The art of narration by Mary Ellen Chase and Frances Kelley Del Plaine
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"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. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Chase, Mary Ellen, 1887-1973 |
|---|---|
| Author | Del Plaine, Frances Kelley, 1889-1958 |
| Title | The art of narration |
| Original Publication | New York: F.S. Crofts & Co., 1926, pubdate 1928. |
| Note | "This is a companion volume to The art of description, by Marjorie H. Nicolson." |
| Credits | Branka P and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PE: Language and Literatures: English |
| Subject | English prose literature |
| Subject | American prose literature |
| Subject | Narration (Rhetoric) |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 78424 |
| Release Date | Apr 11, 2026 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 511 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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