DESCRIPTIONTHE BEDFORD READER CHAPTER 4

The Methods of Engaging a Reader

NARRATION IN ADVERTISEMENTS Turn to pages 80-81 Look at the advertisement and answer

the questions in the blue box

WHAT DOES “DYNAMIC TENSION” INVOLVE?

www.charlesatlas.com

DISCUSS Turn to an elbow partner and discuss.

Be ready to share

TELLING A STORY Let’s read pages 82-83 together

Anecdotes add: Color Specifics Are memorable

THE PROCESS Every story has a purpose

Read “Purpose and Shape” p. 83

THE THESIS In narration there is no formal thesis However, by the end of thewriting a thesis should beobvious

THE NARRATOR IN THE STORY Narratives report personal experience narrator=speaker First person=“I” Third person=“he” she” “they”

TENSE OF TEXT Unlike writing about literature, a

narrated story can be… Present tense (I stare, he stares) Past tense (I stared, he stared)

WHAT TO EMPHASIZE You need to tell the whole story (think

of a newspaper article) What happened? Who took part/ When? Where? Why did it take place? How did it happen?

SCENE VERSUS SUMMARY Two main strategies of narration:

Tell it by scene As if it were a movie, vivid description Turn to page 82-83. Read the scene and record

what the author is doing Tell it in summary

Relate events concisely Just the essentials

ASSIGNMENT Write two paragraphs, one as a

summary and one as a scene. Write the same story but in these two different narrative ways.

Topic:

The main character (you can name them) travels forward in time.

CHAPTER 4 DAY TWO Organization of narration

Chronological: the order in which it happens

“in medias res” (in the middle of things): a dramatic event

Flashback

VERBS, VERBS, VERBS Narration is heavily dependent upon

verbs to Clarify Enliven

Ex: Weak: The wind made an awful noise. Strong: The wind roared around the house and

rattled the trees.

VERB EXERCISE

Sentence

My leg hurts," she ____

Speaker is Feeling Alternative to Said

" I found it on the field. Don't tell anyone," he ____

 

"It's mine I found it. Give it back," he ____

 

"It's mine I found it! Give it back now," he ____

 

VERBS YOU COULD HAVE USED:

yelled     shouted growled bellowed exclaimedroared    grumbled  stammered sobbed whimpered cried      pleaded whispered mumbled interruptedretorted    continued explained squealed  laughed replied     warned objected asked answered

ACTIVITY Now choose 10 words from the

previous slide and write a short story using all 10.

(I was going for “squealed” here”)