Plot

Basic Situation
Conflict
Complications
Climax
Resolution
Your Turn

Plot and Setting

Feature Menu
Setting
Details
Atmosphere
Conflict

Plot is the series of events in a story.
Plot answers the question What happened?
Plot

Most plots have four parts.
Plot

Basic situation
Complications
Climax
Resolution
The basic situation usually answers two questions:
The first part of the plot tells you about the storys
basic situation.
Plot
Basic Situation

Who is the main character?
What is the characters problem, or
conflict?
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A conflict is a struggle.
another character
or a situation.
Plot
Conflict

In an external conflict, a character
clashes with an outside force:
Plot
Conflict

An internal conflict is a struggle that takes place
within a character.
The character
might struggle
to overcome
fear, to exercise
self-control, or
to gain
confidence.
As the characters try to solve their problems,
complications arise.
Complications are new problems that come up.
They often make us worry about what will happen
and what a character will do.
Complications create suspense in the story.
[End of Section]
Plot
Complications
When a story reaches its climax, it has reached
its most exciting point.
At the climax, you find out how the conflict will be
resolved.
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Plot
Climax
In the final part of the plot, the resolution, the
main characters problem is resolved.
In a fairy tale . . .
the clues are
explained.
In a mystery . . .
they all live
happily ever
after.
[End of Section]
In an adventure . . .
the survivors may
be rescued.
Plot
Resolution
Quick Check
As the hot July sun slipped
below the horizon, a cooling
darkness filled Central Valley.
Lisa had just fallen asleep
when the windows of the trailer
rattled like a snake giving
warning. The trailer swayed
back and forth. Lisa could hear
the baby crying. Papa yelled,
Outside! Get out! Get out! Its
an earthquake!
Plot

1. Who do you think the
main character is?
2. What do you predict
the external conflict
will be?
Quick Check
The earth groaned, and a river of
mud slid down the canyon. The
family huddled together in the
dark.
Mama tore up a sheet to
make a sling for Papas broken
arm. Papa shined his flashlight
on the wreck that used to be the
trailer. It could explode, he
warned. Dont get any closer.
Plot

This passage takes place
a little later in the story.
3. What complications
have come up?
Quick Check
The baby kept crying. Lisas
mother said, I have nothing to
feed him. What are we going to
do?
Suddenly the earth rumbled
again. Lisa looked back at the
trailer and saw fallen electric
wires dangling all over it.
Plot

4. What new
complications have
come up?
5. What do you predict
the family will decide to
do? Why?
Quick Check
Lisa stumbled down the side
of the canyon. She could hear a
siren coming closer. The lights of
a helicopter shone on her like a
spotlight. Stop! Help us! she
cried, frantically waving her
arms. The copter drifted to the
ground.
Plot

This passage takes
place later in the story.
6. Why is this event
probably the climax of
the story?
7. Write a resolution
for this story. What
happens to the family?
to Lisa?
to the baby?
to the mother?
to Papa?
[End of Section]
The setting is where and when a storys action
takes place.
Some stories, like trickster tales, can take place
almost anywhere.
Setting

The settings may differ, but they have little effect
on each story.
Coyote
Brer Rabbit
However, in many stories, settings play an
important role.
Setting

The setting in each of these stories controls the
action. The story cant take place in another kind
of setting.
The Arctic
A rain forest
A big city
Setting and Details
Details help make the setting seem real. You can
imagine
how people live and dress
what they eat and where they work
[End of Section]
Relaxed
Somber
Creepy
Setting and Atmosphere
Writers often use setting to create an
atmosphere or mood.
[End of Section]
In some stories, characters are in conflict with their
settings:
a person marooned in a small boat in the
middle of the ocean
Setting and Conflict

animals trapped by a raging forest fire
people surviving on a cold mountain with
no food
Why do you think these kinds of settings are used
in so many movies?
[End of Section]
Setting
Quick Check
Which words in
the passage help
you imagine
where the scene
takes place?
The smell of pine made Ben dizzyor
perhaps it was the height. Either way,
he and Tara had lost the desire to chat.
Squirrels scampered and chattered
in the limbs that supported the heavy
wooden floor. Birds flew in close by to
have a look at them, and all around
them the long arms of pine trees waved
in approval of the old hideout.
Setting
Quick Check
Using the details
of this setting, tell
when the story
takes place.
With just enough kerosene to last until
the next wagon to the fort, Mama turned
down the lamp and set it on the hearth.
It was Joshs turn to poke at the coals
and make the room glow.
Jenny was outside tightening the wire
door around the henhouse. In another
week, they could fill out a form for
claiming their little part of the new
territory.
Setting
Quick Check
The elevator opened onto a dark,
narrow hallway. One after the other,
identical-looking doors lined the long
corridor.
From behind one of the doors came
a faint scratching sound. Glowing dimly,
a sign at the end of hall probably said
EXIT, but cobwebs almost completely
covered the letters.
What mood is
created by the
details of this
setting?
[End of Section]
Choose a book, movie, or other story that you know
well.
Analyze Plot and Setting
Draw a plot diagram like
the one shown here.
Add labels describing the
key parts of the storys
plot.
Your Turn
The End