ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Flashbacks interrupt the chronological order of the main narrative to take a reader back in time to the past events in a character’s life. A writer uses this literary device to help readers better understand present-day elements in the story or learn more about a character.

Detailed explanation-2: -There are essentially two main types of flashback: A full flashback scene or a brief in-scene flashback.

Detailed explanation-3: -So a flashback interrupts the present to show us something meaningful from the past. The key word there is meaningful. When we flash back, what we see must reveal something important about the characters, something that adds depth to how we understand the story in the present line.

Detailed explanation-4: -Flash-forwards and flashbacks are similar literary devices in that they both move the narrative from the present to another time. The difference is that while a flash-forward takes a narrative forward in time, a flashback goes back in time, often to before the narrative began.