Challenge 130

Narrative Style

Two stories in this issue seem especially propitious for examining various techniques of narration.

M. Scott Harris’s “Sidewalk Chunk” is a study in the creation of atmosphere. Let’s look at the style a bit, shall we?

The scene is a Friday-night high-school football game. How does the first paragraph create a tension and suggest a mystery?
The five paragraphs beginning with “During the first weeks of football season...” have an emotional rhythm based on a common theme. What is it? Does it continue in other paragraphs?
References to “renewal” or a “new chance” open and close the story like a refrain. But we’re not told what that new chance is. Rather, we’re given clues to a “larger story,” namely the narrator’s motives. What do you think they might be?
What does “smaller story” about the ring tell us about the narrator?

Laurie Seidler’s “Miracle Baby” also suggests a “larger story” about the narrator’s life history and personality.

One sentence jumps out at us: “They did that for long enough that I had a drink of water and read half a People magazine before they were through.” What does it tell us about the narrator?
What else do we learn about her? How would you describe her “larger story”?