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Plot
The Chain of Events
AP English Literature
Hilltop High School
Mrs. Demangos
from Discovering Literature, Guth & Rico, 2nd ed. (111-152)
“There has to be
a tension, a
sense that
something is
imminent, that
certain things
are in relentless
motion, or else,
most often,
there simply
wont be a story.”
Raymond Carver
Eudora Welty
“A narrative line
is in its deeper
sense the tracing
out of a
meaning, and the
real continuity of
a story lies in
this probing
forward.”
E. M. Forster
A plot is a narrative
of events, the
emphasis falling on
causality. The “The
king died and then
the queen died” is
a story. “The king
died, and then the
queen died of grief”
is a plot.
 The
plot is the story line,
the sequence of actions or
events that gives direction
to the story as a whole.
 When you study plot, you
focus on what drives,
motivates, or shapes the
story.
 An effective plot pulls the
reader into the story.
Focus on Plot
Introduction of
Ask:
characters,
What
setting,
Action
background Rising information
does the
information;
writer give
opening scene
the reader at
the beginning
of the story?
Exposition
Narrative Hook
Climax
Falling Action
Cinderella lives
with herResolution
evil
stepmother
and stepsisters
and is treated
poorly.
The Narrative Hook
is the point
of
Rising Action
conflict. It is the
struggle between
opposing forces that
drives the story.
Exposition
Narrative Hook
Ask:
What
event
Climax
drew you most
as a reader?
Falling
The prince will
beAction
choosing
a bride at the upcoming
ball. However, Cinderella
has nothing to wear to the
ball and she is not allowed
to attend the ball.Resolution
Ask:Climax
What types of
conflict are present
in the story?
External?
Internal?
Falling Action
The main
Rising
Action
character faces
a
series of conflicts.
Characters are
developed and
complications
increase. As the step-family prepares for
the ball, Cinderella wishes she
Resolution
could go. Her fairy godmother
comes to her aid and makes it
Exposition
possible for her to attend, but
she must leave at midnight.
NarrativeShe
Hook dances with the prince
and it’s a magic moment.
Climax
Rising Action
At midnight Cinderella must
leave the ball so she flees from
the
palace and loses her glass
Exposition
slipper on the steps. The prince
is distraught at losing his love
and is determined
Narrative Hookto find her.
The climax is
most often
considered the
Falling
Action or
most
exciting
suspenseful part
of the story.
Resolution
Climax
The falling action deals
with events Rising
which
occur
Action
right after the climax when
the character begins to
solve the problem. These
events are usually the
after-effects of the climax.
The prince uses the slipper to
findExposition
Cinderella. He goes from
house to house trying the slipper
on every female in the land,
searching for the slipper’s perfect
Narrative Hook
fit. The slipper does not fit the
stepmother or the stepsisters.
Falling Action
The conflict
Resolution
decreases.
Often the time
of greatest
overall tension.
The conflict comes to
Climax
an end, or the
problem and/or
There is usually a
mystery
is solved.
Falling Action
release
dramatic
Rising of
Action
In this stage all
tension and anxiety
patterns of events
(also known as
accomplish artistic or
catharsis).
emotional effect.
Cinderella tries the
slipper and it fits.
Exposition and the
Cinderella
Prince are reunited,
marry, and live
happily ever
after.Hook
Narrative
Resolution
 When
tracing the plot of
a story, ask yourself:
How does the story
take shape?
2) What sets it in
motion?(catalyst)
3) What keeps it going?
4) What brings it to a
satisfying close?
1)
Tracing the plot of a story
 Look
for a situation
that has in it the
seeds of a story:
 The initial setting up or
exposition creates a
situation that has the
seed of further
developments in it.
 Ask: where might this
story be headed?
Thinking about Plot
 Perhaps
a new element
disturbs the status quo:
1)
2)
3)
A stranger arrives
An outsider marries
into the family
A distant relative
comes close
Thinking about Plot
 Size
up characters for what
they might do:
1)
2)
3)
What actions do they
seem capable of?
What events might they
precipitate?
What sets them in
motion?
Thinking about Plot
1)
2)
3)
A character with
seething resentment is a
time bomb waiting to go
off.
An accident-prone
character is “an accident
waiting to happen”.
A lonely character may
take desperate steps to
make human contact.
Thinking about Plot
 Look
for sources of conflict:
 Are rivals in love or ambition
likely to face off like the
protagonist and the
antagonist in ancient Greek
drama?
 Or a simmering conflict?
People may find themselves
at cross-purposes without
articulating loud grievances.
Thinking about Plot
Keep your eye on the central
action or progression of
events:
1) Does the story line focus on
external physical action—
quarrels, journeys, acts of
defiance, suicides?
2) The characters may have
mountains to scale or
pursuers to evade.

Thinking about Plot
Keep your eye on the central
action or progression of events:
1) Is the action of the story mainly
internal, psychological?
2) A character may experience a
change in perspective, learning
something about others.
3) A character may reach a moment
of self-realization, facing up to
something important about
himself or herself.

Thinking about Plot

Do not expect stories to follow a
standard formula:
1)
2)
There may be a loose narrative
structure, with events coming to pass in
leisurely fashion, in chronological order.
Things just seem to happen—“and then
this,” “and then that,” etc.
In other stories there may be a tight
narrative structure, with events
marching on from cause to effect. The
result is a compact, tightly plotted story.
Thinking about Plot
Do not expect stories to follow a
standard formula:
1) Flashbacks may break up the
chronological sequence of
events.
2) In a Faulkner story like “A Rose
for Emily,” you may have to
reconstruct the actual chain of
events from partial clues,
gradually filling in the missing
pieces of the puzzle.

Thinking about Plot