Plot is the organized pattern or sequence of events that make up a story.

Every plot is made

up of a series of incidents that are related to one another.
1. Exposition
This usually occurs at the beginning of a short story. Here the characters are introduced.
We also learn about the setting of the story. Most importantly, we are introduced to the main
conflict (main problem).
2. Rising Action
This part of the story begins to develop the conflict(s). A building of interest or suspense
occurs.
3. Climax
This is the turning point of the story. Usually, the main character comes face to face with a
conflict. The main character will change in some way.
4. Falling Action
All loose ends of the plot are tied up. The conflict(s) and climax are taken care of.
5. Resolution/Denouement
The story comes to a reasonable ending.

Important Terms While Analyzing Plot

Crises: The point in a story or a play in which the tension rises. There may be several crises
all of which precede the climax.
Conflict: A confrontation or a struggle between opposing characters or forces in the plot of a
narrative work that provides the element of interest in a literary work. Conflict may occur as
psychological or social. Psychological conflict occurs in one character while social conflict
occurs between two or more characters
Suspense: A state of uncertainty and curiosity as to the outcome of the plot of a literary
work. In many forms of literary suspense is used as a device to secure and maintain interest.
This device is frequently used in detective fiction or gothic novel.
Catastrophe: The conclusion of a story or a play, particularly a tragedy. The catastrophe
often involves the death of a hero, but some other tragic outcomes may also occur instead.
The term catastrophe is sometimes used to mean an unhappy ending in novels, stories or in
life.
Catharsis: It is the purgation of fear, pity or guilt that Aristotle thought the special effect of
tragedy.
Flashback: A scene inserted into a film, a novel, a story or a play showing the event which
happened at the earliest time. The device is frequently used in modern cinema or fiction.
Foreshadowing: It is a scene in a film or a narrative in a literary work showing the event
which happened later. The device is frequently used in modern cinema or fiction.
In media's res: (It means in the middle of the things in Latin) It is a common method of
beginning a story. The writer starts in the middle of the action and goes back and forth in
time between incidents.
Characters: Generally speaking, characters in a text can be rendered either as types or as
individuals.
A typified character in literature is dominated by one specific trait and is referred to as a flat
character who does not change in the course of the story or a play.
The term round character who develops and changes in the course of the narration usually
denotes a persona with more complex and differentiated features.
There is also stereotype (stock) characters who are familiar figures appearing regularly in
certain literary forms. (a wicked stepmother, a beautiful innocent girl, a good-hearted hero,
etc.)
The protagonist refers to the leading character of a literary work. If the protagonist is in
conflict with another character, the character is called the antagonist and if the antagonist is
evil, he is called the villain.
Chorus (from which Greek drama developed) was a group of dancers and singers in
religious ceremonies or festivals, especially fertility rites. Later, they took part in dramatic
performances.
The fool is a familiar character in drama who speaks wisely under the appearance of folly
and is often used as a vehicle for social satire.

Point of View: The term point of view is the position a writer assumes as she narrates or
discusses a subject.
The point of view can be reduced to three basic positions:
1) Omniscient point of view: The action of a text is either mediated through an exterior,
unspecified narrator
2) First-person narration: Through a person involved in the action
3) Figural narrative situation: Presented without additional commentary. In figurative
situations, the plot is revealed solely through the actions of the characters in the text.