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 wellknown
• 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/Plot
Hole
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)
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Quest
Adventure
Pursuit
Rescue
Escape
The Riddle
Rivalry
Underdog
Temptation
Metamorphosis
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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 McCarty
Musings and Mutterings
IGN Playstation Team’s “Top 10
Overused Plot Devices”
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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