Hello, welcome to your lesson today on exploring the use of time in a narrative.

I'm Miss Sutherland and I'll be teaching you today.

I can't wait to get started with today's lesson.

Our learning outcome for today is to be able to analyse how Galloway uses time in The Cellist of Sarajevo and use that as inspiration for the structure of our very own narrative.

Our three keywords for today's lesson are flashback, flashforward and poignant.

Let's take a moment to go through these keywords.

A flashback is a transition in a story to an earlier time in life of one or more characters.

So a flashback is all about looking at the past.

A flashforward is a transition in a story to a future time in the life of one or more characters.

So we can view flashback and flashforward as opposite uses of time in a narrative.

And poignant, poignant, it means evoking a sense of sadness or regret.

I'll give you a moment now to pause the video and reflect upon those key words yourself.

Off you go.

Great.

So let's move on to our learning cycles.

We have two learning cycles today.

In the first we will consider how time can be used in narratives.

So we'll look at all the ways in which Galloway uses time in The Cellist of Sarajevo.

In the second learning cycle, we'll be turning to our own narrative and we'll be trying to use some of the same techniques that Galloway uses.

So let's begin with considering how time can be used in narratives.

So we want to consider interesting ways to structure our creative writing and using time in a creative way can be really powerful when we're writing a narrative.

So I want you to discuss now what are the different ways that writers can use time in their narratives.

Pause the video and discuss.

I heard some great ideas there.

You mentioned that writers can use chronological order when they write their narrative.

What that means is they describe the events in the order in which those events actually occur.

Writers can use flashbacks so writers can revisit the past in their texts.

Writers can also show us what the future might look like in their texts.

Writers can use time jumps, so that means skipping past periods of time and potentially missing out on chunks of time just to skip to a future moment in which they want to continue their narrative in.

Writers can also use non-linear narrative, and what that means is that their narrative would not follow a chronological order.

Their narrative might look at the past, then might look at the present, but then might look at the past again.

And parallel timelines can also be used by writers.

And what that means is a writer might have two characters in their story, and those two characters are both narrators, but those two characters are from different time periods.

So we might see someone narrating from the present day in one of the chapters.

And then the next chapter might be the other character who narrates from 50 years ago.

They're narrating side by side, but their timelines are very different.

Now, how would you define each of the techniques below? We've had a brief talk about it earlier, but I want you to now define each of these structural time techniques in your own words.

Pause the video and discuss.

Brilliant explanations.

Let's go through what you may have said.

So for chronological order, that means events are described in the order they occur in.

So in that sense, a narrative might span from Monday to Friday and the events are described in the order in which they occur.

So the first chapter's on Monday, the second chapter might be on Tuesday and so on.

Flashback.

A flashback is when the writer shifts the narrative to a past moment.

Flashforward is when the writer shifts the narrative to a future moment.

It doesn't matter how far in the past or future the writer shifts to.

There is a lot of freedom with using flashback and flashforward.

Time jumps.

Time jumps are when writers skip periods of time in a narrative.

So a narrative could begin in 2024, and then the writer skips five years and describes the next chapter in 2029.

Non-linear narratives.

A non-linear narrative has events being described in a different order from when they occur.

So a non-linear narrative is essentially the opposite of a narrative that has chronological order.

And parallel timelines.

A parallel timeline is when two time periods are described in tandem.

So one chapter of a novel could be described by someone living in the present day, 2024, and the second chapter could be narrated from their grandmother's perspective in the 1950s, the writer could then make the third chapter go back to 2024, and the fourth chapter would be back in the 1950s and so on.

And it might be really interesting for the writer to do that when both narrators are set in the same place.

Say both of those narrators were describing London, we'd see a very different perspective on London because they are describing London at different times.

But that would make it really interesting for the reader.

Great job there.

I hope you are more confident with all the ways in which a writer can use time in their narrative.

Let's check your understanding now.

A narrative that describes events in a different order than they occur is called a.

Pause the video and answer that question.

A narrative that describes events in a different order than they actually occur is called a non-linear narrative.

