Narration

A narrator tells a story. They use words to speak or write. This person tells us the plot. The plot is the events in the tale.

Some tellers use the word "I." This makes the story feel close. Other tellers use "he" or "she." This is called third-person.

Some tellers know everything. They know every thought. They know every feeling. This is called being omniscient.

Some stories use many tellers. This shows many sides. It can show how people feel. This makes the story complex.

Stories can happen now. They can also happen in the past. Telling stories is a grand way to share.

Narration is the way we tell a story. A narrator is the person telling the tale. They give us information about the plot. The plot is the series of events in a story. All written stories need narration. This includes books and poems. Films and games do not always need a narrator. They can use talking or action instead.

There are different ways to tell a story. In first-person, the teller uses words like "I" or "me." This makes the reader feel close to them. In second-person, the teller uses the word "you." In third-person, the teller uses "he" or "she." Some tellers are omniscient. This means they know everything. They know every thought and feeling in the story. Other stories use many narrators. This can show many different sides of a tale.

Time also matters in a story. Most stories use the past tense. This means the events already happened. Some stories use the present tense. This makes the action feel like it is happening now. This is seen in books like The Hunger Games. Using these tools helps makers share their ideas.

Narration is the art of telling a story. It uses spoken or written words to share a tale with an audience. Every written story needs narration to work. This includes novels, short stories, poems, and memoirs. The narrator is the voice that delivers the information. They explain the plot, which is the series of events in the story. In films or video games, narration is optional. These formats often use dialogue or visual action instead.

Creators make many choices to develop their narration. This set of choices is called the narrative mode. One choice is the narrative point of view. This determines if the narrator is part of the story. Another choice is the narrative tense. This is the choice between past or present tense. Tense helps show if events are finished or happening now. Creators also use narrative techniques. These help establish the setting or develop the characters. They can also explore themes, which are the main ideas. Some writers even use a style called stream of consciousness.

There are different ways to choose a point of view. In first-person narration, the teller uses words like "I" or "me." This creates a close bond with the reader. Second-person narration uses the word "you." This can feel like the narrator is talking to you. Third-person narration uses words like "he" or "she." A third-person narrator can be omniscient. This means they know everything, including every character's thoughts. Famous authors like Charles Dickens used this style. Some stories use multiple narrators to show many perspectives.

Different thinkers have studied how these stories work. A Russian scholar named Boris Uspensky identified five planes of point of view. These include spatial, temporal, psychological, phraseological, and ideological planes. The ideological plane focuses on a character's worldview or beliefs. American critic Susan Sniader Lanser also studied these categories. She looked at how a narrator's distance affects the text. These studies help us understand how stories shape our identity. Some traditions, like those in Indigenous American communities, use many elders. These storytellers might change details to fit their audience. This keeps the stories alive and changing.

Time plays a huge role in how we feel a story. Most stories use the past tense to describe events. This is the most common way to write. Some books, like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, use the present tense. This makes the action feel very immediate. There is also a style called the historical present. This is common in spontaneous talking. A very rare style is the future tense. This describes events that happen after the narrator's present time. All these tools help people share their worlds.

Narration is the process of using spoken or written commentary to convey a story to an audience. This process is facilitated by a narrator. A narrator is a specific person or an unspecified literary voice created by an author. This voice delivers essential information to the audience, specifically regarding the plot. The plot is the defined series of events that make up the story. Narration is a mandatory element in all written stories, including novels, short stories, poems, and memoirs. In other formats like films, plays, or video games, narration is optional. These media can use dialogue or visual action to tell the story instead.

Creators manage narration through a set of choices called the narrative mode. This mode encompasses various narrative techniques used to develop the story. One major choice involves the narrative point of view. This determines the relationship between the narrator and the audience. Another choice is the narrative tense, which establishes the timing of the plot. Creators also use techniques to establish setting, which is the location in time and space. They also use narration to develop characters and explore themes, or main ideas. Some creators even use specific linguistic styles, such as stream of consciousness, to shape the experience.

Point of view is often categorized by the grammatical person used. In a first-person point of view, the narrator is a participating character. This narrator uses pronouns like "I," "me," "we," or "us." This method creates a close relationship between the narrator and the reader. Second-person narration uses the pronoun "you" to recount experiences. While it can feel like a direct address, it is often used to add ironic distance. Third-person narration refers to characters using pronouns like "he" or "she." This mode can be further divided into different types of perspectives.

Within third-person narration, creators choose between omniscient and limited views. An omniscient narrator has an overarching perspective. They know everything happening in the story world, including every character's thoughts and feelings. This style was very common in nineteenth-century fiction by authors like Charles Dickens and Leo Tolstoy. A limited or close third-person point of view is confined to one character's perspective. Some authors also use multiple points of view within a single work. This can be done through discrete chapters to show different characters. Examples include the "Song of Ice and Fire" series by George R. R. Martin.

Scholars have developed complex theories to explain how point of view works. The Russian semiotician Boris Uspensky identified five planes of point of view. These planes are spatial, temporal, psychological, phraseological, and ideological. The psychological plane focuses on the behaviors of characters. The ideological plane is considered the most basic but hardest to formalize. It focuses on the norms, values, and worldview, or "Weltanschauung," of the narrator. American critic Susan Sniader Lanser also studied these categories. She examined how a narrator's distance or affinity to a character affects the text.

Narration also relies heavily on the choice of narrative tense. The past tense is the most common choice for storytelling. In this mode, the events of the plot occur before the narrator's present moment. Present tense narration depicts events as they occur in the narrator's current moment. The "Hunger Games" trilogy by Suzanne Collins is a notable example of this. There is also a style called the historical present, which is common in spontaneous conversation. A very rare choice is the future tense. This portrays events as occurring some time after the narrator's present.

Storytelling traditions also show how narration can be a social and flexible act. In many Indigenous American communities, narratives are often shared by several elders. Because stories are shaped by the relationship between the narrator and the audience, they are not static. Each individual story may have countless variations based on the audience. Some traditions use framing to connect different stories together. The Arabic folktales in "One Thousand and One Nights" use this technique. Each story is enclosed within a larger narrative structure. This allows for a complex, interconnected way of sharing information and culture.