In literature, a plot is all the events in a story particularly rendered towards the achievement of some particular artistic or emotional effect. In other words, it's what mostly happened in the story or novel or what the story's general theme is based on, such as the mood, characters, setting, and conflicts occurring in a story. An intricate, complicated plot is known as an imbroglio, but even the simplest statements of plot can have multiple inferences, such as with songs the ballad tradition.

Contents 1 History 2 Plot structure 2.1 Exposition 2.2 Conflict 2.3 Rising action 2.4 Climax 2.5 Falling action 2.6 Resolution 3 Plot devices 4 Plot outlines 5 Notes 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History

Aristotle used the term mythos to denote plot. In literature, mythos is a traditional or recurrent narrative theme or plot structure. The description is deceptively simple, because the actions are performed by particular characters a work and are the means by which they exhibit their moral and dispositional qualities.

The concept of plot and the associated concept of plot construction, also called emplotment, has developed considerably since Aristotle made these insightful observations. The episodic narrative tradition which Aristotle indicates has systematically been subverted over the intervening years, to the extent that the concept of beginning, middle, end are merely regarded as a conventional device when no other is at hand.

This is particularly true in the cinematic tradition, in which the folding and reversal of episodic narrative is now commonplace. Moreover, many writers and film directors, particularly those with a proclivity for the Modernist or other subsequent and derivative movements which emerged during or after the early 20th century, seem more concerned that plot is an encumbrance to their artistic medium than an assistance. Avant-garde novelist and critic Giorgio Manganelli said, "Personally, I'm interested in books that have a theme rather than a plot; which is not possible, or is excessively tough, to summarize." [1]

The plot was also believed to have been a cardboard like sheet of paper used to inform actors of the Elizabethan Period of basic stage ques while in practice, and possibly even in performances.

[edit] Plot structure

[edit] Exposition

Exposition is the beginning of the plot usually concerned with introducing characters and setting. These elements may be largely presented at the beginning of the story, or occur as a sort of incidental description throughout. Exposition may be handled in a variety of ways—perhaps a character or a set of characters explain the elements of the plot through dialogue or thought, or perhaps media such as newspaper clippings, and diaries. In the case of film, an analagous usage of television, discovered video tape, or documentary may be used.

[edit] Conflict

Conflict is a clash between two or more opposing groups, around which the plot revolves. This can take a number of basic forms, where the character may have to face themselves, another person, nature, society, a machine, or even the supernatural. The conflict, along with the exposition, often defines the genre of the story. A story's conflict may be a hybrid of these, or many concurrent conflicts: for example, the protagonist may struggle with their own thoughts while fighting someone else, or battle the nature of disease while trying to change society.

[edit] Rising action

The rising action in a work of fiction builds suspense and leads to the climax. In this part of the story, the protagonist often faces additional challenges, or learns new information or meets new people who complicate the nature of the conflict.

[edit] Climax

The climax is the high point of the story, where a culmination of events create the peak of the conflict. The climax usually features the most conflict and struggle, and usually reveals any secrets or missing points in the story. Alternatively, an anti-climax may occur, in which an expectedly difficult event is revealed to be incredibly easy or of paltry importance. Critics may also label the falling action as an anti-climax, or anti-climactic. The climax isn't always the first important scene in a story. In many stories, it is the last sentence, with no successive falling action or resolution.

[edit] Falling action

The falling action is the part of a story following the climax. This part of the story shows the result of the climax, and its effects on the characters, setting, and proceeding events. Critics may label a story with falling action as the anti-climax or anti-climactic if they feel that the falling action takes away from the power of the climax.

[edit] Resolution

Etymologically, the French word dénouement is derived from the Old French word denoer, "to untie", and from nodus, Latin for "knot". In fiction, a dénouement consists of a series of events that follow the climax, and thus serves as the conclusion of the story. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense of catharsis, or release of tension and anxiety, for the reader. Simply put, dénouement is the unraveling or untying of the complexities of a plot. Beware that not all stories have a resolution.

[edit] Plot devices

A plot device is a literary technique used by authors to create a desired effect in storytelling. An object or event is used that is used to forward the plot.

[edit] Plot outlines

A plot outline is a prose telling of a story to be turned into a screenplay. Sometimes called a one page (one page synopsis, about 1 - 3 pages). It is generally longer and more detailed than a standard synopsis (1 - 2 paragraphs), but shorter and less detailed than a treatment or a step outline. There are different ways to do these outlines and they vary in length.

In comics, an outline—often pluralised as outlines--refers to a stage in the development where the story has been broken down very loosely in a style similar to storyboarding in film development.

The pencils will be very loose (i.e., the sketch rough), the main aim being to lay out the flow of panels across a page, ensure the story successfully builds suspense and to work out points of view, camera angles and character positions within panels. This can also be referred to as a plot outline or a layout.

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

• Dramatic structure
• Narrative
• Narrative structure
• Plot hole
• Storyline
• Subplot
• The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations, which is Georges Polti's categorization of every dramatic situation that might occur in a story or performance.

[edit] References

• Obstfeld, Raymond (2002). Fiction First Aid: Instant Remedies for Novels, Stories and Scripts. Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest Books. ISBN 158297117x. 
• Polking, K (1990). Writing A to Z. Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest Books. ISBN 0898794358. 

[edit] External links

• What Exactly is a Plot? This is a simple, easy to grasp explanation.
• On Plot, a guide for constructing plots.
• 20 Basic Plots from the Tennessee Screenwriting Association.
• How to plan and organise story ideas BBC raw words guide to story writing

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