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GCSE English Language · key term
A movement away from the current events of a narrative to an earlier event.
Used by AQA, Edexcel and OCR
Paper 1
A move away from the main narrative time to show an earlier event.
Revise: Planning and structuring creative writingA flashback presents an earlier event within the main narrative. It can explain why an ordinary object matters. Suppose a character touches a gate and remembers someone teaching them how to lift its broken latch.
Paper 1, Paper 2
Use flashbacks or repeated images only when they develop meaning; including a named technique does not automatically earn marks.
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A flashback can explain why a present event matters. Foreshadowing can make an apparently ordinary detail feel threatening because it hints at what is coming.
A shift from the narrative’s current moment to an earlier event, usually to reveal relevant background.
Paper 2
A shift from the main narrative to an earlier event, used to reveal relevant background or change the reader’s understanding.
Revise: Shaping a narrativeA narrative can follow events chronologically, from earlier to later. It can also move briefly backwards through a flashback. The shift should help the reader understand the current situation.
Paper 2
A movement back to an earlier event within a narrative.
Revise: Shaping a narrativeA flashback is a return to an earlier event within the narrative.
