Narrative Analysis
User Rating: 0 / 5
- Details
- Hits: 545793
The author is associated with orderwriters.com which is a global custom writing company. If you would like help in custom writing or term paper writing and essays, you can visit orderwriters.com.
Narrative Analysis
Narrative analysis is a chronological analysis of a story focusing on the sequencing of the elements in the story, and explaining why some of the elements are examined differently, how the occurrences in the past influence the perception of the present happenings and how both of them influence the future (Currie, 1998). Narratives are usually characterized by elements of a temporal transformation, action and character accounts connected using a line of action or a plot. The characters and actions can be real or fantastic but they undergo a process called emplotment in order to make a flowing story. The most important segment is the resolution where the moral element is communicated. Narrative analysis focuses on how narrative interpret the world, whether the interpretation is factual or based on facts. In narrative analysis, one of the most important assumptions made is that narratives are social images produced by people in specific settings that are governed by social, historical or cultural contexts.
This paper will focus on two techniques of narrative analysis namely, Discourse Analysis by Michael Hoey and Narrative Therapy by Michael white. Michael White’s Narrative Therapy is about the telling and retelling of peoples live stories by focusing on the unique, aberrant and contradictory parts of the story. It also explores the skills and knowledge that influence some of the expressions by identifying the historic or the cultural locations of the aforementioned elements. It also explores the living proposals that are central to the particulars of actions presented by the skills and knowledge. A thick description brings out the consciousness of people by explaining what is happening. Whether modal aspects, whims, beliefs, intentions and commitment; influence what has been done the present alternatives are linked with similar occurrences in the past in order to bring out similarities and differences. It holds that people’s identities are influenced by the contents of narratives. By trying to investigate the factors influencing a problem surrounding a person and his or her relationships, this creates a certain distance that enables investigation and evaluation of the factors influencing the problem. Michael Hoey’s Discourse analysis holds the view that users of language usually store the lexicons they already know in the environment they were heard, read or used. According to this approach, speakers will store a word they encounter in use together with all the other words that have been used in the same environment helping them to create a collection that aid them in communication. This theory deals much with the element of noticing which makes it possible for a user to apply the correct phrase in the correct environment at the right moment subconsciously. The bottom line is that people in their speech or writing reproduce what they have encountered before and the meanings are subconsciously learnt.
Father Locked Out As Baby Is Born: Analysis Using the Narrative Therapy
The narrative therapy approach to analyze this report is important to consider the Aitkens relationship with the problem so that in the end we manage to hold onto the premises of the narrative that the people are not the problem, but the problem is the problem itself (Currie, 1998). It is possible to see the problem at hand from the dimension of the characters where we will be making them the subject of the whole analysis. It is important to focus on what shapes the experiences in the story on how the characters are not in control of the events that have been emploted and the outcome of the narrative. The nightmarish experience that they get on their way to get Ms Aitkin deliver is not something that happened on purpose, intent, or as a goal or whim. It was something beyond their control because they could not have the capacity to time the wife’s labor. So they drive to the borders hospital to take the wife to deliver but they realize that they cannot get to the hospital before the baby is out. Here, the husband does this out of purpose and commitment. It is not accidental or something that is controlled by fate. He wants to save the situation by giving the help to his wife because the help that the wife would have got cannot be realized now because of the circumstances beyond their control. This is now where we bring the concept of externalization or objectification of the narrative (McQuillan, 2000) with a view to make an investigation of the influences of the problem. When the husband gets out, the wife accidentally triggers the locking system thus locking out the husband who was moving to the other side to offer help. Common sense will lead us to concluding that she did not do this on purpose, it was not intentional because it would create a sarcastically contradicting scenario of a person in dire need creating restrictions that deny someone out to help access to provide the help. This is shown when she reaches for the car keys so that she can give it to her husband, but another thing beyond her control happens, she drops the keys out of the window at a place that the husband could not easily trace them. This further derails his efforts of helping out because he still cannot access the backseat where the wife is. At this point is possible for a reader to label the wife as a problem, but ideally, if the wife is the problem, then those things happening would have been intentional. But applying the narrative, the problem with the couple is just a problem that is not caused on purpose neither do they have control over the outcome. It is just a nightmarish natural occurrence that are triggered by forces beyond their control which means that for every problem they encounter, there must be a counter effort done to resolve the problem, and that exactly happens in the story. The husband found the key and the baby was delivered safely.
