Narrative Mode
Nov 9, 2008 20:45:23 GMT -5
Post by Adminbot on Nov 9, 2008 20:45:23 GMT -5
The narrative mode (also called voice or point of view) is any method through which the author(s) of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical piece, conveys the story to the audience. It refers to through which person's perspective the story is viewed and how it is expressed to the audience. Whomever this person is, he or she is regarded as the "narrator," a character developed by the author for the specific purpose of conveying the story. The narrative point of view is meant to be the related experience of the character of this narrator.
In addition to through whom the story is told or seen, the narrative mode employed may also construct how the story is described or expressed, for example by using stream of consciousness or unreliable narration. In fiction, authors rarely inject their own voices, as this challenges the suspension of disbelief. Texts encourage the reader to identify with the narrator, not with the author.
Literary narration can occur from the first-person, second-person, or third-person point of view. In a novel, the first person is commonly used: "I saw, We did,", etc. In an encyclopedia or textbook narrators often work in the third-person: "that happened, the king died", etc. For additional vagueness, imprecision, and detachment, some writers employ the passive voice: "it is said that the president was compelled to be heard..."
The ability to use points of view effectively provides one measure of someone's writing ability. The the use of viewpoint as part of a wider judgment regarding the composition and effect of the text s indicative of a superior writer.
First Person
The first person narrative mode is expressed through the narrator referring to the focal character as "I", if singular, and "we", if plural. In most first person narratives, there is usually some third person voice as well.
The first-person point of view sacrifices omniscience and omnipresence for a greater intimacy with one character in particular: the narrator him/herself. In this case, the narrator is also a character who is part of the story, sometimes even the main character. First person allows the audience to see what this one focal character is thinking; it also allows that character to be further developed through his/her own style in telling the story. First person narrations may be told like third person ones; on the other hand, the narrator may be conscious of telling the story to a given audience, perhaps at a given place and time, for a given reason. In extreme cases, the first person narration may be told as a story within a story, with the narrator appearing as a character in the story. First person narration is used somewhat frequently.
In a first person narrative, the narrator is always a character within his/her own story. This character takes actions, makes judgments and has opinions and biases, therefore, not always allowing the audience to be able to comprehend as well some of the other character's thoughts, feelings, or understandings as much as this one character. In this case, the narrator gives and withholds information based on his/her own viewing of events. It is an important task for the reader to determine as much as possible about the character of the narrator in order to decide what "really" happens.
The first person narrator is the type most obviously distinct from the author. It is a character in the work, who must follow all of the rules of being a character, even during its duties as narrator. For it to know anything, it must experience it with its senses, or be told about it. It can interject its own thoughts and opinions, but not those of any other character, unless clearly told about those thoughts.
Second Person
Probably the rarest mode is the second person narrative mode, in which the narrator refers to the focal character(s) as "you," therefore making the audience feel as if they are characters within the story. Because of this, second person pieces often have an accusative nature with the narrator often condemning or expressing powerful emotions directly at the person whom they are referring to. A small number of novels have been written in the second person, frequently paired with the present tense.
When done well, the readers imagine themselves within the action, which can be used to place them in different situations. But it is almost universally agreed that second person narration is hard to manage, especially in a serious work.
Third Person
There is a variety of third person modes of narration, as they make up the most commonly used viewpoint. In every third person narrative mode, the focal character is always referred to as "he", "she", "it", or "they", but never as "I" or "we" (first-person), or "you" (second-person). Although they all focus on some character's experiences, the third person modes are usually categorized into "subjective" (focused on specific characters' thoughts), "objective" (focused on no one character's thoughts), or "omniscient" (focused on the implicit thoughts of the narrator):
Subjective
The third person subjective is when the narrator is not an involved character in the story and is therefore able to convey what thoughts, feelings, opinions, etc. are occurring in the minds of one or more characters. If the perspective is seen through the mind of just a single character, this point of view can be referred to as the third person limited, because the audience is "limited" to the thoughts of just one character, much like a detached variant of the first person mode.
