4 characteristics of the NARRATIVE genre

the narrative text is a literary expression made in prose and that has become the most popular form of writing today. Most of the books that you will find in libraries and bookstores are narrative texts in which the author tells a story with the purpose of entertaining the reader.

Next, in aProfesor we are going to explain to you what the characteristics of the narrative genre, that will help you to know where you should start in your writings and what are the basic points that you must comply with.

Index

1. What is the narrative genre
2. What are the characteristics of the narrative genre
3. narrative genre example

The narrative genre It is a style of text in which the narrator is the one who carries the voice and guides the reader through the story. This narrator explains the events (real or fictitious) that happen to some characters at a certain time and place.

A narrative text example would be the tale Little Red Riding Hood,

The narrative is usually written in prose, although there are some exceptions of authors who have decided to break the rules and write their stories in verse. In addition to the narration of the events itself, the authors use literary figures, descriptions, dialogues and other resources, to make their text much more engaging and entertaining for readers.

There are narrative texts that speak about all topics, since it is one of the oldest writings in history: love, heartbreak, war, fight, murders, investigations, trips, parallel realities, etc.

The narrative genre, like all the others, has specific characteristics, which are what will allow you to recognize it as soon as you find it. These are the most common narrative genre characteristics.

They have a narrator

Every narrative work must necessarily have a narrator which is the one that explains the events that are happening to the characters. This voice carries the story forward and offers the reader all the necessary details so that he can put himself in context and experience the plot from within. This narrator can be, in turn, a character in the story or simply explain it from the outside.

They can be real or fictional stories.

The narrative genre can be base on reality to develop his story or it can be completely invented by the author. If the plot is the product of the writer's imagination, it will be called "fiction." The works that are based on facts that have happened in reality and that try to be rigorously captured are called "non-fiction".

It is written in prose

The prose is that another characteristic of the narrative genre. Formerly, the narrative stories were written in verse, since being part of the oral tradition, they were easier for the people to remember. Instead, for a long time now, the vast majority of works written in the narrative genre have a free prose format. The author can use all the resources he wants to convey his ideas.

All narratives have a story

Every narrative story has a story to tell. While, in the genre of poetry, it is possible to find an entire piece talking only about one person's feelings, in narrative this will not be possible. Events must always happen, even if they are few and the characters do not move from a physical space. The movement and action are the main characteristics of the narrative genre.

we leave you with a narrative genre example so you can check the freedom that this type of writing offers the author. You will see how it fulfills all the characteristics that we have mentioned in the previous section. We recommend that you go to the library to look for the complete book, to better discover the format in which the narrative genre is written.

In this case we have chosen a fragment of a novel titled The war and the peace, from the author Leo Tolstoy:

"My goal tomorrow will not be to poke and kill, but to keep my soldiers from fleeing the terror that will overwhelm them and me. My goal will be for them to march together and scare the French and for the French to be scared before we do. It has never happened nor will it happen that two regiments have collided and fought and it is impossible. (About Schengraben, they wrote that we collided with the French in this way. I was there. And it is not true: the French fled). If they had collided, they would have been fighting until everyone was down dead or wounded, and that never happens."

Now you know the Characteristics of narrative genre And have you seen an example? If you are interested in this type of writing or something similar, do not hesitate to consult our lessons of the writing section, where we will give you all the tools you need to create your own texts.

If you want to read more articles similar to Characteristics of the narrative genre, we recommend that you enter our category of Writing.

• Valero, A. L., & Fernandez, E. AND. (2001). Of myths, legends and stories: didactic necessity of the narrative genre. Educational Contexts. Education Magazine, (4), 241-250.
• Portelli, A. (2014). Oral history, dialogue and narrative genres. Yearbook of the School of History, (26), 9-30.