The art of narration

In Short

Mary Ellen Chase and Frances K. Del Plaine present The Art of Narration as a practical, wide-ranging textbook designed to rescue the study of college composition from the narrow constraints of the short story. Rooted in the post-World War I revival of personal history, the volume gathers authentic prose models across twelve distinct narrative genres, spanning medieval chronicles, outdoor hunting sketches, biography, spiritual memoir, local-color humor, and wartime tragedy. The text endures because it rejects rigid formulas, treating storytelling not as a static trick of plot construction, but as a living, flexible art capable of capturing everyday human experience in all its historical, spiritual, and emotional variety.

The Story

The book moves systematically through the expansive spectrum of prose craft, opening with a firm rejection of the rigid short-story formulas that dominated turn-of-the-century writing instruction. Prompted by the public's post-war hunger for genuine letters, diaries, personal memoirs, and historical records, the text sets out to demonstrate how real life supplies its own compelling structures without the need for artificial plot twists.

From its initial theoretical foundation, the volume advances into historical and cultural reconstruction. Readers are immersed in vivid, textured scenes of medieval life, from the raucous, tapestried celebration of a feudal wedding at St. Aliquis—where silence yields to endless chatter, costly gifts, and outdoor banquets—to the quiet, majestic progressions of Charlemagne across his realm. The emperor travels not as a remote myth, but in an otter-skin jerkin, closely guarding his beautiful daughters and accompanied by his famous, intelligent elephant, Abu-Lubabah, while ordinary serfs watch in awed silence.

The narrative lens then shifts to direct physical experience and environmental observation. In duck-hunting sketches, a reluctant sportsman battles freezing winds and dark waterways, finding his inner misery unexpectedly broken by the sudden, thrilling rush of wings and the sharp crack of a shotgun over the marsh decoys. The book then expands into wilderness survival and historical exploration, following René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, as he trudges through half-thawed mud and blood-soaked briars across Southern Michigan, sustained only by roasted game after learning his beloved ship Griffin is lost.

As the volume reaches its central section, it explores character study, irony, and religious devotion. Historical drama reveals the tragic madness of King Charles of France, who plucks at his lips and babbles about mouse-traps, soul-transmigration, and dead flies while appraising Henry V. In contrast, medieval legend introduces Barnabas, a humble juggler who enters a monastery to honor the Virgin Mary by somersaulting before her altar, and the fierce Robber Mother, who violently brawls with cloistered monks to wander freely among their magenta hyssop and honeysuckle.

Moving into modern personal memoirs, the text highlights the absurdities of human obsession. A Shrewsbury schoolboy reflects on the rigorous, soul-crushing precision of classical Greek drills, while a London cabby's wife describes her husband wrestling for souls and insisting that only one door opens into Heaven to prevent a celestial draft. The narrative then shifts to raw frontier realism, detailing a cold, swift lynching by Western Vigilantes, before turning to the terrifying beauty of an Icelandic tempest, where fragile fishing smacks tossed on boiling seas fight for survival against blind destruction.

In its concluding movement, the book explores intimate human relationships and psychological irony. A traveler walking through France with his donkey converses with a Trappist monk who prays daily for Protestant leaders, followed by the luminous sensory richness of a Flemish religious procession carrying the "Honeysweet Virgin from Holland." Light social comedy unfolds at a seaside resort as a young woman stages a fake, outrageous flirtation with her sister's suitor to teach him how to win real affection. The mood darkens with Guy de Maupassant’s classic tale of two Parisian friends who venture out to fish during the siege of Paris, caught between balmy breezes and the terrifying presence of the invisible Prussian army. Finally, the collection closes on the grim, somber note of Willa Cather's "Paul's Case," as a cynical lawyer buries his brilliant friend's casket and returns to cold, compromised reality.

How It Unfolds

The shift toward truth The preface establishes that the popularity of post-war memoirs, diaries, and biographies has freed narrative writing from rigid short-story formulas. Students are invited to study authentic models of personal and historical prose.

Voices of the past Historical narratives reconstruct the vibrant textures of medieval life, contrast feudal wedding festivities with the majestic travels of Charlemagne, and capture the quiet awe of serfs witnessing imperial progressions.

Wilderness and ordeal Narratives of physical struggle follow hunters in freezing marshes and trace La Salle’s desperate, blood-stained march through Michigan brambles after losing his ship.

Madness and devotion Character studies juxtapose the pathetic dementia of King Charles with stories of pure, unconventional piety, including a juggler offering tricks to the Virgin Mary and a robber family invading a monastery garden.

Schoolrooms and street corners Reminiscent sketches capture the dry rigor of classical Greek lessons alongside eccentric urban figures, such as an evangelical cabby convinced drafts exist in Heaven.

