We spoke with Michael Norman recently about his book, but we also talked a lot about a lofty thing called narrative journalism and Michael's own experience as a soldier during the Vietnam War.
Even Virginia Woolf, who usually dwelled in loftier realms of narrative, conceded, in her essay "The Supernatural in Fiction," that "it is pleasant to be afraid when we are conscious that we are in no kind of danger".
The new Crossroads ad pushes the narrative that despite his lofty vision for a better America, Mr. Obama — and indeed the nation — has made little progress in three and a half years.
In any case, this is the lofty mumbo-jumbo that unifies the several different narratives that co-exist here, narratives that only occasionally align themselves into an overarching vision.
Slipstreaming the more hyper-paced and R-rated "Black Sails" on Starz, "Crossbones" may have a similar conceit — pirates are people too! — but its narrative ambitions are a bit loftier, driven more by character than plot.
The New York Times' A. O. Scott criticized the story as weak, and that the narrative's twists and reversals undermine its "lofty, mindblowing potential".
Defiance isn't awful, but considering its bold narrative intentions it's disheartening to find an unexceptional game beneath the lofty ambition.
Citizens demanding accountability for the actions of those aspiring to lofty revolutionary ideals--rather than simply allowing them to monopolize the revolutionary narrative--seems to be a superior strategic, pragmatic, and moral option.
But we fell short of the lofty creative goal of "Can a Computer Make You Cry?" because we didn't develop new models of character and narrative.
But such lofty ideals have small chance of success when powerful, organized interests have the resources and influence to shape media narratives.
