PLOT Don’t keep me in suspense-tell me about it!

So What Is Plot Anyway?  PLOT is the sequence of events that hold a story together  It is the way in which the action of a story unfolds  Basically, it’s everything that happens between “Once upon a time” and “Happily ever after”

The Building Blocks of Plot  A typical plot has four parts  1. Exposition (sometimes called the basic situation)  2. Rising Action (sometimes called complications  3. Climax  4. Resolution (sometimes called falling action or denouement)

Exposition  Any background information that the reader is given regarding main conflict, characters, setting, plot, etc.  The beginning of the story usually provides a lot of exposition because the author is setting up the story.  However, exposition doesn’t only show up at the beginning of a story. It can be found at any point in the story depending on how the author decides to reveal background information  Let’s Discuss: Why might an author choose NOT to reveal a lot of background information at the beginning of a story?

Rising Action: Complications of the main conflict  This is the action that complicates the main conflict and/or main character’s ability to resolve his main conflict  These complications are sometimes called “obstacles”  These complications often involve an antagonist to the main character  Sometimes authors choose to create entire subplots in order to complicate the main conflict

Climax  The point at which you see how the main conflict will be resolved  THIS IS THE DEFINITION YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR THIS CLASS!  This means first you need to determine the main conflict, right?

Falling Action  This is the last part of a basic plot  It is where things are either “all wrapped up” or left “unwrapped” if the author wants to leave you hanging  Falling action is sometimes called resolution but, not all stories are completely resolved  You want to feel really smart? Use the fancy French word for falling action: denouement. It’ll impress your friends and the guys/ladies.

The Plot Structure

Class Activity  Plot mini cartoon

Homework 1. Read the short story “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty 2. Map out the plot of “The Sniper” on the given worksheet