1. A Story within a Story
FRAME NARRATIVE

2. What is a FRAME NARRATIVE?
In a nutshell, a frame narrative is a “story within a story”

3. Examples of FRAME NARRATIVES...
Titanic – (the movie) the story of “Old Rose” revisiting the site of the Titanic “bookends” the love story of Jack and “Young Rose” onboard the ship in 1912
Forrest Gump – Forrest (in the present) is telling his life story (of Forrest in the past) to various citizens on the park bench
Can you think of any others?

4. Another way to view FRAME NARRATIVES...
We can look at frame narratives as a diagram
For example, with Titanic:
“Old Rose”
Love story of “Young Rose” and Jack

5. So what is the PURPOSE of a FRAME NARRATIVE?
The shifts in point of view (POV) serve to create a sense of verisimilitude
Verisimilitude – the appearance of something to be real or true – when what we are reading appears to be true
e.g. A character in a book cuts his/her finger and the finger bleeds. We believe it is happening – if the book said the cut finger produced sparks of fire rather than blood, the story would NOT possess verisimilitude

6. So what is the PURPOSE of a FRAME NARRATIVE?
Even fantasy or sci-fi novels/stories which deal with impossible (or very improbable) events can possess verisimilitude if the reader is willing to suspend their disbelief
Willing suspension of disbelief – when a reader/viewer temporarily and willingly sets aside their beliefs about reality in order to enjoy the “make-believe” of a play, novel, poem or movie
e.g. We can watch Harry Potter without feeling “gullible” as long as we, the audience, set aside our sense of what is “real” for the duration of the movie.

7. FIN