PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Boyd, Ryan L.
AU  - Blackburn, Kate G.
AU  - Pennebaker, James W.
TI  - The narrative arc: Revealing core narrative structures through text analysis
AID  - 10.1126/sciadv.aba2196
DP  - 2020 Aug 01
TA  - Science Advances
PG  - eaba2196
VI  - 6
IP  - 32
4099  - http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/32/eaba2196.short
4100  - http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/32/eaba2196.full
SO  - Sci Adv2020 Aug 01; 6
AB  - Scholars across disciplines have long debated the existence of a common structure that underlies narratives. Using computer-based language analysis methods, several structural and psychological categories of language were measured across ~40,000 traditional narratives (e.g., novels and movie scripts) and ~20,000 nontraditional narratives (science reporting in newspaper articles, TED talks, and Supreme Court opinions). Across traditional narratives, a consistent underlying story structure emerged that revealed three primary processes: staging, plot progression, and cognitive tension. No evidence emerged to indicate that adherence to normative story structures was related to the popularity of the story. Last, analysis of fact-driven texts revealed structures that differed from story-based narratives.