|
|
Fictional Narrative Basics - Plot
Unit Completion Date: End of Week 5
|
| [ Previous ][ 14 ][ Next ] |
Alice Munro's story "Five Points", anthologized in What If? is an excellent example of how point of view and chronology can interact in complicated ways. The story as a whole is third person limited from Brenda's perspective with the present time of the story and the narrative time of the story on the day that Brenda and her lover Neil have their first argument.
Within that larger narrative, however, Neil tells Brenda a story about something that happened when he was a teenager. That story within the story is first person reminiscent from Neil's perspective with the present time of the story during Neil's teenage years and the narrative time of the story the day Neil and Brenda fight.
Munro is an expert at complicated points of view, but most stories don't reach this level of complexity.
Reread your selected story with an eye toward chronology. In half page or so, give a chronological summary of the story and tell how it differs from the plot summary. Then answer the following questions:
1) Is the narration taking place at the same time as the story, or is the story being remembered by one of the characters?
2) What is the present time of the story?
3) What flash backs or flash forwards are present? How do they relate to the present time of the story?
If you are having difficulty with this assignment, you may find it helpful to go into the point of view material at this juncture, and come back to this later. This assignment will not be posted to the course site but should be placed in the "Plot" section of your craftbook.
|
| [ Previous ][ 14 ][ Next ] |
|
