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narrative Definition

nar·ra·tive (narə tiv)

adjective

  1. of, or having the nature of, narration; in story form
  2. occupied or concerned with narration a narrative poet

Etymology: L narrativus

noun

  1. a story; account; tale
  2. the art or practice of narrating; narration

narrative Related Forms
nar·ra·tively adverb
narrative Synonyms

narrative

modif.

storylike, fictional, retold, recounted, narrated, sequential, reported; see also chronological, historical.

narrative Synonyms

narrative

n.

story, tale, anecdote, account; see story. See syn. study at story.

narrative Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • construct: It is a multiple narrative constructed from the experiences of a fractured French family and their main observer, a lost family member.
  • eschew: Hamer has kept the rambling and episodic structure of the book, eschewing traditional narrative.
  • propel: Everything in a Hopper painting, his interiors in particular, is full of meaning that propels the narrative.

Adjective modifier

  • patriarchal: The Ja - cob story taken together with the broader patriarchal narrative does provide a basis for such a judgment.
  • biblical: The book of Ruth and biblical narrative by Richard Bauckham.
  • grand: Yet grand narratives of four their what was on.
  • fictional: The main theme of ' Voicebox ' , the long fictional narrative in the middle of the book, is communication.
  • linear: I simply did not want to engage with a linear narrative.
  • compelling: This running " subplot " gave Country House a compelling narrative to run alongside the history.

Modifies a noun

  • poem: The four pieces included are the only narrative poems by Lewis known to in existence.
  • synthesis: Instead, a narrative synthesis of results is presented.
  • strand: Here the slippage is in time and space rather than between multiple incomplete narrative strands.
  • thread: Instead of adopting narrative threads from other media, I am interested in the currency that exists already in the city space.
  • arc: The narrative arc on his album Stronger Everyday begins with first club track Everytime, featuring Dirt McGirt ( formerly known as ODB ).

Noun used with modifier

  • first-person: These 20 first-person narratives portray ordinary people in a language that makes glory of their lives.
  • abduction: In the age of child abuse, Aids, abortion and IVF the abduction narratives would voice new concerns.
  • crucifixion: And throughout the Crucifixion narratives, tho the suffering is quietly understated, it is equally clear.
  • resurrection: The lack of theological development suggests the resurrection narratives are very early.
  • passion: Victorians published lots of biographies of Jesus which sought to explain the passion narratives in a rational way.
narrative Quotes

We construct a narrative for ourselves, and that's the thread we follow from one day to the next. People who disintegrate as personalities are the ones who lose that thread.

—Auster, Paul pseudonym of  Paul Benjamin

Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.

—Twain, Mark pseudonym of  Samuel Langhorne Clemens

The narrative impulse is always with us; we couldn't imagine ourselves through a day without it.

—Coover, Robert Lowell

   There is no longer any such thing as fiction or non- fiction; there's only narrative.

—Doctorow, E(dgar) L(awrence)