Plots and Emplotment

Typical narrative structure

• A wide variety of narratives can be said to follow a basic structure, as outlined by Freitag

Freitag’s Pyramid/Triangle

Exposition

• At the outset, the audience member is provided with information necessary to make sense of the narrative– The amount of information provided varies widely

• Backstory

– The means by which it is provided varies widely

Conditions at the outset

• The conditions at the outset of a narrative usually depict some form of equilibrium or continuing conditions– Often a peaceful, happy condition exists

Then something happens

– The situation is disturbed by• An act of a character

• An event outside the control of any character

• Recognition of a “lack” by a character (usually a main character)

– The disturbance sets up some form of conflict and sets in motion the set of actions that make up the plot

Rising action

• A series of conflicts that become more intense as the story progresses is presented– There may be rises and falls in intensity, but the

overall trend is upward

– The individual events usually are linked to the main storyline in some way

Rising action often includes individual subplots/conflicts

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Climax

• Some major confrontation, conflict or turning point marks the climax– Good guy battles bad guy to the death

– Wife finds out that husband has been having an affair and confronts him with it

– Kid takes math test

– Lawyers finish making their cases and the jury decides

Falling action

• The intensity of conflict often falls off fairly quickly after the climax but rarely is the climax the very end of the narrative

• There are sometimes continuing conflicts or questions of one sort or another

Resolution/denouement

• Any remaining questions are answered– The detective tells the former suspect why the real

criminal committed the crime

• The situation has changed and a new equilibrium is in place

You can think of characters traveling a road from the beginning to some end

• It takes time

• It happens in some place

• Things that happen early in the journey influence those that happen later

• The actions of the characters reflect their personalities

• They reach their destination, usually changed in some manner by the experience

Making some distinctions

• Story—the events and actions occurring over time, relating to characters

• Plot—the actions, events, effects as presented within the narrative – may be out of sequence, may not include important

parts of the story, etc.

• Diegesis—the ‘story world’ that the plot takes place in and that the characters live within

Plots

• Plots are the events and actions, related causally, that move the story forward

• Plots range from very simple to extremely complex

• Many narratives have a number of subplots tied to the main plot– Conclusion of a subplot may move the character(s)

forward in the overarching main plot

Multiple plots• More complicated plots often include a number of

subplots

• Series, especially television series, will often have plots of varied significance going on at the same time, some beginning, some continuing and some ending– “story arcs”

Conflict

• Plots are driven by conflict– Protagonist v. antagonist

• High Noon

– Humans against nature• Jurassic Park

– Humans fighting themselves (internal demons)• A Beautiful Mind

– Humans against the supernatural• Poltergeist

– And so on

Motive

• Conflict is based on the motive of the protagonist– Seeking something

– Often generated through actions of the antagonist or by changes in circumstance

– Sharpest conflict is generated by incompatible motives among main characters

• Antagonist has a motive that directly opposes that of the protagonist

• Multiple protagonists with incompatible motives – It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World

Causal chain

• Many real-life events cannot be explained as the consequence of some earlier action, but in narrative most events are clearly linked to earlier events or actions– “If it had not been for X, Y wouldn’t have

happened”• Often these events are ‘fortuitous’

Variation by medium

• Film– The plot unfolds in a rather gradual, upward spiral

with varying amounts of ups and downs depending on the particular story

– Comes to a close at the end of the movie• Television

– The plot unfolds in pulses with highpoints immediately preceding commercials and minor conclusions to each pulse following the break

– The end of the episode may not lead to a conclusion of the plot or may only answer a single subplot

• The Amazing Race

Genre

• The standard plots of various genres are well-known

• When working within a genre, deviating too significantly from the classic plot will often lead to dissatisfaction among the dedicated audience– Especially true in TV series

• However, too strict an adherence to the traditional plot for a given genre leads to audience disinterest– Some amount of creativity is appreciated

Romantic comedy

• Boy meets girl

• Boy loses girl– Alternative: Girl doesn’t like boy

• Boy gets girl– In classic style, marriage is the outcome

Detective story

• Client comes to detective, asks for help

• Detective takes case, is opposed by antagonist/criminal

• Detective investigates, meets and overcomes obstacles, solves crime

• Antagonist is killed/goes to jail

• If client was female, may end up with detective– Gender reversal is rare

A good plot

• Is based on significant conflict

A good plot

• Holds together—it doesn’t seem implausible– What is acceptable depends upon the genre

• In a fantasy, you can present actions and events that are consistent with the plot that would be inappropriate to other genres

– Stardust

A good plot

• Draws upon feelings/experiences the audience members bring to the text– Chariots of Fire

A good plot

• Is consistent with the characterization– In TV series, for example, the characters have

established a personality that the audience understands and expects to be consistent

• Acting out of character could be considered a form of implausibility

A good plot

• Alternates action and rest/thought, etc. – Though the general trend is toward more intense

action and quickened pacing, the inclusion of subplots, minor conflicts, etc. keep the audience interested as the story progresses

A good plot

• Does not answer the ‘enigma’ too quickly– The audience member should not be certain of how

things are going to turn out until after the climax

– While some narratives begin with the conclusion, there is still some question as to how things led to that particular outcome

