| Narratives tell stories
that often have meanings that stretch beyond the events being
retold. The most effective narratives allow the reader to identify
with the story. For example, as the author of a first-person
narrative recounts the details of a story that is foreign to
your own life experience, you may find yourself laughing and
nodding, or perhaps cringing in recognition. Both of the narratives
linked below are told in the first-person point of view. Ask
yourself how the storyteller uses that first-person perspective
to draw you into the story. How might the story be different
if it were by a different narrator? What other elements, like
dialogue or direct speech, are used to make the story more
compelling? Finally, try to identify how the retelling of the
narrative conveys a message about writing, about the narrator’s
life, or about the world around us.
In this article from Salon.com, the author relates the breakup of her engagement,
and her deliberations about what to do with the engagement ring. As you read,
think about the elements of a narrative and how they work in this piece. Keep
these in mind as you answer the questions that follow.
4http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2002/08/22/the_ring/index.html
1. What is the sequence of events in this narrative?
How does the order of events work in this narrative,
and why do you suppose the author chose to relate her
story in this way?
2. Can you identify characteristics of argument or persuasion
in this narrative? How does the author articulate and
organize her argument throughout this narrative? Are
you convinced? Is she?
James Wagner sends dispatches from his
job as a clerk at the hardware store to the quarterly journal McSweeney’s.net.
Laced with irony, his narratives make the even most mundane
experiences seem somehow both meaningful and hysterical.
4http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2002/08/09hardware2.html
3. Why does Wagner choose these specific events to narrate?
In what ways does his narrative act as a critique of
the “typical” customer, our society, or perhaps
even ourselves?
4. Think of some commonplace event that has happened
to you over the past few days—a visit to the grocery
store, a twenty-minute wait in line at the post office.
Use that event as the topic of a narrative that characterizes
you, your city, or a particular type of person.
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