1. Plot
Reading Standard 3.2: Identify the events that advance the plot and determine how each event explains past or present action(s) or foreshadows action(s)

2. What is plot? story’s skeleton series of related events
each growing out of another
generally 5 parts
important elements
Basic situation, 2. series of events, 3. climax, 4. resolution
Elements:
suspense: anxious curiosity that makes us continue reading; just before the climax
foreshadowing: hints or clues used by author

3. What is the purpose of plot?
make story more compelling
involves reader in story
suspense
keeps reader on edge of seat
foreshadowing
gives reader clues to future events
twists, turns, surprise endings

4. Basic Plot Parts Exposition Rising Action Climax Falling Action
Problem introduced
Rising Action
Problem gets worse
Suspense
Foreshadowing
Climax
To be continued…
Falling Action
Problem = ripples in a pond
Resolution
Finale

5. Exposition Basic situation Setting Introduces main characters
Central conflict
Setting
Introduces main characters
What they want
Potential conflicts
Central conflict: advances the story or moves it forward

6. Exposition
“Rikki-tikki had never met a live cobra before…He knew that all a grown mongoose’s business in life was to fight and eat snakes.”
“Rikki-tikki-tavi”

7. Exposition
“I’m not sure I can tell you what you want to know about my brother; but everything about the pet fox is important, so I’ll tell all that from the beginning.
It goes back to a winter afternoon after I’d hunted the woods all day for a sign of our lost pet. I remember the way my mother looked up as I came into the kitchen. Without my speaking, she knew what had happened. For six hours I had walked, reading signs, looking for a delicate print in the damp soil or even a hair that might have told of a red fox passing that way—but I had found nothing.”
“Last Cover” by Paul Annixter

8. 5 Types of Conflict
External Conflict
Man vs man
Man vs nature
Man vs fate
Internal Conflict
Man vs himself
Man vs society
“She saw herself three years later, marching for graduation, everyone taking photos, smiling, everyone happy, except she wouldn’t be because she’d remember having cheated that time back in ninth grade.”
“The Dive” by Rene Saldana Jr.

9. Rising Action Complications for main character
“Roadblocks” create struggle
Tension increases
Past events hint/foreshadow future actions

10. Rising Action
“Just then the wind rose and the Cornelius de Witt changed course, leaned to port, and headed straight for us once more.”
“Three Skeleton Key” by George G. Toudouze

11. Rising Action
“One evening he was returning home along the river path when he saw Leita in front of him, down by the water. A swan had sailed up to the verge and she had her arms round its neck and the swan’s head rested against her cheek. She was weeping, and as he came nearer he saw that tears were rolling, too, from the swan’s eyes.
“Leita, what is it?” he asked, very troubled.
“This is my sister,” she answered. “I can’t bear being separated from her.”
Now he understood that Leita was really a swan from the forest, and this made him very sad because when a human being marries a bird it always leads to sorrow.”
“The Third Wish” by Joan Aiken

12. Climax Most suspenseful Outcome of conflict decided To be continued…
Turning point
Change for main character
“Rikki-tikki shook some of the dust out of his fur and sneezed. “It is all over,” he said. “The widow will never come out again.”
“Rikki-tikki-tavi” by Rudyard Kipling

13. Falling Action Eases suspense
Tension lessons
How main character begins to resolve conflict

14. Resolution Ties up loose ends May have twist or surprise ending
“Melly could smell the sweetness of the flowers and herbs wafting from across the street. She smiled, closed her eyes, and slept.”
“The Dive” by Rene Saldana Jr.

15. Basic Plot Parts Exposition Rising Action Climax Falling Action
Problem introduced
Rising Action
Problem gets worse
Suspense
Foreshadowing
Climax
To be continued…
Falling Action
Problem = ripples in a pond
Resolution
Finale

16. Plot at a Glance