The time structure.

There are two different types:



➢ Acting time or narrated time: the actual time which it takes to complete a particular event (It takes 90 minutes to play a football match)

➢ Narrating time: the time it takes to tell the event/action/episode (You can relate a football match in five minutes [= panoramic presentation] or you can take two hours to tell every detail and what you thought of every move [=scenic presentation]

➢ Temporal order of a narrative text = usually chronological order, which may be interrupted by two devices:

➢ Flashback: information about earlier events is provided> puts the reader in a position to understand events or the character/ the character’s behaviour etc.

➢ Anticipation: a hint on future developments, which arouses expectations in the reader and creates suspense. (In drama it is called foreboding )

Exercise:

1) Briefly analyze the temporal order of "The Riddles House": in what sequence are events told?


2) What is the basic temporal order of the passage from Graham Greene's A Gun for Sale?