Justice and sea foam Realist accounts depict the brutal, unadorned swiftness of frontier vigilante justice, followed by terrifying scenes of French fishermen battling a ferocious gale off the coast of Iceland.

Monks and mock romance Travel writing records peaceful encounters with Trappist monks and vibrant Flemish religious festivals, which contrast sharply with a sharp resort comedy of staged flirtation.

Tragedy and aftermath The collection closes on dark, reflective notes as two Parisian anglers encounter enemy outposts during wartime, and a weary lawyer buries a gifted companion before returning to a cold world.

The People

• Mary Ellen Chase and Frances K. Del Plaine: The authors and editors who seek to liberate narrative writing instruction from commercial short-story formulas. They organize prose models that celebrate authentic personal experience, history, and realistic observation.
• Charlemagne: The Frankish emperor who travels his kingdom in a plain otter-skin jerkin. Deeply devoted to his family, he refuses to part with his daughters, traveling alongside them and his famed elephant, Abu-Lubabah.
• King Charles of France: A mentally fragile monarch lost in tragic delusions. He spends his days plucking at his lips, muttering about mouse-traps, and weeping over dead flies while his country falls to the English.
• Barnabas the Juggler: A simple, humble street performer who renounces his trade to become a monk. Lacking academic learning, he expresses his deep devotion to the Virgin Mary by performing his acrobatic tricks before her altar.
• Robber Mother: A fierce, uncompromising woman from the Göinge forest. Undeterred by monastic rules, she brawls with cloistered monks so her children can admire the blooming herbs in their private garden.
• Mr. Hall: An eccentric, overly enthusiastic cab driver and lay preacher. He relentlessly hands out religious tracts to unwilling passengers and preaches that Heaven has only one door to keep out drafts.
• Dr. Trudeau: A deeply compassionate physician battling severe personal depression. He maintains a quiet, enduring philosophy that while emotional pity fades over time, pity as a moral motive remains permanent.
• Miss Flossy Belton: A clever, candid young woman who orchestrates a fake summer resort flirtation. By shocking the local gossips, she teaches a timid suitor how to act with confidence and win true affection.

In Its Own Voice

"The entire day was going to be devoted to endurance. Nevertheless, here was one thing that had broken in to share his consciousness."

— A hunter sitting frozen in the dark reeds finds his focus unexpectedly pulled outward by the sudden approach of morning light.

"He went away a sadder and a wiser man. Possibly he thought the doctor hardened; but I shall never forget the expression of Trudeau’s face... 'Pity, as an emotion, passes. Pity, as a motive, remains.'"

— A visitor misinterprets an invalid doctor's humor, prompting a profound reflection on the difference between fleeting feeling and lasting duty.

"He loved his fellow creatures so much that he felt compelled to save their souls. He always carried a bundle of tracts about in his pocket, and when any one paid him his fare he gave them some free of charge in exchange."

— An eccentric cab driver transforms everyday transit into a zealous, relentless personal crusade for salvation.

What It's Really About

At its core, The Art of Narration argues that storytelling is not an arbitrary craft of manufactured suspense or slick commercial twists, but an essential human tool for recording truth. The volume examines how people construct meaning out of raw experience, whether through the formal histories of empires, the quiet routines of monastic life, or the chaotic memory of personal hardship.

Underneath its diverse anthology structure lie deep questions about perspective, observation, and authenticity. The book contrasts rigid intellectual rules—such as the cold, mechanical translation of classical Greek—with the vital, lived realities of human affection, physical struggle, and spiritual devotion. By juxtaposing historical chronicles with modern personal memoirs and tragic fiction, Chase and Del Plaine contend that narrative craft belongs to anyone who observes the world with precision, empathy, and patience.

Why Read It Today

The Art of Narration remains a remarkably refreshing read for writers, historians, and literary enthusiasts looking to rediscover the broad possibilities of non-fiction and observational prose. Readers who enjoy rich historical detail, eccentric character sketches, and clear-eyed reflections on human nature will find themselves thoroughly absorbed. The text feels surprisingly modern, moving with effortless clarity through diverse settings—from freezing northern marshes to sunny Flemish ramparts and tense wartime riverbanks.

Reading the collection feels like sitting beside a well-read, highly discerning editor who insists that every sentence earn its place through honest observation rather than artificial melodrama. The book does demand patience; its excerpts reflect the varied stylistic registers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, occasionally incorporating period attitudes, traditional religious themes, and formal sentence structures. Yet these elements grounded in historical reality give the text its enduring weight.

What lingers long after reading is the collection’s quiet insistence that great writing begins with unselfish attention to the world around us. Whether capturing a serf’s sudden glimpse of an emperor’s elephant or an invalid doctor’s hard-won wisdom, the book demonstrates that true narrative power lies in seeing clearly and telling the truth.