1. Plot Structure!

2. Events in the story (story line)
Plot
Events in the story (story line)
Climax
Rising Action
Falling Action
Resolution
Exposition

3. Exposition
Introduces characters and introduces conflict

4. Setting
Time and place
Can create the conflict, atmosphere, mood of the story

5. Characterization The way an author reveals a character’s personality
By telling us directly
By describing how they look
By what they character says
By revealing the character’s thoughts
By the way others react or feel about him/her
By the character’s actions

6. Complication/ Rising Action
Obstacles that the character(s) face as the story progresses; all the actions that take place before the climax

7. Conflicts
Internal Conflict- character struggles mentally to resolve an issue with their individual needs, desires, or emotions
External Conflict- character struggles against outside forces:
* Person vs. Person
* Person vs. Society
* Person vs. Nature

8. Turning Point/ Climax
Climax- Outcome of conflict that is about to happen (turning point of the story).

9. Falling Action
All the actions that take place after the turning point/crisis/climax:
leads to the final resolution of the conflict (can be happy or unhappy)

10. Resolution/ Denouement
When the story’s problems are resolved (happy or unhappy) and the story comes to an end

11. Other components to Plot…
Imagery
Cause/Effect
Tone

12. Imagery
The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, thing, place or experience.

13. Cause and Effect Cause is why something happens
Effect is the result of some event or action
Understanding cause/effect can help you understand what happens in the plot, and why it happens
*as you read “The Bass, the River and Sheila Mant,” think about the causes behind the narrator’s behavior. Think about the effects of Sheila’s words and actions.

14. Tone
Attitude the writer takes toward the subject of the work, the characters in it, or the audience
writers try to manipulate language to achieve a certain effect
Single word examples: solemn, playful, sarcastic, ironic, critical, reverent (respectful), irreverent (disrespectful), philosophical (truth-seeking)