Frame narrative — English definition
Defined in 2 courses:
- A story told inside another story, like a narrator recounting a tale from the past. (English 9: Experience, Perspective & Inquiry)
- A story told inside another story, so the inner tale sits within the frame of an outer situation, like a traveler recounting a tale to listeners. (English 10: Choices, Conscience & Consequences)
Where it is taught
- Text Structure & Order of Events — Close Reading & Literary Analysis, English 9: Experience, Perspective & Inquiry, Grade 9
- Characterization & Structure — Close Reading & Literary Analysis, English 10: Choices, Conscience & Consequences, Grade 10
In use
And a frame narrative nests one story inside another — think of a grandmother at a kitchen table telling her grandchild the story of a summer fifty years ago, so the whole tale sits inside the frame of that conversation.
Text Structure & Order of Events
It can braid two storylines together (parallel plots) until they finally collide, or nest one tale inside another as a frame narrative, the way a legendary storyteller might spin tales night after night to postpone a grim fate.
Characterization & Structure
Taught alongside
- structure
- flashback
- foreshadowing
- pacing
- complex character
- dynamic character
- indirect characterization
- foil
- in medias res