Third person subjective is sometimes called the "over the shoulder" perspective; it shows the story as though the narrator could only describe events that could be perceived by a viewpoint character. It can be used very objectively, showing what is actually happening without the filter of the protagonist's personality, thus allowing the author to reveal information that the protagonist doesn't know or realize. However, some authors use an even narrower and more subjective perspective, as though the viewpoint character were narrating the story; this is dramatically very similar to the first person, allowing in-depth revelation of the protagonist's personality, but uses third person grammar. Some writers will shift perspective from one viewpoint character to another.
Objective
The third person objective perspective tells a story without detailing any characters' thoughts, opinions, or feelings, but instead gives an objective point of view. This point of view can be described as "a fly on the wall" or "the lens of a camera" that can only record the observable actions, but cannot relay what thoughts are going through the minds of the characters. The third person objective is preferred in most pieces that are deliberately trying to take a neutral or unbiased view, like in many newspaper articles. It is also called the third person dramatic, because the narrator (like the audience of a drama) is neutral toward the plot—merely a commentating onlooker.
Omniscient
Historically, the third person omniscient perspective has been the most common. This is a tale told from the point of view of a storyteller who knows all the facts. The primary advantage is that this mode injects the narrator's own perspective and reputation into the story, creating a greater sense of objectivity for the plot. The disadvantage of this mode is that it creates more distance between the audience and the story, and that no specific characters are emphasized, perhaps belittling the human thoughts and actions of the characters.
A variation of the third person omniscient is where the narrator is a character in the story; a small amount of the story might be then told in first person or even in the second person in which the narrator briefly addresses the audience. Third person omniscient tends to be the most lenient about the variety of which character's perspectives to use; in addition, the narrator's own perspective or attitude can sometimes be inferred from the way in which he/she tells the story.
Some make the distinction between the third person omniscient and the universal omniscient, the difference being that in universal omniscient, the narrator reveals information that the characters do not have. This is also called "Little Did He Know" writing as in "Little did he know he'd be dead by morning." Usually, the universal omniscient enforces the idea of the narrator being unconnected to the events of the story.
In addition to through whom the story is told or seen, the narrative mode employed may also construct how the story is described or expressed, for example by using stream of consciousness or unreliable narration. In fiction, authors rarely inject their own voices, as this challenges the suspension of disbelief. Texts encourage the reader to identify with the narrator, not with the author.
Literary narration can occur from the first-person, second-person, or third-person point of view. In a novel, the first person is commonly used: "I saw, We did,", etc. In an encyclopedia or textbook narrators often work in the third-person: "that happened, the king died", etc. For additional vagueness, imprecision, and detachment, some writers employ the passive voice: "it is said that the president was compelled to be heard..."
The ability to use points of view effectively provides one measure of someone's writing ability. The the use of viewpoint as part of a wider judgment regarding the composition and effect of the text s indicative of a superior writer.
First Person
The first person narrative mode is expressed through the narrator referring to the focal character as "I", if singular, and "we", if plural. In most first person narratives, there is usually some third person voice as well.
The first-person point of view sacrifices omniscience and omnipresence for a greater intimacy with one character in particular: the narrator him/herself. In this case, the narrator is also a character who is part of the story, sometimes even the main character. First person allows the audience to see what this one focal character is thinking; it also allows that character to be further developed through his/her own style in telling the story. First person narrations may be told like third person ones; on the other hand, the narrator may be conscious of telling the story to a given audience, perhaps at a given place and time, for a given reason. In extreme cases, the first person narration may be told as a story within a story, with the narrator appearing as a character in the story. First person narration is used somewhat frequently.
