Narrative criticism focuses on the stories a speaker or a writer tells to understand how they[clarification needed] help us make meaning out of our daily human experiences.
According to Walter Fisher, narratives are fundamental to communication and provide structure for human experience and influence people to share common explanations and understandings.
[5][page needed] Narratives can be found in a range of practices such as novels, short stories, plays, films, histories, documentaries, gossip, biographies, television and scholarly books.
Sample questions from Sonja K Foss[7]: 312–313 offer a guide for analysis: David Rhoads introduced the term "narrative criticism" in 1982 to describe a new literary approach to the New Testament gospels.
[10] Rhoads and Michie analyzed the Gospel of Mark in terms of the role of the narrator, literary devices, settings (cosmic, political-cultural, and physical), plot, characters and characterization, and audience.