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Flashback

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A narrative technique interrupting the present to depict earlier events.

Detailed Definition
Flashback in poetry is a narrative device where the speaker or text momentarily shifts to an earlier time—through memory, dream, or recollection—to provide context, emotional depth, or thematic contrast; rendered through tense shifts, sensory triggers, or explicit markers (“I remember…”), flashbacks enrich present experience by layering past significance onto current moments.
Example
Example in poetry:
Flashback is a narrative shift to a past event; In Tennyson’s “Ulysses,” memories of past voyages interrupt the present; Heaney’s “Digging” begins with a present act, then flashes back to ancestors; Plath’s “Daddy” uses fragmented flashbacks to childhood
Additional Notes
Flashback (or analepsis) is a narrative technique where the sequence of events is interrupted to present an earlier event or memory; in poetry, this might be a sudden shift in the speaker's focus to a past experience, providing context or explaining current emotions, often triggered by a present image or thought.
Also Known As
Retrospective scene Flash memory Poetic recall Analepsis
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