Plot

Plot = the main events of a novel, short story, poem or play.

What is the difference between plot and story?

A story refers to the main events as they are presented in chronological order.

A plot refers to the organization of the story events in a way that builds suspense.

Often involves the causal link between different events.

A form of strategy.

EM Forster: -“The king died and then the queen died” (story)- “The king died and then the queen died of grief” (plot — emphasis on cause and effect).

To speak about plot you need to think about 3 main areas:

1. protagonist(s)

(main character(s))These are often called the hero or the heroine. These are the characters that drive the plot.The reader often identifies with them and

follows them through the story.

These protagonists are often placed against an antagonist, or what is often called an antihero and doesn't have the heroic or noble qualities of the hero.

The plot is often based on a conflict between the protagonists and the antagonist… or fate, or society, or even himself.

Think of the movie Titanic…

Who are the characters driving the plot? (Who is / are the protagonist /s?

Rose (and Jack)

Who is the antagonist in Titanic?

Rose’s fiancéRose’s motherSocietyThe ocean

2. Unity of Action

According to Aristotle, all the events should contribute to the artistic effect of the entire story which should have a beginning, middle and end.

He calls it unity of action because his theory is that every element of a work should be so essential that if one is displaced or removed the structure would fall apart.

Consider the events in Titanic…If we didn't have the incident when Jack wins his ticket, the middle events of spitting, the flying, the love scene, or even more important, the sinking of the boat, we would not have as accurate of a picture of the two characters and their ultimate fate (Jack dies and Rose lives a full and free life).

In addition to the unity of action of the main plot, we can have subplots, or even an embedded story (A play or story within the main play or story).

For example, in Titanic there are two stories. 1. The main story is of the submarine and the

researchers looking for pieces of the Titanic and trying to solve the mystery of the missing necklace).

2. The embedded story is about Rose and Jack’s love affair which is told by Rose herself (as an old woman).

This process is also often called framing since one story frames the other.

Interesting to study the relationship between the main story and the framed story as their plots are often interconnected (as is the case of Titanic).

In Titanic :(a) the embedded story serves as a means of

solving the mystery of (b) the main story (the necklace and the "real"

events of the sinking of the Titanic). This adds suspense to what would otherwise be a very predictable story (the boat sinks – we all know what).

Other effects of subplots can be of counterpoint (contrasting idea) or parallelism, or analogy (similarities).

Sometimes a work is made up of a series of framed stories (such as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales 1387 where characters are gathered together and tell stories to each other)

We can also talk about gaps or ellipsis. This occurs when some elements in a sequence of action are omitted.

Often adds suspense because the reader has to fill in the blanks and try to guess what happened in the missing segment.

3. The Pattern of the Plot

There are two main structures that are often used in works of literature.

1. An episodic or linear structure

– in this case there are a series of events that follow each other without any real causal links. – typical of narratives involving travel from place to place (the picaresque).

2. A dramatic structure- strong links of cause and effect between the events which move towards a climax (the culminating point of the story), and then towards a denouement

Freytag’s Triangle : - In his book Technique of the Drama (1863), the German critic Gustav Freytag proposed a method of analyzing plots that can be visualized as a triangle. - Originally used to describe tragedy but now we use it to discuss fiction as well.

Interesting to compare the beginning and the end as the final state of the protagonists often shows some sort of consequence of the climax, leading to a revelation of sorts (as is the case of Rose).

Stereotyped plots- Most plots also contain a number of

stereotyped plots (detective stories, fairy tales, adventure stories –, the ex-wife murders her husband's new wife by putting poison in her lipstick, they lived happily ever after etc.).

- Often well-known by the reader and the interest is in seeing how the stereotyped plot has been presented in a new way.

IN MEDIAS RES

It is also possible for a story to begin in medias res (Latin for "in the middle of") which means to begin in the middle of the action or at the moment of climax in order to get the reader's interest, and then go back to tell the story.

Interesting to read literature and watch films while keeping the plot in mind.

Helps us realize the "strategies" behind the presentation of the story to a reader or viewer.