Rhetorical Strategy of Narration

The word “narrative” is a synonym for “story”.

When an author tells a story, he or she is engaging in narration. There are a few reasons why the author tells a story.

Two of the main ones are:

1. The entertainment value of the story, and
2. To convey a larger point.

Sometimes, the reader is not worried about conveying a point, but they are just telling a story just for the purpose of the entertainment value of that story. Other times it is to convey a larger point to the reader. As a reader, you should constantly evaluate the ways in which the author uses narration to accomplish his/her goals.
There are a couple of keys to the effective use of narration:

1. The point in the story should be self-evident. It should be obvious to the reader why the author is telling that story.
2. The author shouldn’t include any unrelated or contradictory details. Anytime the author uses unrelated or contradictory details, it undermines his/her own agenda.

Those are a couple of things that you as a reader should be looking for to evaluate whether or not the writer used narration effectively.