujer.
Type: Possesses its own psychological traits recognized as a model conditioned by tradition, not mechanical or superficial. A social sector represents the society. Example: the provincial in "Martín Rivas." See also: impusto.
Direct and Indirect Style
| Direct Style | Indirect Style |
|---|---|
| It differentiates clearly the narrative voice. The character speaks and the script reproduces it. | The narrator reports what the character said; the phrasing adapts and is not discursive. |
| Used to reproduce textually the character's utterances (quotations, punctuation). | Uses conjunctions such as "that": he said that... |
| It is fundamental to identify who speaks (the character). | The narrator states that the character spoke. |
| It must show how the character speaks, providing evidence of manner and style. | The narrator reveals aspects of the character's behavior. |
| Spontaneous dialogue, fluid and true to colloquial oral language. See: language development. | Loses spontaneity. |
Narrative Time Devices
Anachronism: The first break in the narrative timeline; introducing an episode with a chronology different from that of the main action.
Analipsis: Retrospection (retrospection).
Racconto: An extensive retrospection in time and return to the present.
Flashback: Brief temporal retrospection and a rapid return to the present.
Prolepsis: The narrator looks ahead to the future (anticipation).