The Pleasures of Narrative

Abstract

Having accomplished the hard work of comparing our three systems and looking at the development of structure with age, we wish to return to matters less serious though not less important for all that. We began this book by cautioning our readers not to lose sight of the sparkle of the children’s narratives. Some are indeed delightful, though others are somber; some are quite lucid, though others are hopelessly confusing. In this chapter we wish to look more directly and systematically at the quality of the narratives. We also wish to consider the use of such narratives including speculations concerning the relationship of these oral, personal narratives to written, literary ones.