Narrative Structure in Storytelling

Study Notes

A narrative is a story or account consisting of different actions or events arranged chronologically
It is a text type or genre with its own set of structural conventions and social purposes
A narrative typically consists of:
- Abstract: a summary of what the story is about
- Orientation: explaining the who, what, where, and when of the story
- Complicating Action: details about what happened in the story to move the plot forward
- Evaluation: explaining the significance and/or implications of the actions in the story
- Result or Resolution: telling what finally happened at the end of the story
- Coda: a short statement summarizing the story and bringing the reader/listener back into the present situation

Canonical narratives: conforming to generally accepted forms, rules, or procedures passed down through time
Small stories: brief stories that are part of people's everyday, mundane interactions which often do not conform to canonical narrative structures
Shared stories: consisting of chains of multiple small stories collaboratively authored by participants sometimes turn by turn
Projections: where participants share future or hypothetical events

Narrative as a performance: in which social and cultural practices of the teller's and listener's community are (re)enacted
Talk-in-interaction: dynamic communicative events which involve both the teller and the listener(s)

Contextualization cues: linguistic or paralinguistic cues that signal what people take or intend as the context of a message
Contextualization cues can be signals sent through:
- Words or style of language used
- Facial expression or tone of voice
- Emojis and typography (in written interaction online)

Authoritative narratives: those who have the right to tell stories and therefore construct narrative versions of events, and also acquire the right to evaluate and judge the stories of others
Framing: the ways in which stories are selected, presented, and organized in order to emphasize a certain perspective on events over others
Global capitalism: a system in which humans are seen chiefly as freely choosing customers whose happiness depends on them acquiring goods