Clinging To Life-And Whatever Floats: Article Analysis

Mark Larbee’s article in The Oregonian, “Clinging to Life- and Whatever Floats, is an excellent example of how to write a narrative piece of journalism. It has a clear exposition; right at the beginning of the article, Larbee introduces Nancy Punches, the main character of this narrative. In the exposition, he describes what Nancy looks like, who she is, and where she lives. In addition to that, Larbee explains that the Nancy lives 13 miles from the Chehalis River and there have been back-to-back storms in the area. But, Larbee tells us that the locals have assured Nancy that the river has never overflown; leading her to stay home, rather than leave. After the exposition, the article has a clear rising action. As Nancy’s house begins to flood, the action also rises. In essence as the water rises, the action of the narrative also rises. As the water is rising the tension also builds. He …show more content…
As the water continues to poor in, Nancy is doing everything she can to save her dogs. She stacks boxes for the dogs to stay dry, she rushes toward the laundry room to save a dog that she heard crying, she put a few puppies on a mattress so that it would float. Not all of the dogs survived, as two drowned before Nancy could safe them. After the crisis, Larbee introduces the climax of the narrative. In this narrative the climax is when the flooding ends. It starts when the water is at its highest point, 10 inches from the ceiling. When Nancy see’s this, she also sees some her puppies floating a box, much to her joy. As time goes on the water begins to drop. By the end of the night, the water had dropped far enough for Nancy to stand up. After the climax is the falling action. In this piece, the falling action is when Nancy carries the puppies in her fleece pullover to keep them warm, as she tries to find a way out of her house. Larbee notes every little detail of Nancy’s journey out the house; from the debris she saw, to how her body