Narrative Structure Diagram

Exposition:
Protagonists – Our main character is Zara, who is lost within her own mind and
finds it difficult to cope with everyday life. At the beginning, she loathes herself
for the feelings she develops for her female best friend. At first she doesn’t
understand how to deal with her emotions so she tries to hide her lustful
behaviour. The audience will feel sympathy for her and how she is helpless in her
situation.

Agents of Change:
Antagonists – In opposition lie the parents of Zara who have the best interest for
their daughter; they seek help from religious sources (who are also seen as
antagonists) making the situation worse by adding complications and pressure to
Zara’s life. They are introduced half way through the film at an estimated time of
35-45 minutes in the production. The religious figures stay present for the next
half of the film and when they are not receiving screen time, they are heard in
Zara’s thoughts when she consistently questions herself and religion.

Conflict complication:
The main problems arise when Zara’s parents find out about her “sexuality
problem” by reading through her online diary via a blog found on the Internet.
The conflict then spirals further out of control when other religious adult figures
become involved with Zara’s life.

Elaboration
The story begins with Zara merely fantasizing herself with her best friend in a
sexual situation, but then as the film progresses we see her feelings are becoming
more serious and extreme, to points where she has moments of weakness and
comes very close to confessing her love. To create an emotional connection
between the audience and the ‘best friend’, we would go into detail about her
life. We would show how living in a working class environment affects her every
day life, she would be shown working to earn money and then to create
sympathy for the character we would show a few scenes where illness within her
family are made obvious, emphasising that she is working hard to earn for the
health of her family. Zara and her best friend realise that they feel the same way
for each other and decide to become more than friends, after this Zara feels
briefly happy (this can be shown in slow motion as is in “This is England”). Zara
faces her parents after they find out about her secret love affair with another
female and she is forced to deal with the hassle everyone who care for her
provide. The problems faced by Zara are rejection, physical punishments, verbal
abuse and mental pressure; she bares this all until she is at a breaking point.

Climax and resolution

The climax point is where she is in two minds, of whether she should follow the
teachings of her religion or run away and live her life the way she wants to. In the
end Zara does run away with her best friend who becomes her lover however
there are still unresolved issues and closure that she does not experience.

Coda
Though she runs away and escapes from her family, achieving her aspiration; she
still feels guilt and embarrassment towards what she has done. Despite her
wanting a fresh start, due to the way she has been brought up, her morals still
get in the way of her conscious.