Remember, a non-linear narrative might describe the present moment, then describe the past, then describe the present moment again, then describe the future.

The writer is not describing events in a chronological order.

Now let's apply all our knowledge of time techniques to an actual text now.

I want you to read the first 12 paragraphs in the opening of The Cellist of Sarajevo.

And whilst you're reading, I want you to focus on how Galloway uses time.

Pause the video and enjoy your reading.

Off you go.

I hope you enjoyed reading that opening there.

Galloway really uses time in a very impressive way there.

So now I want you to write a list of the different ways Galloway uses time in the extract.

You might spot a couple of techniques that we listed earlier.

Use the list we collated earlier in the lesson to help you complete this task.

Pause the video.

Off you go.

Well done for looking at the text really, really closely there and unpicking all the ways in which Galloway uses time.

So you might have said that Galloway uses a non-linear structure in the opening of his novel.

The first paragraph of The Cellist of Sarajevo describes a future moment.

It describes the bomb falling, which we later find out hasn't happened yet.

And the second paragraph of Galloway's opening describes 1945, which is a moment in the past.

So Galloway describes the future and the past before he tells us anything about the present.

Therefore, Galloway does not describe events in the order that they actually occur.

Galloway also uses a flashback.

He flashes back to the cellist's sister's wedding and he does that potentially to show how life was before the siege of Sarajevo and how the cellist had very positive and happy memories with his family, how he felt loved.

And that helps the audience connect with him.

Galloway also uses a flashforward and we see that through his repeated mention to the bomb falling and the aftermath of this.

And we know that Galloway is referring to the future here because Galloway uses the word will when describing how the cellist will react to that bomb.

And we know that will is the future tense.

And Galloway also uses time jumps throughout this narrative.

He starts with the future, jumps to the past in 1945, then shifts to the present, goes back to the past.

So we can see there how Galloway plays with time quite a lot.

He doesn't describe events in a chronological order and he skips past periods of time.

Well done on finding some of those techniques in the narrative.

I hope spotting those time techniques in Galloway's narrative are really going to help you use them in your own narrative later.

Now let's move on to experimenting with time in our own narrative.

I'm really excited to see what creative ideas you come up with for your own narrative now.

So let's first look at how Galloway crafts his flashback.

This is going to help us craft our flashback successfully when we use it.

So first of all, Galloway describes the cellist's life in wartime.

He describes how danger is all around and how his hope is dwindling.

That is how Galloway sets up the present moment.

Now the present moment allows for Galloway to then craft his flashback.

So Galloway flashes back to this cellist's sister's wedding where he felt happy and loved.

So I now want you to discuss what makes Galloway's use of flashback powerful.

Think about both the present and the past moment when you are discussing this.

Off you go.

Now you may have said that the flashback to the cellist's sister's wedding helps the reader to understand how much life has changed since the war started.

But it also allows us to connect to the cellist as it reveals what he has lost during war.

So the flashback helps us to see how much life has changed, but it also helps us to connect with the character.

So those are two things you want to consider when crafting your own flashback.

How are you going to show change and how are you going to help the readers connect with your character? So as we've mentioned, creating a contrast between the present and past moment is key in making a flashback powerful.

So I want you to discuss now can you think of some scenarios or storylines in which we could contrast present and past moments? Pause the video and discuss.

I had some brilliant ideas.

Let's look at what some of our Oak students have said.

Laura says the present could involve a lonely woman and then there could be a flashback to her wedding day.

And Jacob says there could be a loud rumble of cars that startles a war veteran.

The narrative could flashback to a brutal attack on the battlefield.

So both Laura and Jacob have considered how they could create a contrast via their flashback.

Maybe you had similar ideas to Laura and Jacob.

Maybe you came up with something completely different.

That's okay as long as you've considered how to create a contrast.

So now let's look at how Galloway crafts his flashforward.

So in the present moment, the cellist is at the window playing his cello.

And the future moment is when Galloway flashes forward to the bomb falling, the devastation it causes and the cellist's reaction to it.

Discuss now what makes Galloway's use of flashforward powerful.

