Definition of narrative
Story and selection are key descriptors

Narrative is an English language arts term whose definition adapts, chameleon-like, to its setting.

Narrative is a telling term

Dictionaries commonly define narrative as a story or narrated account. The narration is act of telling the story in words, or in pictures, in gestures, or in some combination of those means.

Originally the term meant a story told or invented from the viewpoint of a participant in the narrated event. These days, the viewpoint is defined more broadly to include not only non-participants but even inanimate objects.

The material that's narrated may be invented; that is, it may be a fictional account. The term story is usually used to describe an account that is known to be fiction or to suggest that an account purported to be true might not be true.

When narrative material is a true account, it still might be called a story because of the way the nonfiction account capitalizes on the personalities of the participants and the emotional elements of the events. (English language arts terms are very confusing, aren't they?)

Narrative is rhetorical

Another definition of narrative is that it is a rhetorical strategy. The strategy involves recounting a sequence of events to achieve a communications objective.

Someone might choose narration over a more logic-based strategy to create an emotional response in the audience. Fund-raisers, for example, often use narration to win sympathy and open pocketbooks for their cause.

Events of a narrative are usually recounted in the chronological order in which they occurred. The narrative might, however, be adjusted for rhetorical effect, using foreshadowing and flashbacks, for example, or to facilitate presentation of complex material, as in the "meanwhile, back at the ranch" technique.

Narrative is selective

Although the definition of narrative does not specify that narration involve selection, narrative is never an unedited account of an event. The narrator always selects material to present.

For true accounts, the selection process is governed by various intangible elements, including:

• what the narrator was looking for

• what the narrator observed

• the physical perspective from which the narrator viewed the events

• the impact of the events on the narrator personally.

For fictional accounts, a similar list of intangibles includes the narrator's :

• reason for inventing the story

• real life experiences

• inventiveness

The definition of narrative makes narration appear a fairly simple process. However, unless the narrator has a good grasp of the significance of the events the narrative can disintegrate into a string of unconnected observations.