# Is there a name for this literary technique?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-literary-technique/646416>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 7, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-literary-technique/646416 "2013-01-07T23:31:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-literary-technique/646416/1 "2013-01-07T23:31:29Z")

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It’s not exactly first person narrative. For want of a better label I think of it as double first person. It happens when a first person narrator describes how someone else told him a story, the major part of the text is one long quote from the other guy.

An example is H.G. Wells’ _The Time Machine_. An unnamed narrator describes how he met the unnamed Time Traveller at his club. After some discussion of the principles of time travel, the Time Traveller then recounts his adventures. From the first words of chapter 3, until nearly the end of the novel, it’s the Time Traveller speaking, And all of the paragraphs are in quote marks.

Another example is the Sherlock Holmes story, _The Musgrave Ritual_, it is narrated by Doctor Watson, but consists almost entirely of Holmes recounting one of his early adventures.

Does it have a name?

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**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-literary-technique/646416/2 "2013-01-07T23:36:53Z")

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It’s a frame story/tale/narrative. At least, that’s the term I’ve always heard. _Heart of Darkness_ and _The Turn of the Screw_ are famous examples.

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**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-literary-technique/646416/3 "2013-01-08T00:50:52Z")

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Yup. Frame tale. Frankenstein, a lot of Maugham’s stories, Wuthering heights. A staple of 19th century Brit Lit.