What are the five elements of a good narration?
1. Clear context
2. Thoughtfully emphasized and well-chosen details
3. A logical, often chronological organization
4. An appropriate and consistent point of view
5. A meaningful point or purpose
What is a "clear context"?
When the surrounding details of a story are clear and easy to understand.
What is chronological organization?
Organization based on the order of time
What is "point of view"?
It refers to the grammar in an essay.
I = first person
he, she, they, specific name = third person
How much detail should you include in a narration?
You should have enough detail to illustrate your main point well.
Why would you want to leave details out?
If the details confuse the reader or make them bored you should leave them out.
How do you know what to include?
You should ask yourself why you are telling the story.
Your purpose will tell you what to leave in and what to keep out.
Should you always use chronological organization for a narration?
Not always, sometimes changing the order makes it more interesting and exciting. You can use "flashback" to tell more details about what happened earlier.
What is a "flashback"?
Going back to tell a story about the past.
What is personification?
A KIND of simile or metaphor in which human traits are given to an inanimate object. (An object or thing is spoken of as if it's a person).
Examples:
the sky was crying (rain)
Mother Nature's fury (nature is an angry woman)
The tropical storm slept for two days (a storm is sleeping)
The car groaned into third gear (a car groaning like a person)
What is an example of personification in the Newsweek story?
Mother Nature's fury
What are "figures of speech"?
imaginative comparisons between things that are not the same
The three most common are:
Simile (using the words like or as)
examples:
*My love is like a red, red rose.
*as blue as the sky
*as blind as a bat
*The train sounded like a cow going out of breath.
*She's as light as a feather.
Metaphor (one thing = another thing)
examples:
*All the world is a stage.
*He is a pig.
*The sky is a raven's feather.
*The monkey clawing my back was Teacher's Pet.
Personification (a kind of simile or metaphor - defined above)
What are some figures of speech used in "The Dare"?
*the train sounded like a cow
Can you find 4 of them (figures of speech)?
(answer this for bonus points)
What does each one add to his narrative?
(answer this for bonus points)
Why did Hoffman accept O.T.'s dare when he was twelve years old?
Because he wanted to fit in (to be accepted by his classmates).
Would he accept the same dare today?
No, because he knows it was not smart.
"Today, at thirty-eight, I couldn't be threatened or baited enough to attempt that dive"
Why or why not?
He's wiser.
How does paragraph 4 function in the context of Hoffmann's narrative?
It re-emphasizes his main point. (He ties in his childhood to his adult life and talks about dares in the adult world).
How has Hoffman organized his essay?
It's mostly chronological, though he did change the order of events around for emphasis. (For example, his hook happened later in the story, but his tells it first.)
What period of time is covered in paragraph 2-5?
Elementary school through the 7th grade and the days just before the train story.
In paragraph 6-12?
It describes the day he accomplished "the dare."
What were Hoffman's feelings on the day of his dive under the moving freight train?
Confident and determined...but scared.
Do you think he was afraid?
Yes
How do you know?
He wet his pants.
Hoffman tells his story in the first person. What is a good reason for him to use this instead of third person?
It makes the story more real and immediate. It brings the reader in to the story. It's as if we are there when the story happens.
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