"a narrative tool" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
It can be used when discussing elements or techniques used in storytelling or writing to enhance the narrative or engage the audience. Example: "Flashbacks are commonly used as a narrative tool in literature to provide background information and add depth to the characters."
But Ayoade shows nothing of the hustler's hustle, no backstage and no behind-the-scenes and no how-to; the character is just a narrative tool.
For the filmmakers, 3-D is a narrative tool, which works only if what it is enhancing is strong to begin with.
Food is used as a narrative tool.
Throughout Buffy the Vampire Slayer, music serves as a narrative tool, integral to character development and action.
Sandberg suggested the twist ending and the use of an ice pick, which he thought should be used as a "narrative tool" instead of just a prop.
Far from being a point of casual reference, the new school of hip hop have embraced the drug as a narrative tool, and key cultural touch-point.
It's a comedy sketch that becomes a primary narrative tool here, a redundancy that goes unaided by Ulu Grosbard's punchless direction and a set -- its one notable feature is a haphazardly hung window -- that is without atmospheric suggestion of any kind.
"As a writer, it's a great narrative tool to have that character who is slightly detached but at the same time observant of his reality," he explained, "because I think that's pretty much what being a writer is — being there, watching and internalizing".
There's his masterful, stylistically complex writing: he can wield the second person as an effective narrative tool, then engage the royal "we" as a gentle didactic, all in the space of a page.
For "Choke" and "Winter Belly," performed last year at Danspace Project, Mr. O'Connor left out the dialogue and allowed his movement to serve as the sole narrative tool.
Cohen makes no attempt to sort out versions of the past and offers no narrative tools to help readers understand where a particular account or detail comes from.
