Wiktionary
framing device
n. (context narratology English) (rfdef: English)
Usage examples of "framing device".
Saving Private Ryan, which is essentially an episode of the old TV show Combat with an okay Grand Guignol beginning and a mawkish framing device, and features the Mister Potato Head of contemporary thespians, Tom Hanks.
I also liked the framing device of having the story told by a fictitious scribe (done to avoid the need for footnotes), and I particularly enjoyed the opening chapter, which briefly provides this scribe's own history.