English Literature GCSE
Frame Narrative
What Frame Narrative means in English Literature GCSE, as defined for Pearson Edexcel.
Definitions of Frame Narrative
Exam boards and our study guides word this term in slightly different ways. Learn the version your board uses.
A story within a story. The novel begins with older Arthur in the present, before jumping back to tell the main story of his youth.
A story within a story. Walton's letters frame Victor's tale, which frames the Creature's tale.
Topics that use Frame Narrative
- 19th-Century Novel (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
- The Woman in Black (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
Related terms
- Doppelgänger
- Galvanism
- Hubris
- Pathetic Fallacy
- Retrospective Narrative
- Tabula Rasa
- The Sublime
- Unreliable Narrator
Using Frame Narrative in the exam
Definition questions usually carry one or two marks, and examiners look for the precise wording. Write the definition from memory, check it against the version above, and then use the term in a longer answer on the same topic so it sticks.
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