Comparative Narrative

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Reading, for the true enthusiasts, is a time to take a break, a vacation from the everyday hum-drum life. It is a time for him or her to escape what he or she knows to experience and view life through another’s eyes. For one who truly enjoys this pastime, it does not matter what the genre is. Whether short fictional tales or non-fiction stories. Whether poetry or essays the reader escapes through reading. This paper will compare the elements of narrative in two fictional and two non-fictional works, exploring such areas as the credibility, entertainment value and superiority within the distinct character of both, the fictional and non-fictional genres of literature. The stories, The Richer, the Poorer by Dorothy West and My Lack of Gumption, by Russell Baker both taken from The Art of Work (LaRocco & Coughlin, 1996, p. 106 and 119) and The Virus, by Craig Brown and Buy a Cellular Phone, Sublet Your Soul by Robert Aquinas McNally both taken from The Literature of Work (Murphy, S., Sperling, J., & Murphy, J, 1991, p 29 & 277) will be used for the various crossover themes that are perceptible in them.

NARRATIVE

Narrative is defined as “the general term (for a story long or short; of past, present or future; factual or imagined; told for any purpose; and with or without much detail).” (2006) In a fictional work, narrative may be used to create emotion or evoke emotional responses from the reader. Emotions such as love, fear, anger and pain can be enhanced or exaggerated in a fictional account to pike the readers interest.

In a non-fictional work narrative can be used to condense time to eliminate unimportant or uninteresting points in a story. Whole periods can be skipped so more time can be spent describing or exploring the most essential or momentous points of the true account. Facts are the basic elements upon which a story is built.

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