Narration Techniques

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

Pronoun Reference & Case

ENG101_FA15

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

What is a pronoun?
Substitutes a noun
He, she, it, her, him, they, we, us, them

What is an antecedent?
Noun or pronoun that a pronoun refers to
Isabela gave her dog its bath.
Zack gave his sister her doll.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

Do not use plural pronouns to refer to singular
antecedents
Runners must train rigorously if he or she wants to
excel.
A medical student must study hard if they want to
succeed.
The recruiter may tell the truth, but there is much
that they choose not to tell.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

The pronoun almost always refers to the noun
closest to it.
It was pitch dark and my cat was still outdoors. I
grabbed my flashlight to begin the search and
listened for its purr.
What is purring?
The flashlight
It was pitch dark and my cat was still outdoors. I
grabbed my flashlight to begin the search and
listened for Magics purr.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

The pronoun almost always refers to the noun
closest to it.
While driving it at 200 mph around the North Pole,
Santa swerved to avoid hitting an elf and landed his
sleigh in a snowdrift.
What is it?
We dont know until the end of the sentence.
While Santa was driving his sleigh at 200 mph
around the North Pole, he swerved to avoid
hitting an elf and landed in a snowdrift.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

The pronoun almost always refers to the noun
closest to it.
Ive been to Canada, and I like them because they are
very kind to Americans.
Who are they?
Ive been to Canada, and I like the Canadians
because they are very kind to Americans.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

Compound subjects joined by and always take a
plural referent.
Jones and Smith made their presentation.
With compound subjects joined by or/nor, the
referent pronoun agrees with the antecedent
closer to the pronoun.
Neither the director nor the actors did their jobs.
Neither the actors nor the director did his or her job.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

Collective nouns (group, jury, crowd, team, etc.)
may be singular or plural, depending on meaning
The jury read its verdict.
The jury is acting as one unit.
The jury members gave their opinions.
The jury members are acting as twelve individuals.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

Indefinite pronouns are singular (anybody, anyone,
anything, each, either, everybody, everyone,
everything, neither, nobody, no one, nothing,
somebody, someone, something)
When someone has been drinking, they are likely to
speed.
When someone has been drinking, he or she is
likely to speed.
When drivers have been drinking, they are likely to
speed.
A driver who has been drinking is likely to speed.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

People are who/whose
Things are which/that
She is a person that likes pie.
She is a person who likes pie.
There is the dog who ate my pie.
There is the dog that ate my pie.

Newsletter Revisions

Highlight all pronouns. Circle each pronouns

antecedent. Check to ensure that they align in
singularity and plurality. If an antecedent can not
be found, create one.

Newsletter Revisions

With the belief of a flawed human body comes the

destiny of suffering and cancer.This approach to health
takes on a defensive rather than an offensive stance. If
you believe that more pink solves our countries cancer
epidemic you choose to participate in this flawed
thinking. Here lies the problem with pink it
represents all things incorrect with allopathic western
medicine and the theory that you will get cancer, no
action can change it so find it early keep your fingers
crossed and hope for the best.The majority of money
outside of marketing and huge salaries for their top
personnel (I bet their checks are even pink) goes to
early detection of cancer with mammograms and
treatment with drugs and surgery.

Newsletter Revisions

With the belief of a flawed human body comes the

destiny of suffering and cancer.This approach to health
takes on a defensive rather than an offensive stance. If
you believe that more pink solves our countries cancer
epidemic you choose to participate in this flawed
thinking. Here lies the problem with pink it
represents all things incorrect with allopathic western
medicine and the theory that you will get cancer, no
action can change it so find it early keep your fingers
crossed and hope for the best.The majority of money
outside of marketing and huge salaries for their top
personnel (I bet their checks are even pink) goes to
early detection of cancer with mammograms and
treatment with drugs and surgery.

Newsletter Revisions

With the belief of a flawed human body comes the

destiny of suffering and cancer.This approach to health
takes on a defensive rather than an offensive stance. If
one believes that more pink solves this countries
cancer epidemic one chooses to participate in this
flawed thinking. Here lies the problem with pink it
represents all things incorrect with allopathic western
medicine and the theory that everyone will get cancer,
no action can change it so find it early keep his or
her fingers crossed and hope for the best.The majority
of money outside of marketing and huge salaries for
the companys top personnel (Dr. Alex bets the top
personels checks are even pink) goes to early
detection of cancer with mammograms and
treatment with drugs and surgery.

Narration Techniques

What are the key narrative elements?

Purpose
Action
Conflict
Point of view
Key events
Dialogue
Ethics

Purpose

Tell what happened

Reporters stick to facts
establish an interesting or useful fact
Go beyond only reciting events
Lessons and insights
Encounter with mugger leads to
observation on self-respect

Action

Plays a central role in narrative

Recreates action, not presents (active vs. passive)

Action must all relate to purpose, not just

chronicle series of events

Conflict

Motivates and structure the action

Man vs. Man
Man vs. Society
Man vs. Self
Man vs. Nature
http://www.storyboardthat.com/articles/education/t
ypes-of-literary-conflict

Point of View
First-person POV
Autobiographies
I, me, mine, we, ours
Third-person POV
Biographies, histories
Narrator remains unmentioned
He, she, him, her

Key Events

Chosen events should help reader share

experience of writer
Identify and build narrative around key
events
Those that directly relate to purpose
Use secondary events to keep narrative
flowing smoothly

Dialogue
Enlivens action and draws reader into
story
Essential to illustrating purpose
Written conversation does NOT
duplicate real talk
Dialogue that reproduces real talk
weakens narrative
Use simple words, short sentences
Punctuate properly
Avoid over-repetition of he/she said

Ethics

Provide truthful account

Do not falsify someones behavior to tarnish
reputation (libel)
Give fictitious names to protect others from
danger
Consider audience whenever relating possible
unethical or illegal behavior

For Monday
Tayah, Jocelyn, Kymmen - purpose
Andrew, Adam, John- action
Aliyah, Chamira, Tyrell, Randall - conflict
Zach, Chris, Mattie point of view
Kim, Josh, Jordan, Logan key events
Kamyn, Perri, Hannah, Jasmine W. - dialogue
Brock, Jasmine T., Elizabeth, Regan ethics

Apply your assigned narrative elements to each of the

following readings. Be prepared to extensively discuss your
findings with the class.
Greenburgs Sound and Fury
Angelous Mommas Encounter
Salinas The Scholarship Jacket
*pages are listed in the syllabus