WRITING SHORT STORY BY NARRATIVE APPROACH
Hamiddin
(English Lecturer of FKIP UNISMA Malang)
ABSTRACT
Narrative approach
is basic technique in preparing the students are able to write a narration
paragraph. Narrative is related to tell a story. In teaching writing in
literature classroom, the teacher uses narrative approach to write a short
story. Besides teaching writing paragraph, the teacher also teaches literature
aspects especially short story aspects. Theoretically, this approach include to
teaching of writing kinds of paragraph but practically, this approach can be involve
in writing a short story in the literature classroom for students in
university.
Keywords:
narrative approach, short story, teaching
writing.
INTRODUCTION
Teaching writing is teaching how to make appropriately and
effectively writing product. The teacher of writing faces many obstacles in
teaching their students, because writing needs certain skill. For university
students, writing is essential component in learning English as second language
or foreign language. The writing achievement is important for the students who
will arrange proposal, thesis, and research. The students of university
demanded to be able to make good writing. As teachers, we have to find ways of
helping our students to improve our students’ skill especially writing skill.
The teacher of writing demanded to be creative in his/her
teaching in the classroom. So, teaching of writing must be taught in many
different approaches. The each approach can be effective and efficient, if the teacher
believes in what he or she teaches and uses in the classroom. Approaches
to teaching writing rely on approaches to writing. The teachers may use
and mix some approaches to writing in the class and give the students
appropriate tasks and help them perfect their techniques.
The approaches to writing can lead to best results of
writing product. The different approach is the road taken by the
writer to reach the final goal. The use of some approaches is how to help a
student do his or her best depends on the approaches to writing (Rosu, 2008).
According to Abisamra (2001), there are several common basic-approaches
to writing; they are narrative, descriptive, expository and
persuasive/argumentative approaches. These basic-approaches can be applied in the
English classroom in different subjects.
I.
Rhetorical
Modes in Narrative Approach
Adisamra (2001) say
that rhetorical modes are based on the ways human brains process
information. The teachers may choose the one mode that matches to the topic
helps students organize their writing and helps the reader process the
information students want to discuss.
A Narrative Essay recounts
a story. Narrative as part of story, it has character, setting, and action. The
characters, the setting, and the problem of the narrative are usually
introduced in the beginning. The problem reaches its high point in the middle. The ending resolves
the problem. (Abisamra, 2001).
The narrative approach offers writers a chance
to think and write about themselves. We all have experiences lodged in our
memories which are worthy of sharing with readers. Silva and Henderson (2007) defined that narrative based
writing is a techniques based on the narrative document product which is a
précis of story that the author/writer intends to convey to the readers.
Sometimes, the writers are so fused with other memories that a lot of the time
spent in writing narrative is in the prewriting stage. Narrative approach is a
technique how to build communication between the writers and readers.
The purpose of this type of writing is to tell
a personal or fictional experience based on a real or imagined event. In
well-written narration, a writer uses insight, creativity, dialogue, figurative
language, drama, suspense, or fantasy to create a central theme or impression.
The writers must be creative in telling his experience or imagination in a
story.
II.
Principles of
Writing Narrative Essays
The writers of narrative essays should keep
three principles of narrative essays in mind. Abisamra (2001) in Teaching Writing
says that three principles of narrative essays are:
- The writers should involve readers in the story. It is much more interesting to actually recreate an incident for readers than to simply tell about it.
- Find a generalization which the story supports. This is the only way the writer's personal experience will take on meaning for readers. This generalization does not have to encompass humanity as a whole; it can concern the writer, men, women, or children of various ages and backgrounds.
- Remember that although the main component of a narrative is the story, details must be carefully selected to support, explain, and enhance the story.
The three principles of these narrative essays are
essential for the writers who want to write narrative essays or story (novel,
short story, etc).
III.
Conventions of
Narrative Essays
In writing narrative essay, the writers also
must understand the convention of narrative essays in which the writers must
focus on the topic and time order. To keep the narrative essays in its way, firstly,
the narratives are generally written in the first person, which is, using
"I." However, third person ("he," "she," or
"it") can also be used. Secondly, narratives rely on concrete,
sensory details to convey their point. These details should create a unified,
forceful effect, a dominant impression. Thirdly, narratives, as stories, should
include these story conventions: a plot, including setting and characters; a
climax; and an ending.
In this stage, writers first need to select an
incident worthy of writing about and, second, to find relevance in that
incident. To do this, writers might ask themselves what about the incident
provided new insights or awareness. Finally, writers must dredge up details
which will make the incident real for readers.
IV.
Writing Short Story: a Narrative Approach in Fiction
A short story is as narrative mode, it involves
some elements of short story. In writing short story, the writer uses elements
of story to build the interesting and exciting story. As a fiction, the short
story told by the writers based on their experiences and imaginations.
The writers of fiction communicate meaning on
many levels and use a variety of techniques and styles. Some write fiction in
compressed and polished prose that is close to poetry; some tell stories mainly
through dialogue; others through description or action.
Fiction is primarily creative, using events,
characters and situations invented by the author/writer. The writer of fictions
should focus on the basic elements of fiction especially short story. According
to Marning and O’Neill (1999) the elements of short story that must be involved
by the writers in their writing are: plot, character, setting, point of view
and theme.
- Plot
Plot is storyline. In plot the author/writer arranges
events to develop his basic idea; it is the sequence of events in a story. The
plot is a planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle, and
ending. The plot covers essential part of plot: introduction, rising action,
conflict, climax, falling action and denouement/conclusion. Short story plot is
simple plot (Hamiddin, 2007).
- Character.
