Overview

A story that relates a sequence of events is called a narrative. A narrative may be fiction or nonfiction. All narratives include characters, setting, plot, and conflict. Most narratives are presented in chronological order.

Like the main idea in other types of writing, conflict is the main force in a narrative, and all of the events that develop the conflict are like the details that support the main idea. Conflict moves the plot along and keeps readers interested. After the conflict builds to its climax, the resolution reveals the aftermath of the climax and brings the narrative to an end.

You can use dialogue—conversation between characters—in a narrative to advance the action, to reveal your characters' personalities, to show relationships between characters, or to make the conflict more real. You can also use anecdotes, which are short narratives, to make specific points or reveal the characters' traits in the longer narrative.

Two common kinds of narratives to read and respond to are sports and suspense narratives. Identifying the point of view, or perspective from which the story is told, will help you analyze a narrative that you are reading.