Flashbacks sind eine beliebte literarische Technik, die Schriftsteller verwenden können, wenn sie eine Geschichte in medias res (mitten in den Dingen) beginnen, Drama oder Spannung hinzufügen oder den Leser mit wichtigen Informationen vertraut machen.
Examples of flashbacks - using flashback in your writing classroom activity
Storyboard-Text
I found myself outside of the castle, with only the moon to guide me. I had arrived, but I had no recollection of how I got there. I felt my face, and the bruises were fresh. I looked down at my arm. “SHAME” was written in large letters across it, and suddenly, I realized I couldn’t speak. I didn’t have a voice!
~~~
SHAME
I had been walking through the village, quietly enjoying the sights and smells of the local marketplace. It was a beautiful spring day, and the village was in a celebratory mood after the long winter.
Flashback serves to reveal: plot and foreshadowing
ARMOR
Suddenly, I heard shouting from within a nearby alley. I quietly crept over to investigate, and found two men arguing heatedly. One was an average-looking man in royal dress; the other was a man with a funny cap and robe. The man in the cap raised his arm at the royally-dressed man and made a slight movement with a long stick. There was a flash, and in his place was a frog!
I must have shouted in surprise because the next thing I knew, the man in the cap was whirling towards me. I yelled at him that what he had done was a crime-- it was shameful! In our beautiful city, how could he do such a thing? The man sneered and raised his stick towards me. The end of it glowed with an evil red phosphorescence.
I jumped, and the red glow missed me by inches. I began to run, crashing through the market and knocking over carts. I could hear the man on my heels, zapping his magic wand at me as I dodged. Finally, I felt an electric tingling sensation hit the back of my head. I fell, and all around me was black. I could hear a man mumbling, “Shame me, will you? Put me in a dunce cap will you? Oh no, never again!”
When I awoke in front of the castle, I realized I would never be able to scold anyone again. The wizard had taken my voice. I don’t know why “shame” had made him so angry, but I knew I would have to find him and get my voice back. This time, though, I would need backup. I knew where to find it: the dragon in the Hidden Cave.