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Graphic narrative Theory. Narrative Structure Types: Open: Open narratives don’t reach a conclusion; they just go on and on. Soap operas and comic books universes are good examples of this as stories run and run from story to story, never really having a clear end. Examples of this are comic universes such as Batman or other DC works, sure there are many different canon’s of Batman’s story, movies, TV shows, and especially comics, where it first began. The movies as well as the TV shows have closed narratives, however the comic books go on to a different story each time a sub-plot finishes. The Hunger Games trilogy of books that were made into the blockbuster hits we all know today is also an example of an open narrative, as the first, second and third film’s narrative doesn’t end before the films end, and only conclude in the fourth instalment. Closed: Closed narratives reach a conclusion to the over- arching plot. Most films, when not fishing for the opportunity for more sequels, almost always end in a closed way within the 90+ minute slot the film goes for. Examples of this are those such as Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton, the film finishes where the Jabberwocky is defeated, the Red Queen banished and the people of Underland freed from her horrible rein. The story of the movie is finished and while it does end with the possibility of a sequel (which was made years later) the narrative is closed and ends by the end of the film. Single Strand: A single strand narrative has only one story line, no sub-plots or deviations, one single story that is told throughout, be it a book or TV episode. Children’s books and TV shows often have these single stranded narratives, as younger children can sometimes struggle to understand complex sub-plots and over-arching plot’s, they can sometimes find it hard to string together the sections of story in-between other parts of the media. Its also because children’s media is very

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Graphic narrative Theory.

Narrative StructureTypes:

Open: Open narratives don’t reach a conclusion; they just go on and on. Soap operas and comic books universes are good examples of this as stories run and run from story to story, never really having a clear end. Examples of this are comic universes such as Batman or other DC works, sure there are many different canon’s of Batman’s story, movies, TV shows, and especially comics, where it first began. The movies as well as the TV shows have closed narratives, however the comic books go on to a different story each time a sub-plot finishes. The Hunger Games trilogy of books that were made into the blockbuster hits we all know today is also an example of an open narrative, as the first, second and third film’s narrative doesn’t end before the films end, and only conclude in the fourth instalment.

Closed: Closed narratives reach a conclusion to the over-arching plot. Most films, when not fishing for the opportunity for more sequels, almost always end in a closed way within the 90+ minute slot the film goes for. Examples of this are those such as Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton, the film finishes where the Jabberwocky is defeated, the Red Queen banished and the people of Underland freed from her horrible rein. The story of the movie is finished and while it does end with the possibility of a sequel (which was made years later) the narrative is closed and ends by the end of the film.

Single Strand: A single strand narrative has only one story line, no sub-plots or deviations, one single story that is told throughout, be it a book or TV episode. Children’s books and TV shows often have these single stranded narratives, as younger children can sometimes struggle to understand complex sub-plots and over-arching plot’s, they can sometimes find it hard to string together the sections of story in-between other parts of the media. Its also because children’s media is very often used to teach the kids a lesson, a single important lesson that needs a whole book or episode to explain it in enough length for the kids to understand.

Multi-strand: A multi-strand narrative has many different story lines throughout one story and will often branch out to several different characters to show their stories alongside the main plot. These can be found in the form of romantic sub-plots and deviations from the main conflict. For example, soap operas such as Eastenders or Coronation Street always have multiple stories going on at once, following different families and characters throughout their various conflicts and dramas, often being interconnected some how.

Linear: Linear narratives start at the beginning of the story and go straight through the story to the end, all of the events happen in the order chronologically, every step following the next. Its simple, but popular, and very often used in a multitude of media forms use it, films, books, journalism, etc. An

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example of this would be Citizen Kane, a film that displays the events of the story as they happened without cutting forward or backwards in time.

Non-Linear: Non-Linear story lines don’t go in a straight line, they use flash-forwards and flash-backs to add context to the story at hand, sometimes movies even start at the end of the story and then cut to where it begins to interest the viewer in staying to watch the whole thing to see how events unfolded to create that ending. A good example is the movie ‘Megamind’ which starts with the main character falling to his death, and a overlaid narration by said character, basically saying ‘So I’m falling to my Death, and this is how I got here’ and then the movie goes to a flashback of the main character of a child, the events of his world dying and then it explains the years leading towards present day ending with the title card. The movie’s story then proceeds as normal, ending in the scene you see in the beginning but showing an actual conclusion.

Realist: These narratives are a reflection of real life, believable events that could happen in real life to almost anyone. Realist narratives are interested in the day-to-day life and reality of people’s lives. A few TV shows can be used as examples here, for example, Scrubs. A comedy-drama surrounding the fictional Sacred Heart teaching hospital and its resident doctors, nurses and surgeons, as well as the seniors. This is a realist narrative because even though the comedy can be slapstick and the character interactions cheesy, the events and story lines of the show are very realistic to a real hospital and deal with very real problems that people in the medical field have to deal with.

Anti-Realist: This is the opposite of realist narratives, they involve events, characters and locations, which are highly unlikely if not impossible to be, found or happen in real life. Media in sci-fi or fantasy genre’s are anti-realist, including characters settings and events that are fantastical or futuristic, things that can’t be found in every day life, if at all. Alice in Wonderland, Star Trek, Doctor Who, there is a plethora of examples that show worlds and creatures beyond reality in their content.

Narrative Components

Closed: My book has a closed narrative, a story that reaches its conclusion throughout the eleven pages, I felt as this is a children’s book for people between the ages of 5-7, the lesson being portrayed in it would be best kept closed, as it’d be easier for the child to take in and understand the lesson and the story.Single Strand: My book is single strand, a simple story with one plot that is the same the whole way through, a captain too focused on fashion to take care of his crew is shown the error of his ways. A single stranded narrative helps teach a lesson, and isn’t too complicated for children to understand.Non-Linear: The narrative isn’t linear, as the second page of my book is a set of flashbacks of the captain wearing different clothes before the events of the humans teaming up with the second in command to stop him. Anti-Realist: My story is very much anti-realist with the inclusion of a completely fictional alien race of my own design, the setting isn’t completely impossible as

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we do have astronauts in space, however the idea of alien’s monitoring earth so close to the planet is far from realistic.