1. NARRATIVE DEVICES: EDGAR ALLAN POE

2. WHAT ARE NARRATIVE DEVICES?
Also known as literary devices
Narrative devices help the author express their ideas
They are best understood as related to narrative (or literary) elements

3. THREE TYPES
Style
Narrative Perspective
PLOT

4. STYLE Narrative devices relating to style include:
In literature and writing, stylistic elements are the use of any of a variety of techniques to give an added meaning, idea, or feeling to the literal or written text
Narrative devices relating to style include:
Metaphors
A figure of speech used to suggest a resemblance to something (implicit comparison)
Similes
Similar to metaphors, but a simile always uses ‘like’ or ‘as’ when making the comparison (explicit comparison)
Repetition
Emphasises the importance of the repeated word or phrase – can also build atmosphere and tension
Imagery
Words or phrases that inspire mental images or likenesses of things

5. STYLE Rhythm Hyperbole Punctuation
An exaggeration to make a point
Punctuation
The use of direct questions invites the reader to interact with the text – to make their own meaning
Can also relate to characterisation
Dashes create – pauses – in the sentences, which can contribute to suspense or reveal indirect characterisation
Rhythm
Different lengths of sentences and the way punctuation is used can effect the rhythm of the story
Short vs long sentences
No punctuation vs commas and dashes everywhere

6. PLOT DEVICES
Plot devices are any techniques that are used to move the plot forward
Plot devices often change or adapt the traditional plot structure for effect
These can include:
Backstory
Flashback
Flash-forward
Foreshadowing
Framing narratives
Deus ex machina
Time taken out of the main plot to explain or describe where a character comes from or experiences they have had
A jump in perspective back in time
A jump in perspective forward in time
Mentioning an important element, symbol or object that will be important later on in the story
Where a narrative is recounted by another character, usually after the event (e.g. Wuthering Heights, Frankenstein)
a person or thing (as in fiction or drama) that appears or is introduced suddenly and unexpectedly and provides a contrived solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty

7. NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE
Also known as point of view
The narrative perspective is the perspective through which a story is told
Which point of view is used has an effect on the story and how it conveys meaning
First person
Second person
Third person
We are limited to their personal experiences and opinions
As a reader we must make our own judgment whether we believe them or not (Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd)
Intimate and presumptive – very direct
Italo Calvino’s If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller
Omniscient or limited
Omniscient allows for dramatic irony – when the reader/audience knows more than the main characters. ALSO multiple points of view
Limited means you are linked to a certain character’s point of view – more unknown factors

8. STYLISTIC DEVICES IN ‘TELL-TALE HEART’
Repetition?
Similes?
Hyperbole?
Punctuation?
Rhythm?

9. PLOT DEVICES IN ‘TELL-TALE HEART’
How does the story begin?
When does it begin?
What effect does this have?
Any foreshadowing?

10. NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE IN ‘TELL-TALE HEART’
From whose point of view is the story written?
What effect does this have? For example, the way we see the characters?
How different would the story be if it were told in a different point of view?