A narrative technique (also known, more narrowly for literary ctional narratives, as a literary technique, literary device or fictional device) is any of several speci c methods the creator of a narrative uses to convey what they to say. In other words, a strategy used in the making of a narrative to relay information to the audience and, particularly, to "develop" the narrative, usually in order to make it more complete, complicated or interesting. Literary techniques are distinguished from literary elements, which exist inherently in works of writing."

Drawing on a wide range of films from the 1920s to the 1990s—from Keaton’s Our Hospitality to Casablanca to Terminator 2, Kristin Thompson offers the first in-depth analysis of Hollywood’s storytelling techniques and how they are used to make complex, easily comprehensible, entertaining films.

"The purpose of this book is to outline a method of literary training. It aims to provide systematic discipline in the handling of narrative materials ... for college students of English composition ..."--Pref.

Henry James Narrative Technique situates Henry James famous method within an emerging modernist tradition with roots in philosophical debates between rationalism and empiricism. This cogent study considers James works in the context of nineteenth-century thought on consciousness, perception, and cognition. Kristin Boudreau makes the compelling argument that these philosophical discussions influenced James depictions of consciousness and are integral to his narrative technique.

The rhetorical theory of narrative that emerges from these investigations emphasizes the recursive relationships between authorial agency, textual phenomena, and reader response, even as it remains open to insights from a range of critical approaches - including feminism, psychoanalysis, Bakhtinian linguistics, and cultural studies. The rhetorical criticism Phelan advocates and employs seeks, above all, to attend carefully to the multiple demands of reading sophisticated narrative; for that reason, his rhetorical theory moves less toward predictions about the relationships between techniques, ethics, and ideologies and more toward developing some principles and concepts that allow us to recognize the complex diversity of narrative art.

In this study, Ruth D. Weston probes the whole of Eudora Welty’s work to reveal the writer’s close relationship to the gothic tradition. Specifically, Weston shows how Welty employs the theme of enclosure and escape and settings that convey a sense of mystery—gothic adaptations both—to create certain narrative techniques in her fiction. Differentiating at the outset between the Gothic genre as opposed to elements of the gothic tradition, and acknowledging both critics’ and Welty’s own reluctance to link her writing with the former, Weston plunges in and brilliantly discloses the relationship Welty’s writing has to both, and in doing so describes a rich literary heritage to which Welty belongs. She shows how the tradition of adapting European Gothic conventions to American settings has come down to us through writers such as Hawthorne, particularly through the short story, and continues in Welty’s fiction. Among Welty’s narrative techniques that Weston discusses are plot structures built around betrayal and captivity, reversal of characters’ gender roles, a tone sometimes similar to that of gothic genres such as the fairy tale or ghost story, and affective settings in “gothic spaces” such as the woods along the Natchez Trace. These techniques, Weston explains, help Welty in illustrating restrictions placed on the individual’s search for selfhood by human relationships, cultural expectations, and memory. In addition to examining the texts themselves, Weston draws on Welty’s critical and theoretical writings and her letters and other materials in archival collections. She also gleans insights from the work of contemporary narrative theorists, feminist critics, and recent commentators on the Gothic. In the course of her presentation, she offers some excellent new assessments of Welty’s relation to the “female Gothic” and the “Southern Gothic” and to William Faulkner and Jane Austen. This book is one of the most informed studies to date of Welty’s relation to the literary mainstream of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Welty scholars as well as general readers of American and southern literature will gain a deep appreciation for Welty’s imaginative and original response to the Gothic literary tradition.

Nobel laureate Toni Morrison is one of the most widely studied of contemporary American authors. Her novels, particularly Beloved, have had a dramatic impact on the American canon and attracted considerable critical commentary. This 2007 Companion introduces and examines her oeuvre as a whole, the first evaluation to include not only her famous novels, but also her other literary works (short story, drama, musical, and opera), her social and literary criticism, and her career as an editor and teacher. Innovative contributions from internationally recognized critics and academics discuss Morrison's themes, narrative techniques, language and political philosophy, and explain the importance of her work to American studies and world literature. This comprehensive and accessible approach, together with a chronology and guide to further reading, makes this an essential book for students and scholars of African American literature.

Combining linguistic theory with analytical concepts and literary interpretation and appreciation, Jane Austen's Narrative Techniques traces the creation and development of Austen's narrative techniques. Massimiliano Morini employs the tools developed by post-war linguistics and above all pragmatics, the study of the ways in which speakers communicate meaning, since Austen's 'wordings' can only be interpreted within the fictional context of character-character, narrator-character, narrator-reader interaction. Examining a wide range of Austen texts, from her unpublished works through masterpieces like Mansfield Park and Emma, Morini discusses familiar Austen themes, using linguistic means to shed fresh light on the question of point of view in Austen and on Austen's much-admired brilliance in creating lively and plausible dialogue. Accessibly written and informed by the latest work in linguistic and literary studies, Jane Austen's Narrative Techniques offers Austen specialists a new avenue for understanding her narrative techniques and serves as a case study for scholars and students of pragmatics and applied linguistics.

This best-selling book is an easy-to-read introduction to the ideas and practices of narrative therapy. It uses accessible language, has a concise structure and includes a wide range of practical examples. What Is Narrative Practice? covers a broad spectrum of narrative practices including externalisation, re-membering, therapeutic letter writing, rituals, leagues, reflecting teams and much more. If you are a therapist, health worker or community worker who is interesting in applying narrative ideas in your own work context, this book was written with you in mind.

Ovid was one of the greatest writers of classical antiquity, and arguably the single most influential ancient poet for post-classical literature and culture. In this Cambridge Companion, chapters by leading authorities from Europe and North America discuss the backgrounds and contexts for Ovid, the individual works, and his influence on later literature and art. Coverage of essential information is combined with exciting critical approaches. This Companion is designed both as an accessible handbook for the general reader who wishes to learn about Ovid, and as a series of stimulating essays for students of Latin poetry and of the classical tradition.