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The narrator of a story is the "voice" of the story: the storyteller -- not to be confused with the author of a story. The author creates the narrator(s). Narrators are either participants or non-participants in the story. A participant narrator is known as a first-person narrator. A non-participant narrator is known as a third-person narrator. There are various modes or ways that each kind of narrator can tell his/her story. FIRST PERSON NARRATORS A first person narrator is a character in the story: s/he can be a major or minor participant -- a major participant is usually the protagonist of the story; a minor participant is an observer of the protagonist (ex: Nick in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald) FIRST PERSON MODES Diary: a written account, usually meant only for the writer's eyes. Ex: The Diary of Anne Frank Journal: a written account, often meant to be read by someone else. Ex: a travelogue or a ship's log. Epistolary: a story written in the form of letters by one of more of the participants in the action. Ex: The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Interior monologue: the narrator is speaking to him/herself. Dramatic monologue: the narrator is speaking to an audience, either expressed or understood. Memoir: the narrator is telling his/her story after s/he is no longer emotionally involved in the incidents of the story -- often years after the incidents have happened. THIRD PERSON NARRATORS A third person narrator is a storyteller who is not a character in the story. THIRD PERSON MODES Objective or reportorial: an objective narrator reports only what can be seen or heard -- a kind of "fly-on-the-wall" viewpoint. Editorial: an editorial narrator reports what can be seen or heard and expresses his/her opinion about the events or characters -- this narrative mode is judgmental. Omniscient: an omniscient narrator reports not only what happens, but what one or more character thinks. S/he can get "inside the heads" of the characters. Stream-of-consciousness: in stream-of-consciousness narration, the narrator attempts to reproduce the thought-patterns of one or more characters. This kind of narration rarely follows the rules of grammar and often includes visual imagery (think about your own thought patterns).
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