1. Introduction to Plot

2. General Ideas Plot: sequence of events or actions in a story Conflict: struggle between opposing forces Suspense: pleasurable anxiety experienced by reader while plot unfolds

3. Conflict Internal conflict Ex: I struggled mightily to resist the urge to yawn in class, but I finally succumbed. External conflict Ex: When I went to get my yellow ball from the neighbor’s yard, I was attacked by his pit bull.

4. Opposing Forces Nature Society Fate Individuals Fear Personal weakness

5. Plot Elements Exposition: introductory material and background information Complication: onset and development of the major conflict Climax: moment of greatest tension at which the outcome is to be decided Resolution: ending when all the basic questions are answered

6. Sample Plot There was a prince who fell in love with a beautiful maiden. But a troll took her prisoner. The prince fought the troll to the death, and after almost losing his life, finally killed the troll. Then the prince and maiden married and lived happily ever after.

7. Freytag’s Pyramid

8. Plot and Time Foreshadowing: hinting at what might happen later in a story Flashback: presentation of past events