There are many ways of breaking down narrative structure. You may hear a movie described as a "classic Hollywood narrative", meaning it has three acts. News stories have their own structure. A lot of work has been done by literary theorists to develop ways of deconstructing a narrative.
Tvzetan Todorov - suggests narrative is simply equilibrium, disequilibrium, new equilibrium .
- Vladimir Propp - characters and actions (31 functions of character types)
- Claude Levi-Strauss - constant creation of conflict/opposition propels narrative. Narrative can only end on a resolution of conflict. Opposition can be visual (light/darkness, movement/stillness) or (love/hate, control/panic), and to do with soundtrack.
- Roland Barthes - influence can mainly be found in the multiple fields his work brought him into contact with. The development of schools of theory such as structuralism,existentialism, Marxism and post-structuralism were all affected by his incisive contributions and criticisms. Today, the influence of his works can still be felt in all fields that concern themselves with the representation of information and models of communication including computers, photography, music and literature.
A good summary George. Make sure you reference your sources.
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