One would expect that after all the impediments, there would be something tragic because of the happenings and the way they bring themselves in a scary sequence foreshadow doom but the course of the narrative and our expectations are altered when the delivery is ultimately carried out safely. The most important factor in the application of the narrative therapy is the investigation of factors influencing a certain problem (Hoey, 2001) and not the persons influencing the problem. This will help us to be objective and not impose blame on people who find themselves in the thick of things because of occurrences they themselves did not cause or even had not anticipated. Creating a distance between the doer of the action and the actions helps us to remove subjectivity that would make us put labels on characters. That is why we are able to call the whole story a nightmare because we focus on the problem and its influences rather than the people influencing the happenings. The sagacious incidences do not end with the finding of the key. The baby may have been born but another problem arises, the baby is born with an umbilical cord wrapped round the neck, another nightmare but they were able to tackle this one very easily before they drove quickly towards an ambulance carrying some paramedics they had called. This is a very unusual birth riddled with some funny and scary twists but the baby was not adversely affected by the intricacies surrounding the birth. The narrative therapy also focuses on the linear structure of a narrative where subsequence of events is created (Hogan, 2003). One thing leads to another and another until the outcome is realized.
Father Locked Out As Baby Is Born: Discourse Analysis
While analyzing this narrative, it is important to consider its context before we can proceed to the priming of the lexicon used in the narrative. The woman is in labor, which creates a sensation of pain and urgency. The husband decides to drive her to the nearby hospital for delivery but when they relies they cannot get to the hospital before the baby is out, the husband decides to help. The opening line creates an ambiguous meaning that may lead to an interpretation that the father was intentionally locked out; may be because he was unwanted in the birth giving process. This interpretation would be dictated by the common use of the word locked out, which is normally used to indicate unfriendliness or rejection, but in this case the locking out is accidental, triggered by circumstances beyond the couple’s control. This is brought out by the use of the word accidentally triggered which automatically tells us that the locking out was not a form of rejection. It is the context in which the word is used that makes it difficult to figure out the factor behind the locking out. Reaching the ignition keys of the car, she manages to get them, but drops out of the window. The writer of the story clearly chooses his words to reflect the accidental nature of the events happening around them. The use of the word drop also denotes the helpless state the woman was in as she struggled to get the key to the husband. The reader easily understands there was an element of confusion creeping in that leads to the unfolding .The wife eventually gives birth but another twist is the wrapping of the cord round the neck of the newly born baby. This now creates a sense of despair and panic in the already confused couple. The choice of words by the writer also serves to intensify the state of the affairs. This is reflected in the last part of the story where the husband relates the whole debacle with the happenings in the army saying that he had seen scary situations but this one was more scary than most of the situations he has been in.
Ex-Hitman Admits Stabbing Attack: Narrative Therapy Analysis
The story opens with the admission of Paul Beatie that he stabbed a man with a knife. The opening line sets the problem straight that this was not an accident as in the previous one. It was something done intentionally and on purpose by a man who knew what he was doing. Even if you try to create a distance between you and the story to avoid subjectivity, you realize that the man Paul Beatie is the problem, whatever his motive was. Furthermore, he left him for the dead after stabbing him in the stomach. Up to this point, we have not learnt the motive of the attack but it is clear that there must be a reason behind the action. In narrative therapy, the principles and skills are the one that enable people to get back their life from a problem (Chatman, 1998) and this is clearly addressed in the admission by Beatie that he stabbed a man and left him for the dead. The story takes a twist when we are informed that this is not something extra ordinary in the life of the assailant, he is believed to have had a violent past and the assailant had just moved from Scotland before the attack. This brings us to the element of the externalizing emphasis to relate the problem with its history (McQuillan, 2000). The assailant’s violent conduct had earned him an eleven-year jail term in North Ireland. This means that this is not the first time such a thing is happening and history has it that this is likely to be the nature of this man. In this case, whatever the reason was for the stabbing, the past has influenced the present and the problem revolves around the doer and not the reason why it was done. The judge will in this case try to understand the past actions of the assailant rather than the motive behind the action. The story goes on to reveal the circumstances in which the stabbing occurs. It was a bar brawl that did not necessitate such a reaction. After spending 3 times playing games with his friends the victim, Mr Banka went to a bar at Newton Stewart on 13th June. The element of playing golf gives us the background of the victim. He is an affluent person who can afford 3 days of golf. When he went outside he got into an argument with Beatie. However, the stabbing does not take place immediately. Mr Banka is stabbed as he neared the house by Beatie who as he yelled “This is for you”. We are told that he stabbed the laborer 3 times in the stomach. A contradiction of sorts in line with the principles of narrative therapy (Chatman, 1998) is brought out as he does not expect a relationship between a mere laborer and playing of golf. However, the main concern here is the time difference between the argument and the stabbing.