• American Beauty

• Sunset Boulevard

A good plot

• Is neither so simple that audience members know what will happen far in advance nor so complicated that the audience cannot follow the logic– Audience members should be able to make

plausible predictions for most, but not all, events/actions/effects

Audience reactions that enhance enjoyment

• Suspense• Effects of an action/event must not be revealed

too quickly

• Surprise• Audience members must not be able to predict

all actions and outcomes– Plot twists

A good plot

• Leads to an appropriate conclusion– Most endings are “happy”

– Unhappy endings usually come from behavior that is immoral or stupid

• Bad things happening to good people for no reason leaves a bad taste in the mouth of the audience member

• When good people meet bad ends, it is usually in the name of some higher good

Zillman’s model

Plot holes

• “A plot hole, or plothole, is a gap or inconsistency in a storyline that goes against the flow of logic established by the story's plot, or constitutes a blatant omission of relevant information regarding the plot. These include such things as unlikely behaviour or actions of characters, illogical or impossible events, events happening for no apparent reason, or statements/events that contradict earlier events in the storyline.”– Wikipedia

• Plot holes are identified by dedicated fans and published online– http://www.moviemistakes.com/best_plothole.php

– http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PlotHole

Master Plots

• Well-known skeleton stories that can serve as the basic plot for a wide range of characters and circumstances– “Cinderella story”

Master plots(Tobias’s list)

• Quest

• Adventure

• Pursuit

• Rescue

• Escape

• The Riddle

• Rivalry

• Underdog

• Temptation

• Metamorphosis

• Transformation

• Maturation

• Love

• Forbidden Love

• Sacrifice

• Discovery

• Wretched Excess

• Vengeance

• Ascension

• Descension

Plot Devices

• A plot device is an element introduced into a story solely to advance or resolve the plot of the story. In the hands of a skilled writer, the reader or viewer will not notice that the device is a construction of the author; it will seem to follow naturally from the setting or characters in the story. A poorly-written story, on the other hand, may have such awkward or contrived plot devices that the reader has serious trouble maintaining suspension of disbelief.– Wikipedia

Instrument to make the implausible plausible

Plot devices

• A MacGuffin is an object (or character) which drives the actions of the characters, but whose actual nature is not important to the story; another object would work just as well, if the characters treated it with the same importance. – Hitchcock said that “in a thriller the MacGuffin is usually

‘the necklace’; in a spy story it is ‘the papers’ ”.• MacGuffins are frequently found in ‘quest’ fantasy

stories; the magic artifact which the hero must recover in order to save his village– The Ring of Power in Lord of the Rings would not be

MacGuffin—it is crucial to the plot.

The Statue in The Maltese Falcon

Nick Lowe’s list of plot devices

• Collect-the-Coupons plotting. Because having a small group of protagonists overcome an army of villains would be too implausible, “what you do instead is write into the scenario one or more Plot Coupons which happen to be "supernaturally" linked to the outcome of the larger action; and then all your character have to do is save up the tokens till it's time to cash them in.”

Dragonballs

Plot voucher (Nick Lowe)

• The object, typically given to the protagonist shortly before, that allows them to escape from a situation that would be otherwise impossible.

• The protagonist needs to “save the voucher and cash it in at the appropriate time.” – Most of the devices given to James Bond by Q

could fall into this category.

• Other plot devices are simply one-offs to get the protagonist to the next scene of the story. The enemy spy, who suddenly appears, defects, reveals the location of the secret headquarters and is never heard of again, would be an extreme example.

• The character becomes less of a plot device if the author gives her a back-story and a plausible motivation for defecting, and makes her an interesting character in her own right.

• Many video games rely heavily on plot devices; games often require characters to perform arbitrary tasks in order to ‘win’ the game.

• Universal Plot Generator. A Plot Generator is a device written into your scenario that will create further stories as often as required, while laying no restrictions whatever on the kind of story produced.– Red Kryptonite

Deathtrap

• An overly complicated method of killing a character, used solely to provide a means of escape– James Bond

– Superheros• Batman (TV show)

Deus ex machina

• Artificial or improbable means of resolving a story, such as having it turn out to be a dream

• The phrase has been extended to refer to any resolution to a story that does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic and is so unlikely that it challenges suspension of disbelief, allowing the author to conclude the story with an unlikely, though more palatable, ending.

Quest

• A complicated search for capture or return of some object or person – Hero myth

Quibble

• Following the exact terms of an agreement to escape what would normally be expected– Legal bargains

– Agreements in fantasy stories

• Pacts with the devil

• Clever and unusual quibbles startle and please readers, but clumsily contrived ones can seem artificial ways to escape a fictional problem.

Red Herring

John Paul McCartyMusings and Mutterings

IGN Playstation Team’s “Top 10 Overused Plot Devices”

• Secret organizations plotting conspiracies, possibly relating to world domination

• Uncovering long lost remnant of something

• Fulfilling a prophecy

• Killing the aliens

• Unlocking one’s hidden true powers, a.k.a. the chosen one

• Accidentally unleashing a terrible evil

• Must seek revenge

• World War II

• Main character with amnesia

• World ending