We usually analyze and study stories by looking at:

• The writerThe writer• The literary devices used by the The literary devices used by the

writerwriter• The characters The characters • The settingThe setting• The plot structureThe plot structure• The themesThe themes

Plot is the literary structure of a story. It shows the connections between the events and actions in a story.

Plot Structure

Types of Linear PlotsPlots can be told in

Chronological order

Flashback

In media res (in the middle of things) when the story starts in the middle of the action without exposition

Pyramid Plot Structure The most basic and

traditional form of plot is pyramid-shaped.

This structure was described first by Aristotle and in more detail by Gustav Freytag.

Aristotle’s Unified Plot

The basic pyramid-shaped plot structure was first described by Aristotle in 350 BC. Aristotle identified that each story has a beginning, middle and end. He also said that these events were connected through a chain of cause and effect.

Freytag’s Plot Structure

Freytag modified Aristotle’s plot structure by adding rising actions that lead to the climax of the story, and falling actions that lead to the resolution after the climax.

Modified Plot Structure

Freytag’s Pyramid is often extended slightly before and after the main rising and falling action. You might think of these as being the warm-up and cool-down of the story.

Plot Elements

Exposition: the start of the story; the introduction of the characters and the setting before the action starts

Rising Action: the series of events in the story that lead to the climax

Climax: the most intense moment of CONFLICT in the story

Falling Action: all of the events which follow the climax

Resolution: the end of the story; how the characters accept the new situation

Conflict Conflict is the dramatic struggle

between two forces in a story. Without conflict, there is no plot.

Types of Conflict

Human vs Nature

Human vs Society

Human vs SelfInternal Conflict

Human vs HumanInterpersonal Conflict