Examine individual changes

'{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}} {{other uses|Exposition (disambiguation)}} '''Narrative exposition''' is the insertion of important background information within a [[narrative|story]]; for example, information about the [[Setting (narrative)|setting]], characters' [[backstory|backstories]], prior plot events, historical context, etc.<ref>{{cite book|last1= |year=2009|title=Kaplan SAT Subject Test: Literature 2009–2010 Edition|publisher=Kaplan Publishing|page=60|isbn=1-4195-5261-9}}</ref> In a specifically literary context, exposition appears in the form of [[expository writing]] embedded within the narrative. Exposition is one of four [[rhetorical modes]] (also known as ''modes of discourse''), along with [[description]], [[argumentation]], and [[narrative mode|narration]], as elucidated by [[Alexander Bain]] and John Genung.<ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Carlota S.|title=Modes of Discourse: The Local Structure of Texts|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-78169-5|page=40|url=https://books.google.com/?id=okPPSq1G1OQC&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&dq=Bain+and+genung#v=onepage&q=Bain%20and%20genung&f=false|accessdate=10 March 2016}}</ref> Each of the rhetorical modes is present in a variety of forms, and each has its own purpose and [[Convention (norm)|conventions]]. There are several ways to accomplish exposition. == {{anchor|Incluing}} Indirect exposition/incluing == '''Indirect exposition''', sometimes called '''incluing''', is a technique of [[worldbuilding]] in which the reader is gradually exposed to background information about the world in which a story is set. The idea is to ''clue'' the readers in to the world the author is building without them being aware of it. This can be done in a number of ways: through [[Dialogue in writing|dialogues]], [[flashback (narrative)|flashbacks]], characters' thoughts,<ref name="Dibell 1988 51" /> background details, [[in-universe]] media,<ref name="Morrell 2006 64">{{cite book|title=Between the Lines: Master the Subtle Elements of Fiction Writing|first=Jessica Page|last=Morrell |publisher=Writer's Digest Books|location=Cincinnati, Ohio|page=64|year=2006|isbn=978-1-58297-393-7|ref=harv}}</ref> or the narrator telling a [[backstory]].<ref name="Dibell 1988 51">{{cite book|title=Plot|first=Ansen|last=Dibell|publisher=Writer’s Digest Books|location=Cincinnati, OH|year= 1988|isbn=0-89879-303-3|ref=harv}} *{{cite book|title=Building Better Plots|first=Robert|last=Kernen|publisher=Writer’s Digest Books|location= Cincinnati, Ohio|page=51|year=1999|isbn=0-89879-903-1}}</ref> Instead of saying "I am a woman", a first person narrator can say "I kept the papers inside my purse." The reader (in most English-speaking cultures) now knows the character is probably female.<ref>[http://rachelsimon.com/wwg_exposition_v2.php The Writer's Writing Guide: Exposition]</ref> Indirect exposition has always occurred in storytelling incidentally, but is first clearly identified, in the modern literary world, in the writing of [[Rudyard Kipling]]. In his stories set in [[India]] like [[The Jungle Book]], Kipling was faced with the problem of Western readers not knowing the culture and environment of that land, so he gradually developed the technique of explaining through example. But this was relatively subtle, compared to Kiplings' [[science fiction]] stories, where he used the technique much more obviously and necessarily, to explain an entirely fantastic world unknown to any reader, in his [[Aerial Board of Control]] universe.<ref>[http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=234 Rudyard Kipling Invented SF]</ref> Kipling's writing influenced other science fiction writers, most notably the "Dean of Science Fiction", [[Robert A. Heinlein#Writing style|Robert Heinlein]], who became known for his advanced rhetorical and storytelling techniques, including indirect exposition. The word ''incluing'' is attributed to fantasy and science fiction author [[Jo Walton]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Michelle Bottorff|url=http://www.lshelby.com/rasfcFAQ.html|title=rec.arts.sf.composition Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=Lshelby.com|date=11 June 2008|accessdate=6 November 2011}}</ref> She defined it as "the process of scattering information seamlessly through the text, as opposed to stopping the story to impart the information."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://papersky.livejournal.com/324603.html|title=papersky: Thud: Half a Crown & Incluing|publisher=Papersky.livejournal.com|date= |accessdate=6 November 2011}}</ref> "Information dump" is the term given for overt exposition, which writers want to avoid.<ref name=Bell>{{cite book|last=Bell|first=James Scott|title=Write Great Fiction – Plot & Structure|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cL1MCUXmqdcC&pg=PT78|date=22 September 2004|publisher=Writer's Digest Books|isbn=978-1-58297-684-6|page=78}}</ref><ref>=http://www.screenplayology.com/content-sections/screenplay-form-content/3-3/</ref> In an ''idiot lecture'', characters tell each other information that needs to be explained for the purpose of the audience, but of which the characters in-universe would already be aware.<ref>{{cite book|author1=John Ashmead|author2=Darrell Schweitzer|author3=George H. Scithers|title=Constructing scientifiction & fantasy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zz1ZAAAAMAAJ|year=1982|publisher=TSR Hobbies|page=24|accessdate=10 March 2016}}</ref> Writers are advised to avoid writing dialogues beginning with "As you well know, Professor, a [[prime number]] is..."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kempton|year=2004|title=Write Great Fiction – Dialogue|publisher=F+W Media|page=190|isbn=1-58297-289-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Rogow|year=1991|title=FutureSpeak: a fan's guide to the language of science fiction|publisher=Paragon House|page=160|isbn=1-55778-347-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fiction-writers-mentor.com/info-dumping.html|title=Info-Dumping|author=|date=|work=Fiction Writer's Mentor|accessdate=10 March 2016}}</ref> == See also == *[[Expository writing]] *[[Show, don't tell]] == References == {{Reflist|30em}} {{Narrative}} {{authority control}} [[Category:Narrative techniques]] [[Category:Fiction-writing mode]]'