📘 Narrative Structure & Framing Devices – Architecting Meaning in Literature and Non-Fiction

🎯 WHY THIS MATTERS

Whether you’re writing a commentary, an essay, or delivering an Individual Oral, you’re not just analyzing what a text says — but how it says it. Understanding narrative structure and framing techniques helps you unlock the architecture of meaning.

🧠 “Every story is a house. Structure is the foundation. Framing is the design. Interpretation is how you explore its rooms.”

🔍 DEFINING THE CONCEPTS

🧱 Narrative Structure

The way a story is organized — linear or nonlinear, chronological or cyclical — shapes how the reader understands characters, themes, and events.

🖼️ Framing Device

A story within a story, a memory sequence, a letter format — any structural element that “frames” the central narrative, adding layers of perspective.

🧠 CORE TYPES OF STRUCTURE

Structure Type	Definition	Example
Linear	Events unfold in time order	Of Mice and Men
Nonlinear	Flashbacks, time jumps	The God of Small Things
Cyclical	Ends where it begins	Wuthering Heights
Framed Narrative	One story embedded in another	Frankenstein, Heart of Darkness
Epistolary	Told through letters/documents	Dracula, The Color Purple
Stream of Consciousness	Interior monologue	Mrs Dalloway, The Catcher in the Rye

🧵 COMMON FRAMING TECHNIQUES

📜 Letters / Journals (The Diary of Anne Frank)
📽️ Flashbacks (Beloved, Atonement)
🗣️ Narrator recounting another’s story (Frankenstein)
🎥 Framing Visuals (film-style texts in non-literary passages)
💬 Dual Perspectives (The Things They Carried, Wide Sargasso Sea)

🧠 ANALYTICAL DEPTH: WHY STRUCTURE MATTERS

✅ Reveals character development

“We meet Lennie and George walking together and end with George alone — a structural mirror of broken dreams.”

✅ Builds suspense or irony

“In media res starts — like in Macbeth — disorient and engage readers instantly.”

✅ Shapes theme delivery

“Cyclical structures emphasize fate or entrapment, as seen in Chronicle of a Death Foretold.”

💡 EXAM-WISE TIPS BY CURRICULUM

📄 IGCSE Literature & Language

Mention “beginning–middle–end” shifts in tone, structure, perspective.
For Paper 1 or 2: Ask, Why does the writer structure it this way?
Use terms like: analepsis, foreshadowing, circular narrative, narrative arc.

🖋 Example:

“The use of an embedded memory in ‘A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat’ frames the chaos with a calm introductory setting, heightening contrast.”

📘 AS / A Level

Discuss authorial control: “The writer delays the climax to…”
Mention structural irony and juxtapositions.
Link structure to shifts in mood, form, or theme.

🖋 Example:

“The non-linear structure in The Bloody Chamber mirrors the disorientation of trauma and fairy-tale distortion.”

📚 IB MYP

Use visuals to map structure (beginning > climax > resolution).
Comment on why a flashback is placed where it is.
eAssessment tip: Label sequences — “Exposition > Conflict > Resolution.”

🎓 IB DP (Paper 1, IO, HL Essay)

📄 Paper 1:

Comment on time sequencing in both literary and non-literary texts.
Highlight how structure shapes message and tone.

“The editorial begins with an anecdote before shifting to political commentary — a structural pivot that personalizes the argument.”

🗣️ Individual Oral:

Choose extracts with clear structure or dual framing.
Compare how both texts open or conclude and what effect that creates.

“Both texts use an abrupt ending to leave the audience unsettled — reinforcing the message’s urgency.”

🧾 HL Essay:

Great angle: How structure conveys theme or moral ambiguity.
Combine textual evidence + theory (Freytag’s pyramid, Todorov’s theory).

🛠️ PHRASES TO LEVEL-UP ANALYSIS

“The non-linear sequencing underscores…”
“A symmetrical narrative frame is employed to…”
“The embedded narrative offers a meta-commentary on…”
“Structural mirroring between opening and closing lines reflects…”

🧩 EXAM DRILL PRACTICE TASKS

Outline the structure of An Inspector Calls. How does it build tension?
How does the use of a flashback affect tone in Never Let Me Go?
Compare the narrative framing in Frankenstein and The Color Purple.
How does circular structure emphasize entrapment in Chronicle of a Death Foretold?

🎯 QUICK RECALL CHECKLIST

✅ Is the story linear or non-linear?
✅ Does it start in the middle (in media res)?
✅ Is there a frame (e.g., diary, memory, retelling)?
✅ How does the structure contribute to the theme, tone, or message?

🌿 FINAL THOUGHT

✨ “Storytelling isn’t just what is said — it’s how it’s delivered. Master structure, and you master the soul of a narrative.”