Exploration Narratives
Overview
The reading assignment for study session 4 presents a form of writing known as narrative. In its most basic form, a narrative simply tells a story or describes a sequence of events, either fictional or nonfictional. This portion of lesson 1, however, focuses more narrowly on a particular type of nonfictional narrative, the exploration narrative.
Exploration narratives, while not telling stories as such, do offer firsthand observations and descriptive accounts by European explorers of their trailblazing expeditions on the North American continent. Exploration narratives recount the particulars of discovery of this new world: its natural geological formations, wildlife, climate, and native inhabitants—along with the quest for hoped-for treasure.
Realizing their written accounts would be eagerly read back home by curious Europeans, explorers often concentrated on providing descriptive images and insights about exotic regions, although others relied more on a detailed explanation of experienced events during exploration.
