framing device
Story within story
A framing device is a narrative structure that encloses another story within it—a story within a story.
The outer narrative provides context or perspective for the inner one: The grandfather reading to his grandson is the framing device in The Princess Bride.
Common framing devices include letters, flashbacks, or a character recounting events.
The technique can add layers of meaning, establish reliability (or unreliability) of narrators, or create distance from the main action.
One who tells events
- prologueIntroductory literary section
- epilogueConcluding literary section
- flashbackInvoluntary past memory
- voiceoverOff-screen recorded speech
unreliable narrator · bookend · wraparound · Arabian Nights · Canterbury Tales · Decameron · meta-narrative · retrospective
Involuntary past memory
- voiceoverOff-screen recorded speech
- montageAssembled sequence of images
- cutawayView with exterior removed
- nonlinearNot in sequence
opening scene · title card · interview format · mockumentary · found footage · documentary style · fourth wall · vignette
Outer edge or limit
- edgeBoundary or sharpness
- boundaryLine marking a limit
- compositionArranged elements forming whole
- croppingCutting to resize
vignette · window · doorway · mirror · silhouette · leading lines · negative space · picture-in-picture
Exaggerated self-admiration
- motifRecurring thematic element
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
- parableInstructive allegorical narrative
- chorusSingers performing together
interlude · chapter breaks · time jump · epistolary · journal entries · confession · testimony · interview transcript
Attitude or spatial rendering
- angleGeometric measure of rotation
- contextCircumstances shaping meaning
- lensLight-focusing curved glass
- spinRapid rotation around axis
slant · bias · positioning · agenda-setting · priming · anchoring · narrative control · interpretation
narrator
One who tells events
- prologueIntroductory literary section
- epilogueConcluding literary section
- flashbackInvoluntary past memory
voiceover · unreliable narrator · bookend · wraparound · Arabian Nights · Canterbury Tales · Decameron · meta-narrative · retrospective · oral tradition
flashback
Involuntary past memory
- voiceoverOff-screen recorded speech
- montageAssembled sequence of images
- cutawayView with exterior removed
nonlinear · opening scene · title card · interview format · mockumentary · found footage · documentary style · fourth wall · vignette · cold open
border
Outer edge or limit
- edgeBoundary or sharpness
- boundaryLine marking a limit
- compositionArranged elements forming whole
cropping · vignette · window · doorway · mirror · silhouette · leading lines · negative space · picture-in-picture · tableau
conceit
Exaggerated self-admiration
- motifRecurring thematic element
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
- parableInstructive allegorical narrative
chorus · interlude · chapter breaks · time jump · epistolary · journal entries · confession · testimony · interview transcript · archive
perspective
Attitude or spatial rendering
- angleGeometric measure of rotation
- contextCircumstances shaping meaning
- lensLight-focusing curved glass
spin · slant · bias · positioning · agenda-setting · priming · anchoring · narrative control · interpretation · worldview
- storytellingstorytelling, story, tale, narrative, narrator
- plotplot, storyline, subplot, climax, narrative
- frame narrativesbookend, wraparound, Chinese box
- narrative techniquesflashback, nonlinear plot, fragmented narrative, flash-forward, point of view
- Storytelling Devicesflashback, foreshadowing, cliffhanger, plot twist, narrator
- Tropeschosen one, hero's journey, red herring, deus ex machina, damsel in distress
frame, device, framework, framed, framing, frames, framer, frameworks, reframe