Narrative Techniques Flashcards
Indicating or hinting to readers that something will happen later in a story.
Foreshadow
Used to reveal to the reader’s past event which might have happened before the prevailing narration.
Flashback
When a story is left open-ended and unresolved.
Cliffhanger
Writers divert the attention of the reader onto another character or element of the story in order to distract them from the truth.
Red Herring
A sudden realization by a character can have a dramatic impact on a story.
Epiphany
A character will take on the personal views, morals, and even personality traits of their author.
Author Surrogate
Technique that repeats references to either a character or object. At first, this reference appears unimportant, but is later proven to be a crucial part of the narrative.
Repetitive Designation
Characters make predictions about the future, which then come true as a result of them thinking about that event.
Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Used to mock or convey humor through exaggerated and over-the-top imitation.
Parody
The mood of a character is reflected in non-human objects surrounding them.
Pathetic Fallacy
A symbolic story, often religious or spiritual in nature, that reflects on elements of what it’s like to be human.
Allegory
Help readers create mental images of a scene, using descriptive language that touches specifically on the five senses.
Sensory Detail
A narrative through a series of journal entries or other written documents.
Epistolic
Tells the events in a story in order of how they happened.
Chronological
The telling of a story from the ending backward.
Reverse Chronological
