Modes of Discourse

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Modes of Discourse

• Introduction Narration

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Modes of Discourse

• Mode method (HOW)
• Discourse communication / discussion
• In terms of written communication, we classify 9
  main modes of discourse
• Narration, Illustration, Description, Process
  Analysis, Definition, Division and
  Classification, Comparison and Contrast, Cause
  and Effect and Argument.

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Narration

• To narrate is to tell a story or to recount a
  series of events. Whenever you relate an incident
  or use an anecdote (a very brief story) to make a
  point, you use narration.
• In its broadest sense, narration is any account
  of any event or series of events.
• We all love to hear stories some people believe
  that sharing stories is a part of what defines us
  as human beings. Good stories are interesting,
  sometimes suspenseful, and always instructive
  because they give us insights into the human
  condition.
• Although most often associated with fiction,
  narration is effective and useful in all kinds of
  writing.

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Narration

• Good narration has five essential features
• a clear context
• some well-chosen and thoughtfully emphasized
  details
• a logical, sometimes chronological organization
• an appropriate and consistent point of view
• a meaningful point or purpose
• Consider, for example, the following narrative,
  titled Is Your Jar Full?

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Narration Example 1

• One day, an expert in time management was
  speaking to a group of business students and, to
  drive home a point, used an illustration those
  students will never forget. As he stood in front
  of the group of high-powered overachievers he
  said, Okay, time for a quiz, and he pulled out
  a one-gallon mason jar and set it on the table in
  front of him. He also produced about a dozen
  fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one
  at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled
  to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he
  asked, Is this jar full?
• Everyone in the class yelled, Yes.
• The time management expert replied, Really? He
  reached under the table and pulled out a bucket
  of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the
  jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves
  down into the spaces between the big rocks. He
  then asked the group once more, Is the jar
  full? By this time the class was on to him.
• Probably not, one of them answered.
• Good! he replied. He reached under the table
  and brought out a bucket of sand. He started
  dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all
  of the spaces left between the rocks and the
  gravel.

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Narration Example 1 Continued

• Once more he asked the question, Is this jar
  full?
• No! the class shouted.
• Once again he said, Good. Then he grabbed a
  pitcher of water and began to pour it in until
  the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at
  the class and asked, What is the point of this
  illustration?
• One eager beaver raised his hand and said, The
  point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if
  you try really hard you can always fit some more
  things in it!
• No, the speaker replied, thats not the point.
  The truth this illustration teaches us is If you
  dont put the big rocks in first, youll never
  get them in at all. What are the big rocks in
  your lifetime with your loved ones, your faith,
  your education, your dreams, a worthy cause,
  teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put
  these big rocks in first or youll never get them
  in at all.
• So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are
  reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this
  question What are the big rocks in my life?
  Then, put those in your jar first.

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Narration Continued

• This story contains all the elements of good
  narration. The writer begins by establishing a
  clear context for her narrative by telling when,
  where, and to whom the action happened. She has
  chosen details well, including enough details so
  that we know what is happening but not so many
  that we become overwhelmed, confused, or bored.
  The writer organizes her narration logically with
  a beginning that sets the scene, a middle that
  relates the exchange between the time-management
  expert and the students, and an end that makes
  her point, all arranged chronologically. She
  tells the story from the third-person point of
  view. Finally, she reveals the point of her
  narration people need to think about whats
  important in their lives and put these activities
  first.

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Narration Non-Chronological

• Non-Chronological Narration is where the writer
  does not simply tell the events in the order that
  they happened.
• Writers use non-chronological narration to
  provide clues or foreshadow what will happen
  in the story.
• Assignment Read The Scarlet Ibis and focus on
  how the writer uses non-chronological narration.

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Narration

• Day Two

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• Last class, we discussed the concept of
  non-chronological narration. The story that we
  read was written with non-chronological
  narration the writer did not simply tell the
  events in the order that they happened.
• We begin by hearing from the narrator as a grown
  man, remembering his childhood. The story then
  flashes back to when he was 6 years old and his
  brother was born. This opening section is
  necessary for setting the tone of the story. It
  gives us many clues that something sad will
  happen as we are given the impression that Doodle
  is no longer alive.
• This non-chronological narration allows the
  writer to set up the tone of grief and sadness
  before we even begin to read the story of Doodle.

