Short Story Plot Notes

• Plot?
• The procession of events that unfold throughout a story
• A means of revealing character
• A beginning, a middle, and an end
• The significant acts or experiences in a story
• Basic Plot Structure
• exposition is the point in the plot where the reader learns everything he needs to know in order to understand the text
• setting and character are established here
• example-boy loves girl (now in indiana)
• conflict or inciting incident is the point when the protangonist is first introduced to a problem to solve
• example-secret rival boy causes girl to leave boy
• Rising action is the process by which the conflict develops and is usually worsened
• Example-boy's efforts to regain girl drive her into the arms of rival boy
• Climax is the turning point of the conflict in the story, the peak of suspense, the moment where everything changes
• example- boy confronts girl with the ugly truth about rival boy
• falling action is the process by which the conflict is made better
• example-girl is disgusted with both boys, but slowly allows boy to regain her trust
• resolution is point at which the problem conflict is resolved
• Example-boy gets girl back
• Types of conflict
• internal-conflicts related to character's beliefs, ideas, imagination or emotions that orgininate from inside the character
• external-conflicts related to the character's physical condition that orgininate from outside the character
• man vs man, man vs nature, man vs machine/technology, man v self, man v god, man v society, man v animal
• Plot doesnt have to be chronological
• in medias res0middle of things, begins in middle
• flashback-plot strategy in which important plot elements are learned in retrospect
• various orders of events
• begin at climax, flasahback to behin then conclude
• begin at conflict, flashback to exposition
• begin at resolution, flashback to climax or conflict or exposition
• keep important details hidden until the end, then flashback to fill them
• Good stories have multiple plots
• frame stories-stories within a story
• internal and external stories
• point of view-each charactre has his or her own plots
• subplots-plots that are of less importance but which are related to the main plot of a story

Analysis on Friends

• setting is monica and rachel's apartment
• conflict is ross is nervous for dinner and wants to go but noone will get ready
• rising action is all the arguments that arise till they get dressed to go, argument with the seat, and the message from richard, and the phoebe mess on dress, rains,took underwear
• climax is richard has a girl on his answering machine
• falling action is
• resolution is