Narrative Structure Terms

When the narrative reveals

important information about

a character’s background,

which happened before the

narrative began.

• Backstory

• Cliffhanger

• Foreshadowing

• Flashback

When the narrative ends on a

dramatic event. This doesn’t

mean the end of the narrative

– just that it has paused. It is a

device commonly used at the

end of chapters to ensure the

reader continues.

• Foreshadowing

• Flashback

• Cliffhanger

• Flashforward

When events in the future are

hinted at.

• Backstory

• Red Herrinng

• Framing Device

• Foreshadowing

When an episode from earlier

in the story or before the story

began is recounted. This could

be to explain a character’s

backstory, or it could show us

an important plot point.

• Flashback

• In media res

• Backstory

• Framing device

When the narrative fast

forwards to a point in the

future.

• Twist

• Red Herring

• Flashfoward

• Framing device

When a story has another

story around it, or ‘framing’ it.

• In media Res

• Framing Device

• Twist

• Cliffhanger

When a story starts in the

middle – often at the point

of climax. The narrative may

then return to the beginning

of the story using flashback.

• Flashforward

• Flashback

• In media res

• Red herring

A false clue which has the

reader believing one thing,

when in fact another is true.

• Foreshadowing

• Twist

• Backstory

• Red herring

When something completely

unexpected and different

to what has been hinted at,

happens within a story.

• Twist

• In media res

• Flashforward

• Foreshadowing

Term for the structure of a story; the sequence of events of a story

• resolution

• climax

• plot

• falling action