Blizzard Day Creative Writing

Last class we talked about stream of consciousness. Since we had a snow day today I thought I would take the time to explain the difference between stream of consciousness and first person narrative.

To review: Stream of consciousness: A form of interior monologue, which claims as its goal the representation of a lead consciousness in a narrative.

Why use it: Allows the readers to see the narrator’s thoughts, feelings, and ideas as they experience them without revision or editing. Stream of consciousness gives readers a representation of the narrator that is unedited. Allow readers to see the inner workings of the narrator’s brain.

New First Person Narrative: A form of narrative in which the story is told by a narrator using the first person singular “I” and first person plural “We”.

Why use it: Allows the readers to see the narrator’s point of view.

The Major Difference between the two:

The first person narrative is more structured and less free-flowing where the stream of consciousness narrative is more free-flowing and represents a much more realistic picture of the narrator on a personal and emotional level.

Here is an example of stream of consciousness. Even though it is written using the pronoun she it is still considered stream of consciousness. Notice how the thoughts ramble on. You don’t always need to use I to have a stream of consciousness.

She remembered once throwing a shilling into the Serpentine. But every one remembered; what she loved was this, here, now, in front of her; the fat lady in the cab. Did it matter then, she asked herself, walking towards Bond Street, did it matter that she must inevitably cease completely; all this must go on without her; did she resent it; or did it not become consoling to believe that death ended absolutely? but that somehow in the streets of London, on the ebb and flow of things, here, there, she survived, Peter survived, lived in each other, she being part, she was positive, of the trees at home; of the house there, ugly, rambling all to bits and pieces as it was; part of people she had never met; being laid out like a mist between the people she knew best, who lifted her on their branches as she had seen the trees lift the mist, but it spread ever so far, her life, herself." (Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, 1925)

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck narrates the entire novel. Mark Twain chose to use I for this. The novel is entirely written from Huck’s stream of consciousness, which means that it often jumps around a bit but reading it gives the reader a true perspective of what it was like to be Huck.

I went up to my room with a piece of candle, and put it on the table. Then I set down in a chair by the window and tried to think of something cheerful, but it warn't no use. I felt so lonesome I most wished I was dead. The stars were shining, and the leaves rustled in the woods ever so mournful; and I heard an owl, away off, who-whooing about somebody that was dead, and a whippowill and a dog crying about somebody that was going to die; and the wind was trying to whisper something to me, and I couldn't make out what it was, and so it made the cold shivers run over me. Then away out in the woods I heard that kind of a sound that a ghost makes when it wants to tell about something that's on its mind and can't make itself understood, and so can't rest easy in its grave, and has to go about that way every night grieving. ~Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Example of First Person Narrative:

…I have an idea that Gatsby himself didn’t believe it would come, and perhaps he no longer cared. If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream. He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sun though frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is and how raw the sunlight was upon sparsely created grass… The Great Gatsby

The biggest hint that this is first person narrative is notice that the narrator is telling you his thoughts but it is not all over the place like the stream of consciousness. He speaks of one idea and one idea only here.

Here is another First person narrative example: Our mother died when I was two, so I never felt her absence. She was a Graham from Montgomery; Atticus met her when she was first elected to the state legislature. He was middle-aged then, she was fifteen years his junior. Jem was the product of their first year of marriage; four years later I was born, and two years later our mother died from a sudden heart attack. They said it ran in her family. I did not miss her, but I think Jem did. He remembered her clearly, and sometimes in the middle of a game he would sigh at length then go off and play by himself behind the car house. When he was like that I knew better then to bother him. To Kill a Mocking Bird

Notice that it does not ramble. Also notice that she is talking in the past remembering events that happened to her in her life.

Now for your work. I would like you to find one example of first person narrative and one example of stream of consciousness. You may use movie clips or examples from literature.

Make sure to include an explanation of why you think it is first person narrative or stream of consciousness. This make be submitted in Eagleapps or on a Word document.

Stay warm and if you have any questions email me at [email protected]

Spano