Our understanding of the whole debacle would change if Beatie had stabbed the man immediately after the brawl, one would talk of emotional rage, but the stabbing happened hours after the argument, which now creates more questions than answers. Most likely, the argument did little to influence the stabbing. Beatie does not even give a reason for the stabbing to defend him. Why would someone seek to end another person’s life because of a few minutes argument? There must be something wrong with the mental disposition of Beatie one would concede. The problem is that he was not remorseful for his action after the incident. He went away leaving the man down bleeding and went boasting to his neighbour saying that he did not think the guy would survive. This means that Beatie’s intention was to murder the man, but there is no reason to justify the murder. This gives weight to the case where any leader is tempted to look at Beatie as not only the source of the problem but the problem. This is justified by the revelation of his past conducts, which connects with the current violent conduct. The victim was taken to the hospital where it is discovered that the stab had sliced his liver. This highlights the intensity and the depth of the stab by Beattie. The seriousness of the injury is highlighted by the ten day that he spent in the hospital and the permanent scar the injury left on the victim. This evokes sympathy from the reader who identifies Mr. Banka as an unwarranted recipient of a problem from an assailant who has a history of causing such a problem. This is in line with the narrative therapy assumption that the assumption that narratives or stories influence the identity or the awareness of a person after assessing a problem in life’s dominant story (Brooks, 1984). After the attack, Beattie fled away but the vivid description given by his victim helped in his arrest. His disappearance is the one that leads us to conclude that the attack was a criminal act because there is no plausible grounds to base the attack, buy his lawyer defends him saying that the behavior was a result of mental trauma because of his experiences in northern Ireland. This is true because this attack was an unnatural and the narrative would be a good basis for a psychotherapist to analyze the behavior of the assailant.
Ex-Hitman Admits Stabbing Attack: Discourse Analysis
It is important to note that Beatie admitted that he stabbed the man. This is the first notable thing that a reader gets when the story opens. The use of the word admission automatically notifies the reader that the person is guilty of the crime even before we know who the victim is. The extended sentence in this story means that the assailant was given an extra ordinary sentence because he was not a first offender, but someone who is used to such kind of crimes. His past was violent and he had just arrived from Scotland implying that he was not familiar to the place or the people for long. The lexical priming assumes that the audience will react to a story by making a note of terms that they know their usage in context (Eggins & Slade 1997) and this narrative avoids using some obscurant terms that would keep the reader far from the intended meaning. The trouble was caused by an insult but the developments after the insults indicate an exaggerated reaction by Beatie because his actions almost resulted in death. The inhumanity of the assailant is indicated by leaving the man bleeding on the ground and going to brag to a neigbour about his heinous actions. What is also very stunning in the story is the time lapse between the argument and the attack which leads to speculations that the attack may not have been solely cause but just an argument there must have been something that have happened and the argument just acted as a catalyst to make Beatie react the way he reacted. This is an assumption given that it is impossible for the assailant to cause all that level of harm because of just an argument. However, on the other hand the evidence that Beatie had been involved in past violent acts may serve to show that may be it was something mental in the assailant that provoked such kind of behavior, now and in the past.
References
Bamberg, M. (ed.) (1997). Oral Versions of Personal Experience: Three Decades of Narrative Analysis. North Carolina: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Brooks, P. (1984). Reading for the Plot: Design and Intention in Narrative. London: Harvard University Press.
Case, A. (1999). Plotting women: gender and narration in the eighteenth and nineteenth century British novel. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Cobley, P. (2001). Narrative. New York: Routledge.
Chatman, S. (1998). Story and Discourse. Chicago: Cornell University Press.
Currie, M. (1998). Postmodern Narrative Theory. London: Macmillan.
Eggins, S, Slade D. (1997). Analyzing Casual Conversation. New Jersey: Cassell.
Herman, D. (2002). Story Logic: Problems and Possibilities of Narrative. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press
Herman. D Manfred .J. (2005). The Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory. New York: Routledge.
Hoey, M. (2001). Textual Interaction: An Introduction to Discourse Analysis. New York: Routledge
Hogan, P. (2003). The Mind and its stories: Narrative Universals and Human Emotion. Cambridge, CUP.
Labov, W. (1972). Language in the Inner City. University of Philadelphia.
McQuillan, M. (ed.) (2000). The Narrative Reader. New York :Routledge
Mezei, K. (1996). Ambiguous Discourse: Feminist Narratology and British Women Writers. University of North Carolina Press.
Norrick, N. (2000). Conversational Narrative. Storytelling in Everyday Talk: John Benjamin