Lecture 11: Adding Complexity to Plots
right at the start, which has the effect of intriguing us, making
us want to know exactly how things turned out so badly for the
characters who have just been introduced.Flash-Forwards and Flashbacks
z %RWKÀDVKIRUZDUGVDQGÀDVKEDFNVDUHVFHQHVWKDWWDNHSODFHRXWRIWKH
PDLQFKURQRORJLFDORUGHURIWKHVWRU\$ÀDVKIRUZDUGLVDJOLPSVHRI
something that will happen to the characters in the future, at the end
of or perhaps even after the main
QDUUDWLYH DQG D ÀDVKEDFN LV D
scene that takes place before the
main plotline started.z Flash-forwards are often used
LQ ¿UVWSHUVRQ QDUUDWLYHV ZLWK
the narrator giving the reader
a glimpse of an intriguing
outcome before returning to the
beginning and showing how the
story worked its way up to that
SRLQW 2QH IDPRXV ¿UVWSHUVRQ
ÀDVKIRUZDUGLVWKHEHJLQQLQJRI
%LOO\ :LOGHU¶V JUHDW ¿OP DERXW
Hollywood, 6XQVHW %RXOHYDUG,
which opens with the narrator
essentially starting his story from
beyond the grave.z %XW XVLQJ D ÀDVKIRUZDUG DV
a teaser to hook the reader at
the beginning of a plot can
occasionally come across as
PHFKDQLFDO<RXFDQXVHÀDVKIRUZDUGHOVHZKHUHLQDQDUUDWLYHHYHQDW
the end, skipping a period of time to show how the characters turn out
years after the main chronology of the story. An effective example of
this approach is Alice Munro’s short story “The Beggar Maid.”Many detective stories consist
ODUJHO\RIÀDVKEDFNVDVWKH
detective or investigator hears from
witnesses about the situation that
led up to the murder.© Rasmus Rasmussen/iStock/Thinkstock.