Question

Appreciation on Narrative prose

Answer 1

Examples of narratives can include stories such as: fairy tales, fables, short stories, fantasy,legend, mystery, science fiction, biographies and autobiographies to name a few. All stories have a beginning, a middle and an end.

There are other parts of stories that children should learn to identify, such as: characters, settings, themes, a problem or conflict, a sequence of events and a resolution(comprehension instruction). I am sure if you think of all the fairy tales you know you can identify each of these parts. The important thing about this is you can learn to predict what could happen as you learn the structure.


Narrative prose or storytelling involves both reading and writing, but it is often forgotten that neither of these are necessary for storytelling. Since ancient times, pictures and oral renditions of stories have been used to tell stories. (Wikipedia Storytelling)

Vitz (1990) claims that narratives are a function in a person’s moral development. Vitz goes on to back this claim with the thoughts of several other psychologists. Some moral issues than can be addressed through narrative include empathy, caring and commitment, and personal character. Vitz (1990) feels moral education effects aspects in education and the society at large.

Bruner according to Vitz (1990), feels narrative thinking comes from actual and interrelated situations that show the validity of their moral thinking. Narratives tell about, the actions, intentions, outcomes, and personal experiences of people. Sarbin, a social psychologist, feels narratives explains the reasons behind human behavior (Vitz, 1990) Sarbin, according to Vitz (1990), believes our moral choices are developed by our internal self-narratives. Cole, according to Vitz (1990), think children understand their moral behavior through a narrative context and their moral behavior is deeply affected by narrative experience.

Answer 2

A narrative can be fiction or non-fiction. For appreciation first decide the meaning of the narrative and write it in brief. Elaborate on the emotional response that the narrative aims to evoke in a reader. The point emphasized most by the author and if there are parallel points, they need to be stated clearly. After this the literary elements of the narrative - theme, characters, setting, plot, conflict, tone and point of view and clues as to how the author tried to make his point - should be discussed. The details of the narrator's perspective and change in events, what leads to conflict, how irony relates to the narrative's meaning, all these have to be pointed out as per the development of the narrative.  Use quotes from the narrative that support the idea and point out passages that show the author's meaning as it unfolds. Judge the writing critically and decide where the opinions count. If the author conveyed meaning well and consistently, say so. If clarity was lacking or the meaning got lost in places, explain that. Before you conclude, restate your ideas in brief by summarizing previous paragraphs. End the appreciation by repeating the meaning of the narrative in a single sentence.