Narrative

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Read Media Factsheet 14 - Telling Stories: The Media's Use of Narrative and answer the following questions:


1) Give an example from film or television that uses Todorov's narrative structure of equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium. 



Hunger Games


Equilibrium:   Introducing the main protagonist Katniss who has gone hunting in the woods which represents her practising for the Hunger Games if she was chosen.

Disequilibrium:  When Katniss' sister gets chosen for the games, Katniss volunteers as tribute and sacrifices herself to save her sister.

New Equilibrium:  Katniss and her companion Peeta win the game together. Katniss then returns home to meet her family and friends.

2) Complete the activity on page 1 of the Factsheet: find a clip on YouTube of the opening of a new TV drama series (season 1, episode 1). Embed the clip in your blog and write an analysis of the narrative markers that help establish setting, character and plot.



Within the first 18 seconds we see a historical marker that gives the audience a deeper understanding of where and when the show begins. From this historical marker, the audience know that the show is set in Hawkins, Indiana from the 6th November 1983. The geographical marker suggests to the audience that the show contains sci-fi aspects for example the generic marker of the laboratory. Within the first minutes, the audience is introduced to a group of teenagers suggesting that they will be the main focus of the show.

3) Provide three different examples from film or television of characters that fit Propp's hero character role.

 Hunger Games: Katniss Everdeen was the hero in this film who had to save Panem from the Capitol in order the avoid the people being tortured.

 Spiderman: Spiderman defeats the evil villain and weds Mary-Jane Watson

 Suicide Squad :  The squad defeats the joker and wins the battle against him.



4) Give an example of a binary opposition.

 Love versus Hate- for example Tom and Summer from 500 Days of Summer


5) What example is provided in the Factsheet for the way narratives can emphasise dominant ideologies and values?

Binary oppositions help identify the ideology of a text, the conflict between opposites in a media text will usually result in one force winning. The winner often represents the dominant ideas and values of our culture. For example, When the policeman captures the criminal in a crime drama– the ideology of the value of law and order is emphasised.


6) Why do enigma and action codes (Barthes) offer gratifications for audiences?

Enigma codes allow the audience to ask questions about the text and get them to think more about the narrative which intrigues them even more. This is because the audience are rewarded with a resolution at the end of the narrative.

Action codes create different emotions depending on the genre and narrative, for example people would feel fear in a horror narrative or they would feel suspense and tension in a thriller narrative. The different emotional responses intrigue the audience and encourage them to stay.

7) Write a one-sentence summary of the four different types of TV narrative:


  • Episodic narrative (the series)   - A narrative that is resolved by the end of each episode involving the same characters in different episodes. This is useful as the audiences don't have to be committed for regular viewing.
  • Overarching narrative (the serial)  - For loyal viewers to return for each episode as it finishes with a cliffhanger and would need to watch the next episode to find out what happens next.
  • Mixed narrative  - a mix of episodic and overarching narrative so viewers could enjoy watching random episodes but also for loyal viewers they are rewarded with the resolution for a long story and individual viewers are rewarded at the end of each episode.
  • Multi-strand overlapping narrative (soap narrative)  - this has a continuous narrative with different stories told at the same time. Some stories are resolved whereas some carry on for a couple episodes.


8) How does the Factsheet suggest adverts use narrative?  

 Adverts use narratives by presenting a problem to the viewers but immediately offering a solution to create a resolution.


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