Literary Devices: Plot

1. Plot: The particular arrangement of actions, events, and situations that unfold in a narrative. A plot is not merely the general story but the author’s artistic pattern made from the parts of the narrative including exposition, complications, climax, and denouement. It allows the audience to see the relationships between the parts and the action. Dramatic Situation: When a character is involved in some conflict. Conflict: The central struggle between two or more forces in a story. Conflict generally occurs when some thing or person prevents the protagonist from achieving his or her intended goal. Conflict is the base material out of which plots are made. Protagonist: The central character in a literary work. The protagonist usually initiates the main action of the story, often in conflict with the antagonist. Antagonist: The most significant character or force that opposes the protagonist in a narrative or drama. The antagonist may be another character, society itself, a force of nature, or even—in modern literature—conflicting impulses within the protagonist. Literary Devices: Plot

2.  Suspense: The enjoyable anxiety created in the reader by the author’s handling of the plot. Suspense results from the audience’s anticipation of how and when the character will meet his or her inevitable fate. Foreshadowing: In plot construction, the technique of arranging events and information in such a way that later events are prepared for, or shadowed, beforehand. The author may introduce certain words, images, phrases, or actions to suggest significant later events. Crisis: A moment of high tension and anxiety; often a turning point in the action which can lead to the climax of the story. Climax: The moment of greatest intensity in a story, which almost inevitably occurs towards the end of the work. It often takes the form of a conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist, and is usually followed by the conclusion or resolution. Conclusion / Resolution / Denouement: The logical end or outcome of a unified plot, shortly following the climax. The action or intrigue ends either in favor of or against the protagonist, the mystery is solved, misunderstandings are dispelled, and/or realizations are experienced. Literary Devices: Plot