Types of Narrative Structure

• Often does not have flashbacks or dream sequences
• Story concludes with a dramatic revelation and quick resolution

• Tandem narrative
• Equally-weighted stories running simultaneously
• Often uses truncation
• One-act, two-act, and sometimes three-act stories

• Multiple protagonist narrative
• About groups of people
• Most commonly related to missions, reunions, etc.
• Not a “single hero on one journey” story

• Double journey narrative
• Two important protagonists
• Can be traveling towards, apart, or together
• Each character has their own plot line

• Catch-all phrase for structures that don't progress in a linear, chronological order.
• Umbrella term for a wide array of structures

• Wide array of structures
• Non-chronological order
• Parallel plot lines
• Sometimes mimics human memory

• Flashbacks
• Often portrays stories of youth
• Personal growth
• Innocence lost

• Flashback as illustration
• Regret Flashback
• Bookend Flashback
• A scene in present time that is at the start and end of the story

• Consecutive stories
• Self-contained stories that join at the end
• Different outcomes
• Different perspectives

Examples: Pulp Fiction, Easy Rider, Inception

• Brings closure through a return to the theme and material introduced at the beginning

• Shown through literal repetition of phrases or syntax from the start
• Returning the narrator to a setting of importance
• Sometimes return to a more important theme that was introduced early in the story

• Resolution can be breaking out of infinite loop (e.g. Groundhog Day)

Examples: The Princess Bride, The Wizard of Oz

Aronson, Linda. "The Six Sorts of Parallel

Narrative." Linda Aronson. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.

Cascio, Christopher. "The Different Kinds of

Narrative Structure in Short Stories." Seattlepi. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.

Layfield, Emily. "The Different Kinds of Narrative

Structure in Short Stories." Synonym. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.

sanchitchadha. “Inception Cafe Scene.” Online

video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 31 May 2011. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.

Anonushka. "Groundhog Day - all scenes with

the old homeless man." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 4 Mar. 2011. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.

persuasivecopy. "Frame Switching Example 1."

Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 27 Jul. 2009. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.

Jack Michaelson. "Bee Movie - FULL MOVIE SPED

UP!!!" Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 26 May 2013. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.

Kahoot!

https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/6e4f5201-5fe6-43b8-83e2-9ae58a0591b2/intro

• Circular stories end where they begin, in terms of space or time.

Circular

Framed

What is narrative structure?

• Story within a "frame" story
• Might make the reader forget about original story while caught in the inner story

Nonlinear

Examples: Breakfast Club, Bee Movie

Linear

Chronological

• Follows a straightforward, chronological order

• Goes through one storyline from start to finish

• Fundamental framework behind a story
• Determines the order and presentation of the plot

Parallel

• Multiple plots occurring at the same time (no "time jumps")

Room for Interpretation...

Fractured

• Some of the structures we mentioned are more nuanced, and these don't necessarily fit neatly into linear or non-linear categories.

• Parallel, Circular, Fractured, etc. What do you think? What are the arguments for linear and nonlinear? Can a structure be both?

• Wanders sporadically in time and plot, “stream of consciousness”
• No attention paid to concept of time
• Time doesn’t necessarily progress forward

Works Cited

Types of Narrative Structure

By Jack Mills, Vincent Dong, and Ketan Agrawal