The art of narration

About this book

"The art of narration" by Mary Ellen Chase and Frances Kelley Del Plaine is a college composition textbook and anthology written in the early 20th century. It presents guidance and curated models across a wide range of narrative forms to help students analyze, imitate, and practice narration beyond the short story, emphasizing readable, current examples alongside a few classics.

The opening of the volume sets the aim and method: the Preface and Foreword argue for expanding college instruction past short stories, note the difficulty of permissions, and promise varied, engaging models for twelve narrative types; the Contents maps that breadth. Chapter I defines expository narrative as storytelling used to explain, offers practical tips (choose action-rich subjects, keep details clear and human), and then illustrates the method with four pieces: a vivid life cycle of a salmon that teaches biology through a single fish’s journey; a richly detailed account of a medieval wedding that reveals custom and ceremony; a day-in-the-life portrait of an Oxford undergraduate that explains routines, rules, and social life; and the peasant Bodo’s world under Charlemagne, using one family’s day to convey work, belief, and festivity.