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Your Turn

• Be sure to give some thought to the organization
  of your narrative. Chronological organization is
  natural in narration because it is a
  reconstruction of the original order of events,
  but it is not always the most interesting.
• To add interest to your storytelling, use
  non-chronological narration. Begin your narration
  at the end of the story with an important or
  exciting event, and then use flashback to fill in
  what happened earlier.

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Classroom Activity Using Narration

• AssignmentChoose a significant event from your
  life one that you attach some emotion tohappy,
  sad, scared, angry, etc. It could be a wedding, a
  birth, a vacation, a competition, a tournament,
  Christmas (a specific one), starting a new
  school, moving, etc.
• Think about the usual demands of narration but
  especially the requirements that your narration
  have some meaningful point or purpose and a
  non-chronological organization.

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• When you have chosen your event, break it down
  into four chronological steps. For example
•             Soccer Game
• 1 We changed in the locker room
• 2 We walked onto the field
• 3 I scored a goal
• 4 Final whistle blew. We won the game.
• You will now write a 4 paragraph narrative
  of your event. Each of your steps will
  be included. Your paragraphs will go in this
  order 4,1,2,3. If I was writing up the event
  above I would BEGIN with a paragraph that
  described the final whistle blowing, how excited
  I was and how my team-mates reacted, etc. In my
  2nd, 3rd and 4th paragraphs I would then go back
  and describe the details that led up to that
  moment. Please  write detailed paragraphs,
  remembering all we have learned recently about
  parallel structure, active voice, modifiers,
  and using the 5 senses in your writing.

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Narration Example 2

• One afternoon in late August, as the summers sun
  streamed into the railroad car and made little
  jumping shadows on the windows, I sat gazing out
  at the tenement dwellers, who were themselves
  looking out of their windows from the gray
  crumbling buildings along the tracks of upper
  Manhattan. As we crossed into the Bronx, the
  train unexpectedly slowed down for a few miles.
  Suddenly from out of my window I saw a large
  crowd near the tracks, held back by two
  policemen. Then, on the other side from my
  window, I saw a sight I would never be able to
  forget a little boy almost severed in halves,
  lying at an incredible angle near the track. The
  ground was covered with blood, and the boys eyes
  were opened wide, strained and disbelieving in
  his sudden oblivion. A policeman stood next to
  him, his arms folded, staring straight ahead at
  the windows of our train. In the orange glow of
  late afternoon the policemen, the crowd, the
  corpse of the boy were for a brief moment
  immobile, motionless, a small tableau to violence
  and death in the city. Behind me, in the next row
  of seats, there was a game of bridge. I heard one
  of the four men say as he looked out at the
  sight, God, thats horrible. Another said, in a
  whisper, Terrible, terrible. There was a
  momentary silence, punctuated only by the
  clicking of the wheels on the track. Then, after
  the pause, I heard the first man say Two
  hearts.

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Narration Model Essay

• Read the model essay entitled, White Lies and
  take notice of the use of an interesting
  technique called perhapsing
• This essay uses what the writer Lisa Knopp
  calls perhapsing. Sometimes when were
  writing, we cant recall the exact details of
  our experiences. In this case, we can perhaps
  or speculate about what actually happened. In
  the final paragraph of White Lies, I speculate
  about whether I saw or dreamt about Connie and
  her mother in the convenience store. The result
  of this rhetorical strategy is two-fold it
  establishes me as a reliable narrator and allows
  me to question my own motives in remembering
  the past.
• In your notes, answer the following question How
  well does this strategy (perhapsing) work for
  Murphy in her final paragraph? Explain.

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Your Turn

• Ask yourself why you are telling your story
• Your purpose will influence which events and
  details you include and which you leave out
• Include enough details about the action and its
  context so that your readers can understand
  whats going on
• Dont get so carried away with details that your
  readers become confused or bored by an excess of
  information. In good storytelling, deciding what
  to leave out is as important as deciding what to
  include.