Story versus Plot in "Terminal Avenue"

1. Story versus Plot

2. Activity: take the following plot events and arrange them
chronologically. You’ll want to look at the short story to help you figure
this out.
A. The five Peace Officers approach and then beat Wil.
B. Wil and his family are on a boat, on their way to the potlatch.
C. Peace Officers beat Wil’s father.
D. A rocket approaches a black hole.
E. Wil’s brother Kevin becomes a Peace Officer.
F. Wil begins working at Terminal Avenue (the S&M club).
G. Wil dreams of being an astronaut.
H. Wil’s father kills himself.
I. Wil gives up on his dream of being an astronaut.
J. Kevin joins the Mohawk Warriors.

4. Seriously, though: don’t just click though. Do your
best to arrange the events in their chronological
order.

6. G. Astronaut dreams.
B. Boating to
Potlatch
C. P.O. beat
Wil's father.
H. Wil's father
kills himself
I. Will gives up
his astronaut
dreams
J. Kevin:
Mohawk
Warrior.
E. Kevin: Peace
Officer
F. Terminal
Avenue.
A. P.O. beat
Wil.
A. P.O. beat Wil
B. Boating to
Potlatch
C. P.O. beat
Wil’s father
D. Rocket
approaches
black hole
E. Kevin:
Peace Officer
F. Terminal
Avenue
G. Astronaut
dreams
H. Wil's father
kills himself
I. Wil gives up
his astronaut
dreams
J. Kevin:
Mohawk
Warrior
• As we can see, the story (aka the chronological sequence of events) differs quite drastically from the plot.
• Plot
• Story: Timeline #1
• Story: Timeline #2
• The plot’s first event—the five Peace Officers approaching Wil--is last, chronologically. The story is told using a flashback
structure: it begins with Wil awaiting the Peace Officers, and as he waits, Wil thinks about his past.
• Why might Robinson have used a non-chronological plot? For example, why might she have chosen to end the story with Wil’s
memory of the potlatch?
• Likewise, how do Wil’s memories affect our understanding of the police brutality within the story? Reread page 210, paying
special attention to the exchange between Wil and his lover after he shocks her with the painstick: “She laughed, kissed him.
Rocked him and forgave him, on the evening he discovered that it wasn’t just easy to do terrible things to another person: it
could give pleasure. It could give power” (Robinson 210).
D. Rocket
approaches
black hole