Plot ppt

1. © 2013 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.
FICTION: Understanding
theText
Fiction

2. © 2013 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.
Plot
• Plot is the arrangement of the action, the
series of events recounted in the story.
• Stories can make use of flashbacks (the
dramatization of a scene that happened
before the fictional present) or
flashforwards (projections into the future).
• foreshadowing
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3. © 2013 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.
Plot cont’d
• Plots usually involve at least one conflict (a
struggle of some sort) and its resolution.
Conflicts can be external (one character’s
conflict with another character or with an
outside force) or internal (within a
character).
• Pacing
• Generally, plot follows a five-part pattern:
exposition, rising action, turning point (or
climax), falling action, and conclusion.
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4. © 2013 W. W. Norton Co., Inc. 4

5. © 2013 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.
Plot
• The exposition introduces the characters, their
situations, and, usually, a time and place, giving us
all the basic information we need to understand
what is to come.
• The rising action involves the narration of inciting
incidents, or destabilizing events, that break the
routine and intensify the conflict.
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6. © 2013 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.
Plot
• The third part of a story is the turning point
or climax, when the incidents and the
conflicts they introduce converge on a
decisive moment, realization, or action.
• falling action – brings a release of
emotional tension and moves us toward the
resolution of the conflict(s)
• conclusion – presents us with a new and at
least somewhat stable situation – one that
gives a sense of closure 6

7. © 2013 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.
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