![]() ![]() We can draw our readers into our own experiences, even if they’ve never been through anything even similar to what we have, by telling our own stories. In our own writing, we can use stories in just the same way. It’s always a quick snippet that makes you stay tuned because the writers and producers know their audience will sit through several minutes of mindless commercials just to find out how the story will continue. Think of your favorite show and the maddening, brief preview that starts before the credits roll. Television plays on this characteristic all the time. Which opening makes you want to read more? The second one engages its readers with a story - and we’re hard-wired, as humans, to want to hear the end of a story. The van rushed into traffic, and Timmy’s mother tried to beat a yellow light to make a left turn at the intersection - but someone else, coming from the other direction, had tried to do the same thing, and the car barreled into their van, connecting with the door beside Timmy with a sickening bang and crunch. They had to make it to his sister’s concert on time. ![]() He’d climbed into the backseat of their minivan and immediately started playing with his tablet, and his mother was in too much of a rush to fight him over putting on his seatbelt. Timmy’s mother was in a hurry as they left the mall. However, everyone should wear a seatbelt because they’ve been proven to save lives. Though laws have been in place since the 1970s in most states mandating this behavior, some drivers and passengers resist because belts cause some discomfort. Consider the difference between these two openings to the same essay: Statistics show that consistent seatbelt wearing is vital if passengers are to survive a moving vehicle accident. Persuasive essays use short stories - often called anecdotes - to engage a reader’s attention and sympathy. Narrative creeps into most of the other kinds of writing we learn about, too. Books will introduce it as Narration, Narrative, and Storytelling. We talk about narrative writing in many ways. Have you heard of him? Why do you think this story perseveres? How can stories permeate our culture so thoroughly? Sherlock Holmes, a creation of the writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, has become one of the most famous detectives of all time - though he never lived. The more clearly you tell your story, the more emotionally engaged your audience is likely to be. You want your audience to be moved by your story, which could mean through laughter, sympathy, fear, anger, and so on. Ultimately, narrative writing tries to relay a series of events in an emotionally engaging way. This chapter will discuss the basic components of narration, which can be applied either as a stand-alone essay or as a component within an essay. Sometimes this is the primary mode of an essay-writing a narrative essay about a particular event or experience, and sometimes this is a component used within an essay, much like other evidence is offered, to support a thesis. In terms of writing, narration is the act of describing a sequence of events. This is a form we are familiar with, as any time we tell a story about an event or incident in our day, we are engaging in a form of narration. The purpose of narrative writing is to tell stories. How do good storytellers make us believe? How can good writing draw a reader into a story? How can we harness the power of the story to make a point, even in a dry, academic context? Therefore, as we begin to study writing, we need to begin with the properties of the story. Though facts can be memorized, stories - the details, the description, the experience - make us believe. We understand most of nature through stories. ![]()
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