Practice question · Select all that apply
Which are true of the story/discourse distinction?
Hints
- Three follow from the distinction; one denies that a chronological narrative was arranged at all.
- Telling events in order is still a choice about arrangement.
Show the answer
- A. The same story can be told in many discourse orders
- B. Story order is reconstructed by the reader from the discourse
- D. The discourse order determines what the reader knows and when
Why
Even a perfectly chronological narrative has a discourse level, it made a choice, and the choice was order. This is why the distinction is analytically useful rather than merely descriptive: it applies to every narrative, including the ones that look transparent.
Practise Narratology I. Story, Discourse and Order
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