Pause the video and discuss.

You might have said that the flashforward to the bomb falling and its devastation creates a sense of shock because the moment before it is a very calm and peaceful moment in the narrative.

And the flashforward is also powerful because it reinforces a sense of inevitability, which adds a poignant tone to the present moment as we know what is to come.

So it makes us have a sense of sadness and regret at the fact that the cell cannot escape the danger that awaits him.

So here are the Oak pupils' earlier ideas for their flashbacks.

Discuss, can you think of ways that Laura and Jacob could include a snapshot of the future to shock their reader? Pause the video and discuss.

So potentially Laura could flash forward to the woman's unexpected reunion with her husband.

The reader wouldn't expect that because the woman is on her own.

Jacob's idea is that he could flash forward to a future war in which the veteran's grandchild is involved.

Notice here how the pupils flash back and flash forward link to each other.

You don't want to have a flashforward that is random compared to your flashback.

You want the two to link in some way.

Now let's consider some ways to seamlessly transition from the present moment to the past or the future.

There could be something in the character's surroundings that transports them to the past.

So for Jacob's idea, there could be a loud rumble of cars that startles a war veteran.

The narrative could flash back to a brutal attack on the battlefield.

So that loud rumble of cars is Jacob's opportunity to seamlessly transition from the present moment to the past moment.

Because the loud rumble is the thing that connects the present and the past.

How could Laura transition from the past to the present? Pause the video and discuss.

So in Laura's narrative, the woman who is alone could be fidgeting with her ring, her wedding ring, and this object might lead her to remember her wedding day.

That's how Laura could link the present and the past moment through the object of the wedding ring.

There are also some stock phrases that can help us transition into a flashback or flashforward.

So if we want to transition into the past, we might use the phrase things were once different and then begin to explain how they were different.

And if we wanted to transition into a flashforward, we might say they don't know it now, but, and then tell the reader what is going to happen.

Discuss, can you think of any more phrases that help signal to the reader that the narrative is transitioning to either the past or the future? Pause the video and discuss.

Maybe you said that to transition into the past, you could write that a smell, sound or object took them back to years earlier or she remembered a time when.

For flashforward soon, years later, or there would come a time when.

Notice how you can link your flashback and flashforward by using similar transition phrases.

So if you wanted to link your flashback and flashforward, you could use years earlier for your flashback and years later for your flashforward.

You could also use, they remembered a time when for your flashback, or there would come a time when for your flashforward.

That just allows the reader to get a stronger sense of the fact that those two moments are linked in some way.

Now let's check your understanding of what we've talked about.

What could make a flashback more powerful? Pause the video and answer that question.

So how can we make a flashback more powerful? We can make a flashback more powerful by crafting the moment in the past to contrast the moment in the present.

That will really help the reader to get a sense of how things have changed for the character, and it will allow them to connect with the characters much better, which enables them to feel greater emotion when they're reading the text.

Now I want you to plan a short narrative that uses a flashback and flashforward.

You could use the image on the right to help guide your writing.

You could also take inspiration from the extract, The Cellist of Sarajevo, writing about how war could affect people's lives.

And you could use some of the stock phrases to help link each part of your narrative together.

Pause the video and start your planning now.

Off you go.

I'm really impressed by how creative you've been in that task.

Now I want you to reread your plan.

I want you to annotate the effect of your flashback and flashforward.

How is your flashback designed to make your reader feel? And how is your flashforward designed to make your reader feel? Pause the video and reflect upon your work now.

Great job.

Knowing what effect that you've created for your reader is key to making sure that your narrative is impactful.

Let's go through what we've learned today.

You can experiment with time to create an interesting structure to your narrative.

The use of flashback is powerful in The Cellist of Sarajevo to help the reader connect to the character.

The use of flashforward is powerful in The Cellist of Sarajevo as it adds a sense of inevitability and a poignant tone to the writing.

Flashbacks are powerful when they contrast the present moment in some way, and using certain phrases before your time shifts can help to create seamless transitions.

Thank you so much for joining me in today's lesson, and I hope to see you in another one soon.