1. NARRATIVE

2. What is Narrative?
Narrative is a way of organising various spatial and
worldly data into a cause and effect chain of events
with a beginning, middle and end.
Narrative contains judgements about the nature of
various events as well as demonstrates how it is
possible to know, and hence to narrate the events.

3. How does narrative do this?
Structures
Roles
Codes

4. NARRATIVE
Structure

5. Narrative Structure
One example of a common narrative structure is
Todorov’s 5 stages of narrative, which are:
1. A state of equilibrium
2. A disruption of that order
3. The recognition that the order has been
disrupted
4. An attempt to repair the damage
5. A state of new equilibrium

6. Applying Todorov to The Dark knight

7. Bruce Wayne/Batman
offers a new politician a
fundraiser/dinner party
to help raise money for
his cause as he believes
in him and his policies.
1. A state of equilibrium

8. The Joker meets the mob and offers to kill batman for them for a price. He
begins to kill ordinary people each day unless Batman reveals his identity to
the world and makes it easier for him to kill him. Joker also creates a
mission to turn the white Knight, Harvey Dent bad. He plans to kill his true
love, Rachel to try to turn the one good man in power bad. He wants to
express and prove any good can be turned bad.
2.A disruption of that order

9. Bruce Wayne plans to reveal his identity as acknowledges the chaos the
joker is corsing, but Harvey Dent instead names himself as Batman to
protect the true identity of Batman and put himself in danger to allow
Batman/Wayne to continue to hunt the Joker and stop him killing.

10. Batman asks a reluctant Lucius Fox to use a city-wide tracking prototype
device to find the Joker. Joker successfully kills Rachel and Dent filled
with anger goes on a quest to kill who the Joker has framed as the
killers.
4. An attempt to repair the damage

11. Batman catches the joker, but a corrupted Harvey Dent, tricked by the Joker kills the
people he thinks were responsible for Rachel’s death. Batman kills Dent accidently in a
struggle to to stop him and tells the police officer Gordon to frame himself/ Batman for
Dents murders. He does this to keep Dents image as a symbol of hope for the public
who need an idol of good in dark times.
5. A state of new equilibrium

12. Task
Choose a text you know well and answer the following question by
applying Todorov
“All texts follow similar narrative structures” How true is this of your
chosen text?
Remember not all texts may fit perfectly, especially more experimental
ones
Wikipedia and IMDB usually have plot synopsis to remind you
Upload images from scenes of your text for each section of Todorov, if
atall possible

13. NARRATIVE
Roles

14. Propp character roles
Vladimir Propp developed a character theory for studying media texts and
productions, which indicates that there were 7 broad and reoccuring
character types in the 100 tales he analysed.
-The Villain
-The Donor/giver of knowledge
-The Helper
-The Princess (sought after person)
-The Dispatcher
-The Hero (or victim)
-The False Hero

15. The Hero
In every story there is a major character with whom the reader will normally
associate most strongly and who is the key person around which the story is told.
Although this person is often a hero in some sense, they may also take another
form, such as a victim or a seeker after some treasure or knowledge. Or maybe
they are all of these.
The Helper
The Hero is supported in his or her quest by a Helper, often a wise old man or
magician, who appears at critical moments to provide support.
The Helper may also be found in a support role, such as Sherlock Holmes' Dr.
Watson. The contrast between the two is the helper has limitations the hero can
surpass.
The Villain
The sharpest contrast against the hero is the villain, who struggles directly
against the hero. This is the clear bad-guy. The Villain typically is morally bad,
highlighting the goodness of the Hero.The Villain may seek to prevent the Hero
from achieving the goal or may quest after the same artefact. The Villain may
also be a tempter.

16. The False Hero
A variant on the villain and a potential complication within the plot is the False
Hero, who appears to act heroically at times and may even be initially mistaken for the
real Hero.
The False Hero will try to steal the Hero's thunder, grabbing the credit and perhaps
trying to marry the princess instead.
The Donor
The Donor is a person who gives the Hero something special, such as a magical
weapon or some particular wisdom. They may typically be Gods, Oracles or Wise
Persons, although they may also be as simple as gatekeepers.
This role may be combined with that of a Helper. The Donor may also be capricious
and not easily swayed and may not give up their gift without setting the Hero another
task, from a simple riddle to a whole other quest.
The Dispatcher
An early role in the story is that of the Dispatcher who sends the Hero on the mission.
This may be a family member such as a mother or father. It can also be the Princess's
Father, who gives the Hero a set of quests to be completed before he gains the hand
of the Princess.
The Dispatcher may also be combined with another role, for example the False Hero
who then trails along behind (perhaps disguised as a Helper).

17. The Princess
The Princess may take two forms. First, she may be the object which is
deliberately sought by the Hero, perhaps finding where the Villain has taken
her. Secondly, she may be the reward, such that after completing some other
mission, he gains her affections or hand in marriage.
The Princess may be seen very little in the story, perhaps appearing only at
the end, or may be an integral character, for example where she accompanies
the Hero on his mission, where he may win her heart by the courage and
determination of his actions.
The Princess may be wooed by many, in particular by the False Hero. When
we see the Princess being won by the False Hero we may rail and rant in
frustration as we see her falling unwittingly into her clutches.

18. Applying Propp’s character roles to Star Wars

19. The villain

20. The hero

21. The donor
The helper

22. The helper

23. The princess

24. The false hero

25. The dispatcher

26. Task
Choose a text you know well and answer the following question by
applying Propp
“Broadly speaking all texts contain Propp’s traditional character roles”
How true is this of your chosen text?
Remember not all texts may fit perfectly, especially more experimental
ones
Wikipedia and IMDB usually have character lists to remind you
Upload images of each character to link to the role you believe they fit.

27. NARRATIVE
codes

28. Levi Strauss
Strauss believed we only fully understand a term if we understand
the opposite. We gain a words meaning not by the word itself but
actually by its opposite. We can only fully understand the bravery
and selflessness of a hero if we truly know the evil and treachery of
a villain. To decode a word we must compare it to its opposite.
The theory suggests by including binary opposition in a media text it
helps us decode a narrative easily and it helps create understanding
and empathy for the narratives included themes and characters.
Therefore binary opposition is a narrative code which helps project a
texts gratifications.

29. What themes in this text demonstrate an example of binary opposition?