Why is plot important in literature

Plot motivates characters to affect the story. The plot feeds back on itself. Plot connects events for the reader. Plot gives flow and purpose to the story, a sense of continuity. This can make the story seem more plausible, because the reader feels that events are connected, causally or thematically, and not just random or contrived occurrences. Plot starts the story with a bang.

That is, conflict promises change, and the plot begins as soon as you promise the first compelling change. Ideally, you should do this in the first sentence. Grab your reader right out of the gate.

Plot engages in the middle of the story. Not just in the exciting beginning and satisfying end. If starting with a bang grabs your reader, what comes after drags him along. Because a compelling plot piles conflict upon conflict, change upon change.

It creates tension and a desire in the reader to know what happens next. Plot reveals the story gradually. Since a compelling plot represents a series of changing conflicts, the story develops from beginning to end. This provides motion and direction, a sense that the story is going somewhere.

Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy. What Is Plot? Table of Contents. What is plot for? ACT 1. ACT 2. ACT 3. ACT 4. Overcoming The Monster. Anticipation to action: people become aware of the monster.

Hero's call: The hero has to face the monster. A Dream: All seems well as the hero prepares to do battle. Frustration: the hero is outmatched by the monster. Nightmare: The final battle - seems the hero will lose. Rags To Riches. Hero poor, wretched and very unhappy. Unforeseen event calls hero into world outside his own. Hero's inital success, better status and meets his love.

Central crisis - all goes wrong. Hero loses his love. Hero finds hie true internal strength and defeats the villain. Hero wins back his love and enjoys higher status and happiness. The Quest. Story begins in horrible dystopian city - life is bad. Hero has vision - key to better life can be found far away. Hero travels to goal, ,meets helpers, monsters and challenges, each worse than the last.

At this point, we've watched the main character confront the action or conflict, and now something major has to come to a head. Perhaps Fiona makes a new acquaintance who takes on a motherly role, reducing those feelings of doubt about moving so far away from home.

Perhaps she submits the revised version of her book and it's accepted. Maybe she tells the devilish lad she's not interested so she can focus on her work. Just as there are many avenues for action and conflict, there are many ways to bring a story to a climax.

This will be the moment that stirs up the strongest sense of emotion in the reader. Fiona and her new motherly acquaintance might have settled into a steady rhythm of Sunday dinners by now. As for her book, maybe the only thing she's waiting for is the advanced copy. Perhaps the devilish lad has come back around and they're in a steady relationship. In any story, it's important to conclude with a solid resolution, sometimes called the denouement. Here, we learn of the final outcome of the tale.

Short stories , in particular, need a defined ending. Books, however, can remain somewhat open-ended. But, you must bring the story to a close with either a tragic or a happy ending. Perhaps Fiona is purchasing a crumbling mansion in Ireland with the royalties from her book.

Or, maybe she'll move back to her home country, cherishing her Irish adventure for what it was. Either way, readers want to experience some sort of finite conclusion, or resolution. Below, you'll find a downloadable PDF document that you can print off, either for yourself or for your students. The "story tree" is a great way to visualize the different elements of a story's plot. In general, the plot of a literary work is determined by the kind of story the writer intends to tell.

Some elements that influence plot are genre , setting , characters, dramatic situation, theme , etc. However, there are seven basic, common examples of plot types:.

Though this principle may seem obvious to modern readers, in his work Poetics , Aristotle first developed the formula for plot structure as three parts: beginning, middle, and end. Each of these parts is purposeful, integral, and challenging for writers. Freytag added two components: rising action and falling action. Plot and narrative are both literary devices that are often used interchangeably.