ENGLISH

ELEVENTH GRADE

Module 1 - Lesson 6
 

Plot

If an author writes, "The king died and then the queen died," there is no plot for a story. But by writing, "The king died and then the queen died of grief," the writer has provided a plot line for a story.

A plot is a causal sequence of events, the "why" for the things that happen in the story. The plot draws the reader into the character's lives and helps the reader understand the choices that the characters make.

A plot's structure is the way in which the story elements are arranged. Writers vary structure depending on the needs of the story. For example, in a mystery, the author will withhold plot exposition until later in the story. In William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" it is only at the end of the story that we learn what Miss Emily has been up to all those years while locked away in her Southern mansion.

There are five essential parts of plot:

a)  Introduction - The beginning of the story where the characters and the setting is revealed.

b)  Rising Action - This is where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed (events between the introduction and climax).

c)  Climax - This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the story.  The reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not?

d)  Falling action - The events and complications begin to resolve them.  The reader knows what has happened next and if the conflict was resolved or not (events between climax and denouement).

e)  Denouement - This is the final outcome or untangling of events in the story.

Plot

Test

Plot
By Cindy Grigg                               

¹     Plot is the series of events that happen in a story that create conflict. Plot is the result of choices made by the characters. The characters of a story take action (or don't) and events happen as a result of the action or inaction. The search for a murderer is a plot. Surviving a fire, flood, earthquake, or other natural disaster is a plot. The plot is sometimes called the spine of the story. The plot is the action, while the story is the emotions associated with the action.

²     A good story is like a tasty soup. It follows a recipe using a handful of ingredients that all blend together. A plot has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning is short, introducing the characters and the plot. Every story is about a character with a problem. Characters who are happy, content, and have achieved their goals are not very interesting characters to read about. The people we love to read about are in trouble.

³     The middle is full of plot twists, events, and their consequences. The middle ends with a climactic showdown- the climax of the story. There is a resolution. Usually the resolution is more about the internal growth of a character. It may be a battle between the protagonist (the main character) and the antagonist (the "villain"), but the battle forces the protagonist to prove that he or she has overcome his/her personal weaknesses. The resolution is as much about this internal growth of a character as it is about the external victory over the antagonist.

⁴     The end of a story is like a new beginning after the action is over. In the last page or two, there is a hint of the future for the characters. This lets readers imagine what they would like to happen to these characters. A good writer leaves a question or two unanswered without undoing the story. The ending happens quickly. This leaves the reader exhilarated, like riding a roller coaster with a steep drop. The story may end "happily ever after," but a good story will leave the reader thinking about different possibilities for these characters' future.

⁵     There are usually just two ways authors choose to advance their plot. These two ways are character-driven or event-driven. A character-driven plot depends on the actions and emotions of the characters. The decisions a character makes cause chain reactions of events and conflict. The events are triggered by the characters in a story.

⁶     Other authors rely on external events to advance their plot. An event-driven story relies on external events that may be natural or human-caused events, as long as the human is not a major character in the story. A story about surviving a natural disaster is an event-driven story. Often the characters can only react to the events; they do not cause them. A story about a war may be driven by human-caused events, but the humans that caused them are not characters in the story.

⁷     Some authors plot their plots - they list plot events in order like a timeline before they begin to write their story. In the beginning, the author will introduce the characters and give a short description of the setting. Then, there is a catalyst- the problem the main character encounters that launches the action. For some reason, the character is starting to lose control. The catalyst starts the action; it is not the "big event" in the story.

⁸     The big event introduces the story's main conflict and establishes the story's direction. The big event begins in the middle section of the story. It might be a murderer daring the detective to solve the case. In a love story such as Romeo and Juliet, it might be finding out the "perfect" person comes from the wrong family.

⁹     Then there is a revelation. Sometimes this is called the "pinch." The pinch usually happens in the middle of a story. The main character decides on a course of action, learning about himself along the way. He then reaches a point of no return-he must continue the course of action. This leads to the crisis.

¹⁰     The crisis is the worst part of the story. It may seem that all is lost for the main character. He may experience doubt and fear. He may experience a crisis of faith-doubting himself and his victory. A great story has the reader wondering if the character will rise to the challenge. If there is no doubt, there is no story.

¹¹     Up to this point, the action has kept building and building. The problem is getting worse and worse. The characters should always be involved in trying to solve the problem. Then comes the climax - a point of high tension and drama. There is more action and drama than the big event. The crisis is solved (or not) based on the climax.

¹²     Now the action is falling instead of rising - coming to its inevitable end- the resolution. Loose ends are tied up. Winners and losers are known. The action is fast-paced, but short. There are new insights for the characters. The resolution is usually more about the internal growth of the character, not the outcome of his victory. If the story is centered on a problem, then the story is resolved naturally when the problem is solved. The focus is how the character changed through this process.

 

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