Tuesday 20 December 2016

What is the long retelling of a story called? (Not a summary—something with more detail.)

There are two definitions that answer your question.  The term abridgment refers to a book or other piece that has been condensed to a shorter form.  The main ideas of the story are contained in an abridgment, but the writing is more concise.  For example, the original book might say "Hannah jogged from the north end of the park to the south end while the chilly Autumn air brushed against her cheeks and the red...

There are two definitions that answer your question.  The term abridgment refers to a book or other piece that has been condensed to a shorter form.  The main ideas of the story are contained in an abridgment, but the writing is more concise.  For example, the original book might say "Hannah jogged from the north end of the park to the south end while the chilly Autumn air brushed against her cheeks and the red leaves crunched beneath her shoes."  In an abridged version of the book, that extended and detailed sentence would be shortened.  It might change to "Hannah jogged through the park on a chilly Autumn day."  This still gets the point across that the character jogged through the park, as well as what time of year it was and what the weather was like.  Extra pieces of information, such as the direction she jogged and how the leaves crunched under her shoes, are excluded because they are unnecessary details to the main plot of the story.  Another example of an abridgment is when a long piece of classic literature is shortened and the language is simplified.  Little Women, for example, is a book that is usually about 500 pages long.  There are several abridged versions for children that are condensed down to approximately 200 pages.  All of the main plot elements are in these abridged versions of Little Women, but the text is more concise.


Another type of long retelling of a story is a chapter-by-chapter summary.  In this type of retelling, each chapter of the book is summarized.  Rather than a basic synopsis, a chapter-by-chapter summary contains all or most of the important plot information and supporting details.  The length of this type of summary depends on how long the book is and how much information is contained in each chapter.

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