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Chapter 7 The Structure of Explication, Narratives do not end with the main events section. Rather, they continue with up to three more sections, explication, reflection and conclusion . The explication section elaborates on one aspect of the main-events section. In the reflection section the narrator comments on how he or she feels about what happened in the main events section. The conclusion serves to mark the end of the narrative. Explication Sections The narrator does not describe new narrative events in this section. This shift to talking about what happened is accompanied by an increase in T narration over P narration. Table 7.1 lists the types of narration that are used in the explication sections of the 12 narratives. T narration alone is used in 66 percent of the lines produced in explication sections compared to 44 percent of the lines in the main events section. T and P narration together are used in 33 percent of the lines in the explication sections. P narration alone is used in one line, accounting for the final 1 percent. The explication section conveys fewer different types of information than does the main-events section. Table 7.2 compares the type of information that appears in the four sections described (introduction, background , main events, and explication). I have listed the 22 different types of information conveyed by utterances in the 12 narratives. The utterances produced in the explication section convey 11 different types of information , compared to 21 in the main-events section. The utterances produced in the explication section most often provide supplemental information (28 instances). Reflection, and Conclusion Sections in ASL Narratives 129 Table 7.1. Use of T or P Narration or a Combination in the Explication Section. T narration T and P narration P narration Section T T+Tk T+S T+D T+B T+Tk+S T+D+S D+S S Total Introduction 18 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 Background 53 13 10 10 2 0 0 1 6 95 Main event 197 29 167 62 4 3 11 2 34 509 Explication 59 10 20 6 8 0 0 0 1 104 Note: T = T narration, Tk = token blend, S = surrogate blend, B = buoy, D = depicting blend Explication, Reflection, and Conclusion : 131 Ten of the 12 narratives include an explication section, with an average length of 29.8 seconds. The shortest explication section lasts 2 seconds and the lengthiest continues for 75 seconds. This section is an average of 12 lines long, ranging from a single line in one narrative to 32 lines in the longest explication section. On average, the length of this section is almost identical to the length of the background section, in both time and number of lines involved. Extended eye closures mark the end of the explication section; however, in three of the narratives, measurements of eye closures cannot be accurately made because of the direction of the signer’s head. The average length of time the eyes remain closed (of the six that could be measured) is .38 seconds, ranging from .26 to .53. The Type of information conveyed Introduction Background Main Event Explication Physical movement - person 0 9 114 8 Physical movement - vehicle 0 0 8 0 Movement of object 0 1 5 1 Physical movement - animal 0 0 1 0 Supplemental information 3 46 166 28 Identify participant 4 9 9 1 Identify location 3 3 5 0 Identify time 1 3 15 6 Introduce dialogue 0 0 2 0 Period of time 0 1 4 0 Interact w/addressee 1 1 8 0 Constructed dialogue 0 3 48 4 Expression of emotion 0 10 54 13 Mental activity 0 1 12 1 Describe a thing 0 5 12 4 Describe topography 0 0 12 0 Geographic distance 0 0 10 1 Arrangement of people 0 1 7 0 Arrangement of things 0 0 0 0 Mannerism 0 0 4 0 Listing 0 0 1 0 Written text 0 1 3 1 Total different types 5 14 21 11 Table 7.2. Distribution of Information Type Across the Four Narrative Sections. 132 : e x p l i c a t i o n , r e f l e c t i o n , a n d c o n c l u s i o n eye closures are accompanied by head nods in four of the explanations. In all three of the narratives produced in a group setting, the eye...

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