All of the following elements characterize a narrative essay except a. a thesis statement. b. vivid descriptions c. rhetorical devices. d. plot structure.

A. Thesis statement

Explanation:

A narrative essay is a type of essay that has a single theme. All incidents, happenings, and characters revolve around a single presented idea. It describes people, presents their conversation, and narrates their experiences to teach lessons to readers.  For these reasons, there is a possibility to use vivid descriptions, picturing the main characters, situations, and etc. So, option B is also wrong.

Also, this is a form of writing where the author focuses on the lesson (experience) that he/she has learned from the past. To show everything in greater detail and prove the idea he/she can use different rhetorical devices: metaphors, similes, persuasive techniques, and etc. So option C is wrong.

A narrative essay has three main elements of a plot: character, theme, and dialogue. Definitely, it has a plot. Option D is wrong.

To sum up, vivid descriptions, rhetorical devices, and plot can characterize the narrative essay.

But a thesis statement is not an element of characterization. It is an element of the structure of an essay. As it is a statement that appears at the middle or end of the introductory paragraph. It summarizes the main point or claim of the essay (usually expressed in one sentence).

the purpose of the heading in the passage is to identify who is telling the story.

this excerpt is part of the book sugar changed the world (2010) written by marc aronson and marina budhos. as the book has been written by two people, the heading "marc" indicates that this specific excerpt is being narrated by aronson. in the fragment, marc describes his grandfather's story after hearing it from his cousin. however, there are other excerpts where budhos is the one that tells the story of her family.

aronson and budhos, who are husband and wife in real life, decided to write sugar changed the world when they found out how sugar, which had an important role in slavery and economy, changed their ancestors' lives.

the difference of the poems of walt whitman and emily dickinson is that whitman uses personification, whereas dickinson avoids figurative language. whitman incorporates transcendentalism and realism in his works. on the other hand, dickinson's poems talks about death and immortality.