Minute Mystery Sequence
Mr. Glen Dawursk, Jr.
www.mrdclassroom.com
Assignment
 Two
Minute Mystery
Descriptive Essay

For our mystery unit, you are required to
write a “2 Minute Mystery” following the
format of those we have read and
analyzed in class.
Mystery Assignment

Use the title “The Case of ……”

Include clues and dialogue between characters.

Use plenty of descriptive words.

Be sure that it can be easily read in two minutes.

This means that is should be no longer than one page TYPED
(word-processed), about 500 words.

The mystery plot should end with the detective
(you) making an accusation followed by a
question to the reader.

After the question, put the solution to the mystery
at the bottom of the paper under the heading:
“The Solution”
Mystery Assignment Hand-in

YOU MUST DO BOTH to receive
credit for the assignment!

Double-space type your mystery and
print a copy to hand-in on the due date,
and e-mail it to mystery@yuthguy.com.

Save your document file name as follows:
“period number – your last name.doc”
Example:
1-dawursk.doc
Mystery: Plot
 2-Minute
Plot
The sequence of action
 The events which tell what
happens in your mystery.
 Whatever the characters do
or did
 Your mystery should answer
who, what, where, when
and why.

Mystery: Structure

2-Minute Structure


The framework that
determines how a
story is put together;
its “skeleton.”
The structure of a
“two-minute mystery”
like many short stories
includes five basic
elements.
Mystery: Plot Elements
 The
five main elements of any
Mystery plot are:
 Exposition (introduction)
1/5
3/5
1/5
 Inciting
Moment (Initial Complication)
 Rising action (mini-complications)
 Climax (crisis)
 Denouement (resolution)
Mystery: Plot Diagram
CLIMAX
ARISING
visual
representation
ACTION
of the Mystery
plot
EXPOSITION
INCITING
DENOUEMENT
MOMENT
Mystery: Plot Diagram
CLIMAX
DENOUEMENT
RISING
ACTION
EXPOSITION
INCITING MOMENT
Mystery: Exposition
 Exposition
is your Introduction

Usually one very descriptive sentence
which simply tells when and/or where

Example: “It was a dark, rainy
night in a town that never
sleeps, when suddenly…”
Mystery: Setting
 Setting

Environment in which the story takes place.
Most
of the setting will be given
after the crime scene has been
introduced.




Location; place
Date; time
Specific situation
Historical context
Mystery: Plot Diagram
CLIMAX
DENOUEMENT
RISING
ACTION
EXPOSITION
INCITING MOMENT
Mystery: Inciting Moment

Inciting Moment


The start of the conflict
and usually the
beginning of
rising action
Conflict is the actual
crime!
The Conflict

There is only ONE conflict in a two-minute
mystery; something illegal has just
happened or was just discovered.

Examples:

I received a call from Margret Smith; there had been a
murder outside her East condo.

I heard a knock at my door; it was Officer Jones informing
me that the First Bank on Wells Street had just been
robbed.

The detective received an urgent text stating that he was
needed at Schmitty’s Bar on Edge Street as there was a
dead body found in the dumpster.
Mystery: Plot Diagram
CLIMAX
DENOUEMENT
RISING
ACTION
EXPOSITION
INCITING MOMENT
Mystery: Exposition
 Additional
exposition is given
AFTER the inciting moment in a
minute mystery.





Location; place
Date; time
Specific situation
Historical context
Details are essential.
Mystery: Characters
 Characters
 The
individuals in the story.
 This includes the
victim, witnesses,
and the accused.
 This will be the bulk of your mystery:
3/5th of story.
 Use dialog to give character attitude,
misleading evidence and other clues.
Mystery: Protagonist
Protagonist
 The
main or central
character in the
story…is the
detective, possibly
“you” representing
the victim.
Mystery: Antagonist
Antagonist
 The
adversary of the
protagonist
 The individual(s) who
did the crime being
investigated
Mystery: Rising Action
 Rising
 The
Action
part of the story usually
after the inciting moment
where we are given the bulk
of the clues, character
descriptions, crime scene
information and additional
information.
Mystery: Plot Diagram
CLIMAX
DENOUEMENT
RISING
ACTION
EXPOSITION
INCITING MOMENT
Mystery: Climax
 Climax
Where the detective says
“You did it” and then the
narration is followed with a
question to the reader.
 Question example:
Who did it and why?

Mystery: Plot Diagram
CLIMAX
DENOUEMENT
RISING
ACTION
EXPOSITION
INCITING MOMENT
Mystery: Denouement

Denouement




French for “the
tying of ends.”
Also called the resolution
to the story.
Comes after the climax to
bring aspects of the plot to
a close.
Give the SOLUTION to the
mystery
Mystery: Plot Diagram
CLIMAX
ARISING
visual
representation
ACTION
of the Mystery
plot
EXPOSITION
INCITING
DENOUEMENT
MOMENT
Two-Minute Mystery
Mr. Glen Dawursk, Jr.
www.mrdclassroom.com