Narrative

Meaning

Narrative means a spoken or written account of connected events, usually forming a story. It can also refer to the particular way in which events or experiences are presented and understood.

Pronunciation

/ˈnær.ə.tɪv/

Word Forms

• Noun: narrative
• Plural: narratives
• Adjective: narrative
• Related noun: narration
• Verb: narrate

Synonyms

Antonyms

Common Collocations

• tell a narrative — to present a connected account of events.
• create a narrative — to construct or develop a particular story or account.
• personal narrative — a story about someone's own experiences.
• historical narrative — an account presenting events from history as a connected story.
• narrative structure — the way the events and elements of a story are organized.
• narrative voice — the voice or perspective through which a story is told.

Example Sentences

• The novel presents its narrative from several different perspectives.
• She wrote a personal narrative about her childhood.
• The documentary challenges the traditional narrative of the historical event.
• The writer carefully constructed the narrative to keep the reader uncertain about what would happen next.
• His account became part of the larger narrative surrounding the investigation.

Literary Example

Example:

“All human wisdom works and has worries and griefs; but all human wisdom is not wisdom.”

— Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

Here, narrative refers to the story and structure through which events, characters, and ideas are presented to the reader. In literature, a narrative is not simply a sequence of events, but the particular account through which those events acquire meaning.

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Related Words

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