Conversations in 20th Century Literature

Plot, Plot line, and Plot Structure

Plot and Plotline

Plot is the arrangement of events in a story so that there is a beginning, middle, and end. It is
through the progression of events that characters’ experiments in living prove to be wise or
worthless. Changing circumstances in a story make us feel happy, sad, fearful, angry, or hopeful.
The on going stream of events keeps us in suspense. Without this action there is no story.

A plotline (storyline or plot structure) is the progression of actions and events, directed in a
definite route towards a particular end, which make up the beginning, middle, and end of a story.

Any story may include multiple plotlines, like strands in a braid of hair. In Jane Austen’s Pride
and Prejudice you could argue that there is a “Darcy and Lizzy” plotline as well as a “Bingley
and Jane” plotline.

Note: There isn’t a universal set terms to describe the different kinds of plots. The curriculum I
use invented some names to describe the different kinds of plots. We will use these terms so that
we have references as we talk about them. What is more important for you to learn is what each
one means. When you are in a college class or a book discussion later in life other people
probably won’t recognize these terms but if you know what they mean you will be able to discuss
the plots intelligently with anyone. Since the literary world is subjective, it is worth stressing to
yourself, when studying plots, that there is no single “right way” of describing them. Some
literary analysts like to focus on contrasting events in plots; others look for central points of
tension or conflict; and still others seek to describe plot in terms of its effect on characters (e.g.,
the plot of the parable of the prodigal son might be described as “the responses of two rebellious
sons.” The rule of thumb for plot studies, therefore, is simply to pay attention to the progression
of events so this is the plot structure we will learn first. It can also be used as a tool when studying
other structures.

1 www.alident.org
 Conversations in 20th Century Literature
Plot, Plot line, and Plot Structure
Progression (Dramatic) Plot – An extremely common method of tracing a plotline. Progression
plot method organizes events into a roughly bell-shaped curve with a climax at the top. The
progression of events is made up of seven distinct phases. In its simplest form, the progression
plot has only three phases: rising action, climax, and falling action. When working out the plotline
of complex literature it is easier to use all seven phases.

Exposition
In the words of Leland Ryken, the exposition of a plot is the “opening phase of a story in which
the writer presents the background information that the reader needs in order to understand the
plot that will subsequently unfold” (Words of Delight 514). The exposition usually occurs during
the first couple of chapters or scenes of a story, narrative poem, or play.

Inciting Moment
This is the part of the action in which an inciting force triggers a reaction (usually from a
character) that turns the opening situation into a particular set of events moving towards a climax
and resolution. You can usually spot it in a play by looking for the moment when the original
situation changes.

Rising Action
This is the part of the plot where the action is progressing from the inciting moment towards the
turning point, usually with increasing suspense and complexity.

Turning Point
This is the point at which the story turns towards what will be its final conclusion. A turning point
can often only be recognized after the reader has finished the story, so if you are looking for it,
ask yourself, “At what point in the play is a revelation made or an action committed that set the
plot on the path to its climax?”

Further Complication
This is the part of the plot which falls between the turning point and the climax, in which
suspense is continued and the action advances towards its conclusion, which usually involves
further complexity.

Climax
This is the moment(s) or event(s) towards which the plot of the story has been building and from
which it falls away into lesser significance. The climax is almost always tied to the themes of the
story and is usually the moment or event in which the conflict is resolved. Usually there is one
main climax in a story, even if it has multiple plots.

Denouement
Denouement, a French word (pronounced “dey-noo-MAH”), is used to denote the last phase of a
story, the one that follows the climax. During this phase any leftover concerns are resolved into a
final conclusion.

2 www.alident.org
 Conversations in 20th Century Literature
Plot, Plot line, and Plot Structure
Other Plot Structures
Pattern Plot
Pattern is an arrangement of parts in such a way that they form a recognizable unit or a series of units.
Homer’s Odyssey is a good example.

Proliferation Plot
To “proliferate” is to grow by multiplying parts. Proliferation plots grow to sometimes enormous lengths
by multiplying episodes. Examples are: English Edmund Spenser (The Faerie Queene),
the Italian Ariosto (Orlando Furioso), and the Spanish Miguel Cervantes (Don Quixote).

Perspective Plot
A perspective plot is a relatively recent invention in which events are told and sometimes retold from the
perspectives of various characters. William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, is a famous twentieth-
century novel which uses four different narrators to relate events in the life of a single family from very
different perspectives.

Tragic Plot
A tragic plot traces the catastrophe and downfall caused by the main character’s wrong choice. The shape
of the plot can be described as a downward slant: \. The story of tragic plots proceeds from well-being to
misery. This choice initiates the six phases of the tragic plot, moving from choice to ruin.
They are as follows:
Dilemma: A situation which forces the tragic hero to make a moral choice
Moral Choice: The choice that the tragic hero makes, which is a wrong choice (often influenced
by the hero’s tragic flaw or simply by pride). This choice brings about his downfall. It is his
“missing of the mark.”
Catastrophe: The tragic hero’s life collapses in catastrophe as a result of his wrong moral choice,
often dragging down those close to him as well.
Suffering: The tragic hero, and often those close to him, suffer as a result of his moral choice and
catastrophe.
Perception: The hero experiences “insight into what went wrong … and/or an awareness of what
[he] … lost by his “missing of the mark” (Ryken 145). His recognition occurs at a moment when it
is too late for the character to turn or escape the final outcome, either because he cannot or will
not. Most tragedies end with the death of the tragic hero. If the hero does not die, he nevertheless
experiences intense anguish—usually greater than his former suffering—because he now
perceives what brought about his downfall.
.
Comic Plot
A comedy usually progresses from a comfortable or hopeful situation through difficulties to a happy
ending for the sympathetic character(s). Leland Ryken describes it as a U-shaped plot (Words of Delight
49). Main characters in comedies often make mistakes or sin. The mistake or sin doesn’t end in death but
instead it may lead to wisdom and growth in virtue. The plot of a comedy most often involves a
community (a family, group of friends, town, etc.), and is arranged so that their happiness is in some way
broken before or during the beginning of the action and then restored by the end of the play.

3 www.alident.org