Cause and Effect

The cause and effect approach can be very affective when the author is trying to reach their audience. I like to think of dominos, all lined up in a row. The person who took all that time to set up the dominos is going to watch them fall with one slight tap. The cause of the dominos falling is the slight tap, and the effect is the domino's no longer standing. When we write we need to think of the domino effect. The benefits are that the reader will begin to recognize a pattern, and identify questions to make the reading more memorable or interesting.

The reader can best analyze the cause and effect by identifying the Chain of Cause. First recognizing the contributory causes which are the things that surround the main cause. Let's use the example of frozen ice outside. What elements contributed to the the ice freezing? The temperature outside, the water, the snow, a storm, there could be many. Second, identify the main cause. The ice outside frozen due to horrible winter storm that made the temperatures drop below freezing. Third, what was the immediate effect? The roads and streets became treacherous. Last, what were the remote effects of the ice? People were slipping off the roads, and there were numerous accidents. People who wrecked their cars had to buy new ones.

The cause and affect approach is very helpful in all forms of writing. If you can recognize the change, and ask yourself analytical questions your may be able to reach your audience in an effective way.

Peer Reviews

When ever any kind of paper, article, book, or any other kind of written work is produced there needs to be some sort of editing process. The work needs to be evaluted. It must go through the process of editing. One, of the most important types of editing is that of the author's peers. When an author writes a narrative, for example, they must know their audience. How can they know if their audience has been reached in an effective manner if  the narrative has not been reviewed by one of their peers? The answer is they do not know if the made their point if someone else has not reviewed the narrative. Second, a peer review is their to offer another person's perspective. They can see something you missed whether it be an idea, spelling, grammar, or just helping with the organization of the work. Finally, the peer review is there to give clarification to narrative, to help the author reach the audience, and to make sure the story reaches it's prospective audience.

Authurian Rhetorical Tools

Mary Frances Zambreno's artictle Why Do Some Stories Keep Returning? Modern Authurian Fiction and the Narrative Structure of Romance she tells us why author's keep coming back to the age old story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Roundtable. She explains that the story is one that is easy to retell because of how it is, "organized and presented".  It also leaves a opportunity for later generations to make it into a story of there own. Zambreno defines the rhetorical tools that make Authurian narrative retellable time and time again. Through the use of mutability or plasticity, piecemeal, windows of opportunity, and open-ended closure.

First,Mutability or plasticity is the way the material can be reshaped for new audiences. The characters play a huge role in adaptibility. For example, some tales protray the story as more of a forbidden romance between Queen Gwenhwyfar and Lancelot. While others will protray war over romance. Second, piecemeal the nature of Authurian narrative, the way the story has been pieced to gether from different sources, that encouraged later adaptions. Third, windows of opportunity is the gap left by the very nature of Britain, that leaves windows open for other stories, and view points to enter in. The Arthurian legend gives later authors the opportunity to have space to work. Finally, we look at the open-ended closure. This where the author turns over the key. If the reader wants more they may have to do some research, or even write the continuation for themselves,.

Narratives Continued...

Here is a refresher of what a narrative essay is. It is an essay that tells us a story. The narrative happens in a sequence of events. These events are placed in a logical, and chronlogical order. In a narrative it is better if we know our audience.  It can be easier to get our thesis out when we know more about who we are writing for. We have the triangle with the rhetor, text, and the audience. They all effect each other by tying the story together.

The next part goes into more about the structure of an narrative. We have already established that a narrative is a story. The narrative tells us why, and who. How do we construct this narrative beyond the usual outline of introduction, body, and conclusion? First dig into the body of the text. We establish a theme, a setting, a plot, and characters. The theme tells the reader the message behind the story. It also explains the motives of characters within the story. Second, the setting establishes where and when the story took place. Third, the plot takes from the beginning to the end, describing the event, how characters react to the event, what will the characters do, and what is the final result. Finally, the characters are the people who play a role in the story. They create the roles in which the story takes place. Once the body of the narrative has been established you will find much easier to write your thesis and conclusion

The Narrative

The importance of narrative is to support a logical argument. The narrative is a sequence of events that fall in a chronological order. Its purpose is to tell a story of what, why, whom and how. It can be formulated with a plot, theme, characters, and setting. These parts can make easier for you, as the author, to relay your story.

The narrative uses rhetorical tools to reach a desired audience by a triangle. In this triangle there consists the rhetor, the text, and audience. They all interact to create the flow of the narrative. The rhetor is the author, who through the use of descriptive writing expresses a life experience. The rhetor knows that we learn through life experiences, but to reach the reader they must discover there audience through culture, and the time frame. The text can be the object of focus, either being visual, or even oral. All the angles of the narrative triangle must meet for the story to end in a proper way.

Essay Structure and The Writing Process

The dreaded essay can be easily formulated if one has the right tools. Once the formula is created the writing process can begin. The basic introduction, body, and conclusion is always a must. There are two ways to build an essay the "traditional outline" and "the free write outline".

 The "traditional" outline would follow as you start with your introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction has a thesis statement, and the thesis is a roadmap that introduces the topics of the essay. Next, the body of the essay. The body supports the thesis. It educates the audience, and motivates the reader towards the goal of understanding the writer's point of view. Finally, bringing the essay to a conclusion. The thesis will be restated, but in a different way. There is a brief summary of the key elements.

The "free write outline" is the idea that writing an essay can begin with the body itself.. The idea of starting with the body of the essay can evoke ideas that will help construction a better introduction and conclusion. The essay stills needs the fundamentals listed in a "traditional essay", but once you have allowed freedom in the body of the text the essay will come together. The conclusion and the introduction come next. How can one begin an introduction, or a good-bye of someone if they do not know them? The same goes with the essay. If you do not know the body of the text. How can it be introduced and concluded? Free- write the essay and the rest will fall into place.