Writing is a piece of art as a narrative is the
style of the work. A narrative should consist of a detailed description of a
person, location or event to create a vivid storyline. A narrative can be written in a first person point-of-view, second person point-of-view and also third person point-of-view. Although the events in a
narrative are not always in chronological order, it does provide an emphasis of
the development of a character though experience and reflections upon what the
characters did. When writing a narrative the author should consider allowing
the audience to understand the text and his point-of –view, questioning himself
where, when, why, and how are these events taking place. Ultimately the work of
literature must clearly express the views, and ideas of the author, the style
and order of events must be logical. Below is an example of a narrative written
and narrated by Lynda Barry, a cartoonist, novelist, and teacher of writing.
Lynda
Barry’s article The Sanctuary of School opens
with literary elements; conflict and setting. The setting of the article takes
place when the narrator was 7 years old, during the winter season, in a
mediocre house which shelters the narrator, her parents, and her brother. The
hardship that the narrator faces is a series of man vs. man conflict; at the
top of the pyramid her parents are having an endless argument. It slowly leads
to the young child sneaking out of the house while it’s dark outside. The
setting soon leads to a very vivid description of her school and her feelings
towards it, “My school was made up of about 15 nondescript portable classrooms
set down on a fenced concrete lot in a rundown Seattle neighborhood, but it had
the most beautiful view of the Cascade Mountains. You could see them from
anywhere on the playfield and you could see them from the windows of my
classroom” (Barry 85). Barry’s argument supports the maintaining of art classes
in the school by notifying the readers that public school are getting cuts
however art classes are necessary.
When Barry uses the symbolic phrase, “point of
light” to refer to her school and how it is a sanctuary to her. I can relate to
a school being a sanctuary because only in school can I socialize and learn at
the same time. To her the school is an important part of her life as a child
because she can freely express what’s on her mind through art, as for me, I can
freely discuss whatever is in my mind to my peers to alleviate my ideas.
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