Plot Structure

A plot is the sequence of events that make up a story. Aristotle stated in his book The Poetics that plot structure had "a beginning, a middle and an end". It is much more than the telling of events one after another. A plot needs a motivating purpose to drive the story to its resolution, and a connection between these events.

Elements of plot structure

Gustav Freytag (1816 - 1895) was a German dramatist and novelist. He came up with the structure for the way stories are told in ancient Greek and Shakespearean drama. This analysis is known as Freytag's analysis. His analysis consisted of dividing a play into FIVE parts:

1. exposition

2. rising action

3. climax

4. falling action

5. resolution/denouement

These five elements of plot structure can differ slightly, but for the most part you will see the gradual build-up of events, the climax, followed by a resolution. Here's some information on each element and some student examples. The students used the plot structure and explained the elements using their own book.

Conflict

STUDENT OBJECTIVES

• Identify elements of setting development within multiple texts.
• Recognize picture books as model texts that exemplify multiple literary elements.
• Identify four types of conflict in literature (character vs. character, character vs. self, character vs. nature, and character vs. society).
• Apply the elements of plot development and conflict resolution to revisions of their own writing.

The students read Red Riding Hood and identified the different types of conflict in the reading.

Here are some student examples:-

Blabberize

                                                

Objective:

In this lesson, the students were given the opportunity to be imaginative and expressive through the writing of a monologue or dialogue for a book they were reading or have recently read. The objective is to promote a book they are reading using Blabberize, a program that allows people to animate photos and add audio to bring them to life. This project was used to assess their understanding of the book being read, as well as a way to promote the book.

Directions:-

Using an image of the main character from the book or the author, you will create: 1) a brief video ‘diary’ about how the character feels about an event or events from the story (no spoilers), or 2) a video from the point of view of the author thinking as he/she wrote the book.

Rubric

Here are some examples:-

Rin and Miyu

Woon Ji