Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumPlot Structure and Narrative Devices

Read the prose extract below:

"In the parlor of a grand Lagos estate, an elderly scholar sits surrounded by eager listeners. He opens a leather-bound journal and begins reading aloud the detailed life story of a 19th-century palm-oil trader, thereby embedding that historical account within the outer story of the gathering."

Which narrative device is demonstrated by the structural arrangement of this passage?

  1. Frame narrativeAnswer
  2. B
    Climax
  3. C
    Dramatic irony
  4. D
    First-person perspective

Answer

Frame narrative is the structural narrative device demonstrated in the passage.
The correct option is frame narrative because the text establishes a clear outer narrative context (the scholar gathering listeners in Lagos) that introduces and encloses an inner story (the trader's journal reading).

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the structural organization of the passage
Identified an outer storytelling situation (the scholar in Lagos reading to listeners) and an inner narrative (the 19th-century trader's life story from the journal).
Recognizing the relationship between the outer context and inner narrative reveals the overall structural technique.
2
Define narrative device terminology
A frame narrative (or frame story) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage for a secondary narrative.
Matching literary terms to textual evidence ensures correct device identification.
3
Confirm the correct structural classification
The embedding of the trader's biography within the scholar's gathering is a classic frame narrative.
This directly satisfies the definition of a frame narrative in prose fiction.

Key Concept

Frame Narrative (Story within a Story)
Rate this question

Topics

Plot Structure and Narrative Devices

More questions from this topic