In a first person narrative, the narrator is always a character within his/her own story. This character takes actions, makes judgments and has opinions and biases, therefore, not always allowing the audience to be able to comprehend as well some of the other character's thoughts, feelings, or understandings as much as this one character. In this case, the narrator gives and withholds information based on his/her own viewing of events. It is an important task for the reader to determine as much as possible about the character of the narrator in order to decide what "really" happens.
The first person narrator is the type most obviously distinct from the author. It is a character in the work, who must follow all of the rules of being a character, even during its duties as narrator. For it to know anything, it must experience it with its senses, or be told about it. It can interject its own thoughts and opinions, but not those of any other character, unless clearly told about those thoughts.
Second Person
Probably the rarest mode is the second person narrative mode, in which the narrator refers to the focal character(s) as "you," therefore making the audience feel as if they are characters within the story. Because of this, second person pieces often have an accusative nature with the narrator often condemning or expressing powerful emotions directly at the person whom they are referring to. A small number of novels have been written in the second person, frequently paired with the present tense.
When done well, the readers imagine themselves within the action, which can be used to place them in different situations. But it is almost universally agreed that second person narration is hard to manage, especially in a serious work.
Third Person
There is a variety of third person modes of narration, as they make up the most commonly used viewpoint. In every third person narrative mode, the focal character is always referred to as "he", "she", "it", or "they", but never as "I" or "we" (first-person), or "you" (second-person). Although they all focus on some character's experiences, the third person modes are usually categorized into "subjective" (focused on specific characters' thoughts), "objective" (focused on no one character's thoughts), or "omniscient" (focused on the implicit thoughts of the narrator):
Subjective
The third person subjective is when the narrator is not an involved character in the story and is therefore able to convey what thoughts, feelings, opinions, etc. are occurring in the minds of one or more characters. If the perspective is seen through the mind of just a single character, this point of view can be referred to as the third person limited, because the audience is "limited" to the thoughts of just one character, much like a detached variant of the first person mode.
Third person subjective is sometimes called the "over the shoulder" perspective; it shows the story as though the narrator could only describe events that could be perceived by a viewpoint character. It can be used very objectively, showing what is actually happening without the filter of the protagonist's personality, thus allowing the author to reveal information that the protagonist doesn't know or realize. However, some authors use an even narrower and more subjective perspective, as though the viewpoint character were narrating the story; this is dramatically very similar to the first person, allowing in-depth revelation of the protagonist's personality, but uses third person grammar. Some writers will shift perspective from one viewpoint character to another.
Objective
The third person objective perspective tells a story without detailing any characters' thoughts, opinions, or feelings, but instead gives an objective point of view. This point of view can be described as "a fly on the wall" or "the lens of a camera" that can only record the observable actions, but cannot relay what thoughts are going through the minds of the characters. The third person objective is preferred in most pieces that are deliberately trying to take a neutral or unbiased view, like in many newspaper articles. It is also called the third person dramatic, because the narrator (like the audience of a drama) is neutral toward the plot—merely a commentating onlooker.
Omniscient
Historically, the third person omniscient perspective has been the most common. This is a tale told from the point of view of a storyteller who knows all the facts. The primary advantage is that this mode injects the narrator's own perspective and reputation into the story, creating a greater sense of objectivity for the plot. The disadvantage of this mode is that it creates more distance between the audience and the story, and that no specific characters are emphasized, perhaps belittling the human thoughts and actions of the characters.
A variation of the third person omniscient is where the narrator is a character in the story; a small amount of the story might be then told in first person or even in the second person in which the narrator briefly addresses the audience. Third person omniscient tends to be the most lenient about the variety of which character's perspectives to use; in addition, the narrator's own perspective or attitude can sometimes be inferred from the way in which he/she tells the story.
Some make the distinction between the third person omniscient and the universal omniscient, the difference being that in universal omniscient, the narrator reveals information that the characters do not have. This is also called "Little Did He Know" writing as in "Little did he know he'd be dead by morning." Usually, the universal omniscient enforces the idea of the narrator being unconnected to the events of the story.