A playwrighting device that enables the audience to capture scenes from the past through the recollection of an actor.
the presentation of events previous to the current point in the story, using techniques such as characters' conversations, memories, or dreams, or by direct narration from the author
Narrative device in which the action is interrupted by scenes representing a character's memory of events experienced before the time of the action.
Roleplaying device whereby important events from a character's past are replayed ('remembered') in game time to emphasise a particular point or to educate and entertain other players. Flashbacks may be either be: Closed - where the events and their outcomes are fixed and cued on a character sheet.'You met your lover. You argued. You shot him.' or Open - where the events are cued but their outcomes are indeterminate, to be decided by the player(s) involved. 'You were alone at last. The mutual attraction wasobvious. You made your move...'
8,9,10 The technique of stopping the chronological action in a story and shifting to an earlier period to introduce additional information.
When the action of a story is interrupted by a scene from the past. The scene from the past is the flashback.
plot-structuring device whereby a scene from the fictional past is inserted into the fictional present or dramatized out of order.
returning to an earlier time in a story for the purpose of making something in the present more clear
An abrupt shift to an incident from the past (eg. a character's past in a story).
An alteration of story order in which events occurring in the present are interrupted by the showing of events that took place earlier.
a transition (in literary or theatrical works or films) to an earlier event or scene that interrupts the normal chronological development of the story
an unexpected but vivid recurrence of a past experience (especially a recurrence of the effects of an hallucinogenic drug taken much earlier)
a narrative passage that takes us to the past of when the story is set
a narrative technique that allows a writer to present past events during current events, in order to provide background for the current narration
an event or events that happened before the time of the story
an interruption in the major action of a narrative to show an episode from the past that sheds light on characters and events in the present
a part of a story, poem, or play that presents events that happened at an earlier time
a scene or series of scenes showing events that happened at an earlier time
a scene taken from the past
a simple, though much abused, way to incorporate the back-story into the front story
a view of the world and events through character memory
a technique used to reveal action that occurred earlier
A scene in a story or novel that returns the reader to a time earlier than the main action.
a section of a literary work that interrupts the sequence of events to relate an event from an earlier time.
Past events or moments inserted into a current scene.
A dramatic device that allows a past occurrence to be interested into the chronological order of a narrative, stage play, or film sequence.
the writer begins the story at some other point than the beginning and then flashes back to the past to give details of events that have occurred in the past but are important to the story.
is an interruption of a chronological narrative sequence by interjection of the events of earlier occurrence.
Recalling an earlier story.
interruption of the narrative to show an episode that happened before that point in the story
A scene in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem that interrupts the action to show an event that happened at an earlier time.
When a previous story is recalled.
An alteration of story order in which the plot moves back to show events that have taken place earlier than ones already shown.
Scene that breaks the chronological continuity of the main narrative by depicting events which happened in the past.
An event in a narrative presented out of sequence from an earlier time
A segment of film that breaks normal chronological order by shifting directly to time past. Flashback may be subjective (showing the thoughts and memory of a character) or objective (returning to earlier events to show their relationship to the present).
A shot or sequence that takes the action of the story into the past.
An unpredictable recurrence of psychedelic experiences from an earlier drug trip.
An overwhelming memory of an event or trauma.
a transition from a scene to one that has taken place prior to it.
when action from the past is intermixed with action in the future; events that took place before events in the story.
A narrated scene that marks a break in the narrative in order to inform the reader or audience member about events that took place before the opening scene of a work. See also exposition.
is a technique used mainly in narrative writing that enables the author to present scenes or conversations that took place prior to the beginning of the story. In Margaret Atwood's "Death By Landscape", the story alternates between the present day and flashbacks to Lois's childhood. Focus
The interruption of events in present time to provide information about the past.
is action that interrupts to show an event that happened at an earlier time which is necessary to better understanding. Example
an interruption in the chronological order of events in a story in order to present a conversation or event that happened before the beginning of the story.
A scene from the past that interrupts the action to explain motivation or reaction of a character to the immediate scene.
A device that allows the writer to present events that happened before the time of the current narration or the current events in the fiction. Flashback techniques include memories, dreams, stories of the past told by characters, or even authorial sovereignty. (That is, the author might simply say, "But back in Tom's youth. . . .") Flashback is useful for exposition, to fill in the reader about a character or place, or about the background to a conflict.
A device used in literature to present action that occurred before the beginning of the story. Flashbacks are often introduced as the dreams or recollections of one or more character Flashback techniques are often used in films, where they are typically set off by a gradual changing of one picture to another.
In literature, film, television and other media, a flashback (also called analepsis) is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened prior to the story's primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory. In the opposite direction, a flashforward (or prolepsis) reveals events that will occur in the future.