ABSTRACT
This book introduces a theoretical framework for studying narrative fiction. A narrative recounts a story, a series of events in a temporal sequence. Narratives require close study because stories structure the meanings by which a culture lives. Our culture depends upon numerous types of narrative: novels, short stories, films, television shows, myths, anecdotes, songs, music videos, comics, paintings, advertisements, essays, biographies, and news accounts. All tell a story. This definition of narrative provides the central premise of our book: the events making up a story are only available to us through a telling.
