A Case Study of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize-Winning Articles in Feature Writing Based on Narrative Communication Theory

Based on the empirical evidence in narrative communication, this article argues that the journalists arrange the sequences of events in feature writings production to meet the audience's need for story coherence. Taken as a miniature of exemplary journalistic practice in feature writings, the 2021 Pulitzer Prize-Winning Articles in Feature Writing was examined, in order to answer how narrative communication theory operates. This paper applies Labov and Waletzky’s narrative model and Bell’s improved one, which is suitable for the analysis of news texts, and identifies the coherent expression in samples was manifest in temporal, causal, motivational, and affective orders. The entire narrative structure and the narrative cycle structure were presented within a temporal framework, and emotional content was structured within the communicative framework (Duncan 13:589–603, 2012). Interpretations are provided by interrupting the narrative to ensure rigorous logic, while the supporting evidence is avoided to increase the audience’s immersion. This paper adds narrative paradigm theory on the basis of qualitatively and quantitatively research by other scholars and also advances the general understanding of narrative structures.