“The Sniper” Plot Map By Rachel Lewis

Climax Plot Map Rising Action Resolution Exposition

Definition: This is the beginning of the story where background information is given about the characters, conflict, and setting. Exposition “Here and there through the city, machine guns and rifles broke the silence of the night, spasmodically, like dogs barking on lone farms. Republicans and Free Staters were waging civil war. On a rooftop near O’Connell Bridge, a Republican sniper lay watching.” The story describes a Republican sniper laying on a roof in Ireland at night during the 1920s civil war.

Definition: This is where suspense is built up and complications rise up. The sniper is targeted by another and is shot in the forearm. Rising Action “Placing a cigarette between his lips, he struck a match, inhaled the smoke hurriedly, and put out the light. Almost immediately, a bullet flattened itself against the parapet4 of the roof.” “Suddenly from the opposite roof a shot rang out and the sniper dropped his rifle with a curse. The rifle clattered to the roof. The sniper thought the noise would wake the dead. He stooped to pick the rifle up. He couldn’t lift it. His forearm was dead. “I’m hit,” he muttered.” “Then round the corner of a side street came an old woman, her head covered by a tattered shawl. She began to talk to the man in the turret of the car. She was pointing to the roof where the sniper lay. An informer.”

Definition: This is the most exciting part of the evolution or result in a story. Climax The sniper comes up with a clever and successful plan to trick the other sniper into thinking he is dead so he can shoot when he is caught off guard. Then when the smoke cleared he peered across and uttered a cry of joy. His enemy had been hit. He was reeling over the parapet in his death agony.

Definition: Events after the climax when other issues are solved in a story. Resolution The sniper, after feeling deep regret from killing the other sniper, decided to give into his curiosity and find out who he had killed. When he turned over the body, it was his brother. “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face.”