The Crux of the MatterOverview of the Elements

An introduction to Plot

Why We Tell The Story

It is in human nature to make stories. When we talk about the highlights of the day,We vary in the telling.We sometimes start from the very beginning,Or at the most interesting point of our day.

FICTION

Defined as any literary narrative, whether in prose or verse, which is invented of being an account of events that have in fact happened-M.H. Abrams, The Glossary of Literary Terms

Our lives become the story that we weave.-'Why We Tell the Story' from Once on this Island

ELEMENTS OF FICTION

PLOT CONFLICT SETTING CHARACTER POINT OF VIEW SYMBOL AND IRONY THEME

WHAT IS PLOT?

According to most dictionaries, it is a plan or a scheme.

According to your high school literature classes, it is “a sequence of causally related events”.

Plot is driven by the curious question, “What happens next?”

The Classic Plot, Graphed

German Novelist and Playwright, Gustav Freytag, devised a system for

dramatic structure

Plot is defined by action, a series of events happening to the characters at work.

Whether it starts at the beginning, middle, or end, a story isn't a story unless there is logic to its telling.

Without the logic, you just have a mess of events.

Wait, there's more! 3 Types of Plot

Organic - with a clear beginning, middle and end Episodic - a series of seemingly unrelated events Static -a story without any recognizable external

action; static short stories rely on the event of an EPIPHANY – either on the part of the character, or on the part of the reader – in order for it to make sense.

Hello Plot Devices!

Exposition - How writers provide their readers with the necessary background information in their stories. It could be anything from simply describing a character or the current scene, information about the world of the story you’re reading along with its culture, customs and traditions.

Hello Plot Devices! Page 2

Beginning “in medias res” and making use of flashbacks. Most stories begin “in medias res”, or in the middle of the action, flashbacks are then used to explain what had taken place before, and sometimes end up framing what is going on now in a new light.

Foreshadowing. Authors sometimes plug in details that lead on to what happens later on in the story.

Example of In Media Res, Foreshadowing, and Flashback

Hello Plot Devices! Part 3!

Deus ex machina - (translated: “God from the machine”) – the writer relies on “divine interventions”, coincidences or chance in order to tie up loose ends in the plot or to make the plot move.

Surprise endings - unlike the DeM plots, these outcomes seem to be plausible and adequately prepared for.

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Love is why we tell the story,Faith is why we tell the story

You are why...

-Once on This Island

CREDITS

Prepared by Mia Marci, with some text by Pamela Punzalan (used with permission).

Free for non-commercial use, with due credit given.