Narrative Structure Components

Vladimir Propp was a Russian scholar who analysed plot components in Russian folk tales. Through the many folk tales that he analysed he found that there were 31 plot elements and 8 character types.

-Character types:1. The Hero- the hero is the leader of the narrative; they are the ones who are usually on a quest or adventure to find something or someone. In my story the hero is the ugly duckling, he goes out on a quest to find other animals like him, he is the main character throughout the story. 2. The Villain- the villain is the one who is shown in a negative way by them doing something bad like lying or stealing, this negativity can bring more people towards the hero and gives him more of that hero role. In my story the villains are the rest of the animals as they are all shown being unkind towards the ugly duckling.3. The Princess/ Prize- usually the hero or villain is after something, normally a princess, but it could also be an object such as gold or treasure. I think that in my story there is no character that is the princess or prize and it is not a physical object either, I think it is acceptance. The ugly duckling goes out on a quest to find others like him as he is different to the rest of the animals and all he wants is to be accepted by them. 4. The Donor- the donor is someone who gives the hero something to enable them to complete their task. In many fairy tales this is a special power or clue. In my story The Ugly Duckling I think that the donor could be the farmer because he helps the ugly duckling when he is out on his quest, takes him home and is the one who then takes him back to his family. 5. The Helper- the helper is someone who plays a large part in the story, usually the hero’s companion. They help the hero complete their task although they are usually flawed, this is normally why they are not the heroes themselves, the reason for them to be flawed is that the things they lack, the hero will have. In my story the farmer could also be the helper, he is not with the hero the whole way through like some stories show the helper but he come in mid-way through and helps the ugly duckling by looking after him as the donor. 6. The Princess’ Father- the princess father usually has quite a large role in many stories, he is the one that often gives the task to the hero for him to then complete and gain the right to marry his daughter. There is no princess in my story therefore there is no princess’ father, in the film Shrek there is The King who is the princess’ father, he is shown frequently in the film and plays quite an important part throughout. 7. The False Hero- false heroes are the characters that try and take the heroes off track and make them fail at their quest. They can be mistaken for the real hero as they try and do the things the hero had set out to do, this could be to impress the princess’ father so he can marry her instead. In many folk tales false heroes are also the villains because of the things they do to ruin the chances of the hero completing their quest. In the ugly duckling there is no false hero, but in Shrek Prince Charming is the false hero, he wants to marry the princess instead and tries all he can to do that.

8. The Dispatcher- this is the person that gives the hero the mission or quest to start with, this could be a family member for example. It could be combined with another role because one of them could give them a task to do. Another role that the dispatcher could be combined with could be the princess’ father. They could also give themselves a task to do, which is what happens in my story; the ugly duckling sets himself the task of finding other animals.

Todorov was a Russian structuralist who thought that all narratives followed a 3 or 5 step structure. The five-step structure is a more detailed version of the three-step structure. A three step structured story will have a smaller amount of detail compared to a five step story. My story follows the three step structure as it is a simple story where the event happens then they go back to normal lives.

The three-step structure: Equilibrium- this is the start of the story where everything is normal and there will just be day-to-day tasks happening. It is where the scene is set and main character is introduced. Disequilibrium- this is the main part of the story as it is where an event will happen and it will affect the day-to-day activities of the character. It will then be followed by them reacting to the problem/event.New Equilibrium- this is the end of the story. Everything has been solved and things are either back to normal or to a new version of normal.

The five-step structure:State of equilibrium- the part of the story where everything is fine and the characters are living normally.Disruption of that order by event- the event occurs and it stops people doing the day-to-day tasks they did previously. Recognition that disorder has occurred- the characters realise that the event has occurred.Attempt to repair damage of disorder- the characters try to clear up the damage and return to the way they were.Return of new equilibrium- the story in this section will be similar to the first as it is the part where they have normal lives again even if they are slightly different because of the event.

-Binary Opposition:Claude Levi Strauss was a French theorist who thought that there was only a story if there was two sides, for example good and bad. In my story there is only one of these which is good and bad. In most stories these opposite sides become untrue in the end as everything (in most cases) becomes resolved.

-Types of Structure:These types of structure follow the same theory as the binary oppositions. They are in pairs and it is always one or the other.

Open- These do not reach a final conclusion, they can be left on a cliffhanger ending until another episode or just left like this. This structure is is mostly seen in soap operas and comic books. Closed- These reach a conclusion. This is seen in fairy tales as they normally end with a happy ending. My book has a closed ending like most folk/fairy tales.

Single Strand- This means there is just one storyline running through which is what my story is. The story is about, and follows only one character. Multi Strand- This structure is when there is more than one storyline, this means that there could be things like showing stories of other characters too. This can be found in soap operas.

Linear- One simple storyline from start to finish. My story follows a linear structure and it is common in many other fairy tales.Non-Linear- This structure follows a more complex storyline as it may contain things like flashbacks, which is seen mostly in movies.

Realist- This reflects ‘real life’ as there is believable events. These are usually soap operas.Anti-Realist- This is the opposite to realist, there is things that happen that would not be seen in real life, these are usually movies.