(INBT) Lesson Topic 4: Narration Know-How

Lesson Topic 4: Narration Know-How

The Narrator

The background, plot, and characters all function together to create a story. However, the person who tells the story remains just as important, or the story would not be told. The narrator is the voice that relates, or tells, the events—the narrator is also known as the speaker. Who is the narrator in Bridge to Terabithia? How might the narrator change how the reader understands the story?

The Point of View

A story can have many different points of view. Three possible perspectives are first person, third person, and omniscient. Readers can recognize the type of point of view in the story based on certain words the narrator uses. First Person Point of View: With the first person point of view, the narrator uses the pronoun "I." Readers remain limited to information that the narrator knows because everything in the story appears through the eyes of that particular narrator. Sometimes, the story might revolve around the narrator when the author writes in the first person. Third Person Point of View: However, with the third person point of view, the narrator uses the pronouns "he," "she," "it," or "they." The readers have more information from the third person point of view because the narrator is not an actual character in the story. Omniscient Point of View: However, the most information comes by way of the omniscient narrator. Omniscient means "all-knowing," so if the story has an omniscient narrator, the reader has access to all information regarding each character's thoughts.

 

Tone

Despite the point of view the narrator uses, each voice has a tone. Just like a person understands when someone appears angry by the person's tone of voice, the tone of the narrator reveals the attitude of the writer. For example, if the narrator describes a day as gray, rainy, and dark, the reader can tell that the tone of the writer may not be cheerful.

Dialogue and Dialect

Dialect is a particular form of language or accent that is peculiar to a specific region or social group.Along with tone, the writer may use dialogue and dialect within the story. A dialect is a particular form of language or accent that is peculiar to a specific region or social group. For example, people from the South have a southern dialect. Even if people speak English, the different forms and accents of English create various dialects.

A regional dialect is a variety of language spoken in a particular region and distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties of the language. Many of the characters in Bridge to Terabithia speak an Appalachian dialect. As you read, notice how some characters' spoken words differ from standard written English. For example, the characters often leave the subjects or the verbs out of sentences. At other times, they use incorrect grammar, as when Jess uses a double negative in the sentence "Don't pay me no mind." They also use words in different and colorful ways that are common to the region. Fiction writers use dialect to make their characters seem more real to readers. Notice, however, that some characters in the novel do not speak in an Appalachian dialect. As you read, think about possible reasons for the authors having these characters speak standard English.

Also, the narrator might invite the reader into the actual conversation occurring between or among characters by using dialogue. With dialogue, the reader can see the action through the words the characters speak to each other. 

Foreshadowing and Suspense

Other literary devices might also occur within the narration. The author might use foreshadowing and suspense to keep the reader engaged in the story. Foreshadowing provides hints of what is to come in the action of a play or story. Authors typically use foreshadowing to increase suspense, which is a nervous uncertainty or tendency about what might happen next.

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