Guidelines: Methods for Framing Stories

Dr. Gian Pagnucci

Types of Frames

Central Frames

• Frames are always present, whether they are explicit or not

• Does the writer illuminate them?

• Illuminating frames can make us more vulnerable, but also more honest

• Frames help position us in particular ways

• Hidden frames obscure our ideology

• Non-stories also have frames, but they are just more obscured

Alternative Frames

• Force yourself to reframe

• Offer more than one frame

• Help us see what’s hidden

• Can create misreadings

• Co-opts resistant readings

Scholarly Frames

• Links to other conversations

• Orients the reader

• Makes stories bigger than they perhaps are

• Theories carry baggage

• Theories may close down interpretation

• Not generalizable, but universal in some ways or meaningful to many readers (emotional levels); Roger Shank Tell Me a Story

Ways to Put in Frames

• Interjections

• Character's thoughts

• Footnotes

• Discussion at the end

• Another chapter

 Writer Frames

• Why do I choose to tell this story?

• What do I hope it will show?

• Why is the story important?

• What is the story about?

• What is the story's theme/message?

• What point is the story making?

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