Character is person in a work of fiction or characteristics
of person. Generally, short story uses few characters. One character is clearly
central to the story with all major events having some importance to this
character, it is called protagonist or main character and the opposer of the
main character is called Antagonist (Marning & O’Neill, 1999).
- Setting
Setting in fiction is the time and location in which the
story takes place. Setting in short story generally divided into three parts:
setting of time, setting of place, and setting of mood/situation of the
characters and society in a story (Hamiddin, 2007).
- Point of View
For which the story is told is called as point of view. The
point of view covers first person point of view that uses “I”, “We” and third
person point of view that uses “she”, “he”, “it” (Hamiddin, 2007).
- Theme
Theme is main idea of the story or message or lesson that
implied. Commonly, the theme showed by dialogue, characteristics of the
characters, and so on.
V.
Practice Writing Short Story in the Real Classroom
Practical activities in the classroom aim at
getting the goal of teaching. To practice writing a short story, the teacher should
do some activities how to write a good fiction especially short story. The
following steps must be considered by the teacher in his/her classroom activities.
Pre writing techniques conduct in
the classroom to stimulate the students’ interest in writing subject. This
activity is to know the preliminary students’ achievement of writing. In this
step, the teacher may use free writing techniques to write a story. In free
writing, the teacher may give unfocused and focused free writing. Based on
Abisamra’s writing (2001), unfocused free-writing
can help you clear your mind so you are ready to concentrate on the task at
hand, and focused free-writing can help you come up with ideas on your topic.
Unfocused free-writing is very easy. The teacher
commands the students to write a story based on their willing. The students have
to write everything on piece of paper and begin writing whatever comes to their
mind. In this activity, the teacher let their students to be free in
expressing their story’s idea by avoiding the punctuations, capitalization, coherences,
and so on.
Focused free-writing is similar with unfocused free-writing.
In this stage, the teachers ask the students to choose a topic of short story
and students write about anything. In focused free-writing, the students should
stay focused on the topic they are to write about. Write down everything
that comes to mind on the topic, without stopping to consider whether an idea
is worthwhile. Just keep writing.
In focused and unfocused free-writing, the teacher gives
time to the students, at least 15 minutes, to complete their writing. After the
students finishing their story, the teachers ask to the students to check their
work and give chance the students to correct, delete some points that the
students want to do.
b.
Choosing a topic of a short story
In choosing a topic of a short story, the teacher gives
some topics to the students and the students must choose one of those topics.
The topic must be familiar for the students and logic. Some examples of topics
of story that can be given to the students are: love, family, school, etc.
c.
Developing a plot
After choosing a topic, the students ask to develop a plot;
a series of events which will be expanded in the story. In developing a plot,
the teacher decides events that will happen in a story. For examples, the topic
is about love. The event 1:
character A is a girl in which the girl character is beautiful, smart, has idea
to be a teacher, but she is from poor family. The event 2: she continues her study in a university by
scholarship. The event 3: Character
B and C are boys; the boys are close-friend of character A. The boy B is poor
man, smart and simple. The boy C is rich man, smart and glamour. Event 4: Both of Boys fall in love to
the character A, and they express their love to the girl and the girl must
choose one of them. Event 5: The
girl is confused in choosing one of them, she do not want to hurt one of them.
The girl does not want to break their friendship. She likes them as friendship
and but she also has strong love to character B. Event 6: conflict of them happen when the girl chooses one of them.
Event 7: the conflict must be
resolved by the characters A, B, and C.
In the end of the story, the students must end this story
by themselves. The teachers let the students to resolve the problem of the
story and how the students make an ending of the story.
In the example of plot above, conflict between
characters (event 5, 6, and 7) constitutes climax of the story. A story needs
conflict to be started, developed, built up and resolved in some ways.
According to Manning and O’Neill (199) without conflict, a story is just a set
of related events that may leave the reader wondering something is actually
going to happen.
d.
Developing a theme
When the students start to write a short story, the writer
decides a theme in mind or later what theme is emerging. The developing a theme
in a story, it implies through characters’ behavior and speech. Do not miss a
theme in a story, because theme is very important thing. Related to how develop
a theme in a story, the students must list characters and possible events to
covers that theme. For example: love is blind, friendship is better than love,
etc. Here, the teacher asks the students to list some theme that they can
involve in their story.
e.
Writing a setting
Setting is a part of story. The teacher may ask the
students to write a setting of time, place to make the story life within the
story. Setting is to describe when and how the story takes place. Let the
students to decide a setting in their story.
f.
Characterization/giving characteristic of the character
To make interesting in a story, the teacher asks their
students to give characteristics of the characters in a story. For example:
character A is a girl, beautiful, smart, self-protection, and poor. Character B
is a boy, single parent (mother), poor, simple, etc. Giving characteristics to
the characters of the story (characterization) is to make the story real/life
in the story. Characterization is a way of communication between the reader and
the writer/author/writer.
g.
Editing
In the end of writing a short story, the teacher asks their
students to correct, add, or delete some parts that are not important in that
story. Editing part is conducted after the students finish their story. In
editing process, the teacher has important role, because students sometimes do
not know how to correct their story, so, the teacher demanded to be master in
writing story and editing their student story.
All of activities above are practical ideas of
narrative-based writing in writing a short story. This practice can be modified
by the teachers depend on their students’ condition and character. This
activity can be applied in literature classroom in university level.
CONCLUSION
Narrative approach is basic approach in writing essays.
This approach close related to tell a story. In the literature classroom,
narrative approach is very helpful for students in writing a short story. The
teacher of literature may apply this approach to improve their students’
ability in writing a short story. This approach can be applied step by step. The
teacher can start from a sentence, paragraph, and a story.
REFERENCES
(send email to : Ibnu_syam@yahoo.com)
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