When you edit a personal narrative, look beyond the order of events and consider how the narrator comes across to readers. Characterization gives the narrator personality, while persona is the crafted impression the narrator makes on the audience.
A personal narrative may be based on real events, but the narrator on the page is still a construct: a version of the self shaped for the story. The word persona comes from a Latin word for a mask worn by stage actors. Like a mask, a persona is not necessarily false; it is a chosen way of presenting oneself to an audience.
All flashcards
Characterization
The way a writer presents and develops people in a narrative through details such as actions, dialogue, thoughts, and relationships.
Narrator’s persona
The crafted impression a narrator makes on readers through voice, thoughts, actions, dialogue, and selected details.
First-person narrator
A narrator who participates in the story and reports events from personal experience, commonly using “I” and “me.”
Third-person limited narration
Narration restricted to what one character, or a selected group, knows and experiences.
Third-person omniscient narration
Narration that can report multiple characters’ thoughts and actions, including characters absent from a scene.
Quiz questions
A first-person narrator reports what another character privately believes. When is this within the narrator’s knowledge?Answer: When the character reveals it, or the narrator clearly marks it as an inference.
What distinguishes third-person limited narration?Answer: It restricts access to what one character, or a selected group, knows and experiences.
Which ability is characteristic of third-person omniscient narration?Answer: Reporting the thoughts and actions of multiple characters, including absent ones.
Which description best identifies second-person point of view?Answer: The narration addresses “you,” placing the reader in the story’s experience.
Why is third-person narration not automatically more objective than first-person narration?Answer: A narrator’s reliability depends on how information is presented, not only on the point of view.
Based on Writing Guide with Handbook by Michelle Bachelor Robinson, Maria Jerskey, featuring Toby Fulwiler (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.