PLOT CONVENTIONS

NARRATIVE CONVENTION- REFERS TO THE ELEMENTS AND TECHNIQUES

THAT THE WRITER USES TO GIVE MEANING TO HIS/HER STORIES.

CONVENTIONS CAN ALSO BE DEFINED AS HOW THINGS ARE DONE OR

DELIVERED.

PLOT- IS ONE OF THE PRIMARY CONVENTIONS ALONG WITH THE SETTINGS,

CHARACTERS AND POINT OF VIEW. IT SHOWS HOW A STORY IS BEING TOLD.
TELLING A NARRATIVE USUALLY INVOLVES:

 EXPOSITION- WHICH TAKES PLACE USUALLY AT THE BEGINNING OF A

STORY WHERE SETTING AND CHARACTERS ARE ESTABLISHED
 COMPLICATION- TAKES PLACE WHEN A CHALLENGE IS INTRODUCED
USUALLY ADDRESSED TO THE PROTAGONISTS OF THE STORY.
 CLIMAX- IS THE HIGH POINT OF THE STORY WHERE THE CHALLENGE IS
PROMPTED BY THE PROTAGONIST
 FALLING OF TENSION- COMES AFTER CLIMAX WHEN THE MELLOWING
DOWN OF THE SITUATION TAKES PLACE LEAVING TO THE STORIES
RESOLUTION
 DENOUEMENT- IS WHERE RESOLUTION IS ACHIEVED THAT USUALLY
ENDS THE STORY

THERE ARE SEVERAL TECHNIQUES IN TELLING A STORY:

 BACKSTORY – IS USUALLY A BRIEF PROLOGUE SHOWING THE HISTORY

OF THE CHARACTERS AND HOW THE CURRENT SITUATION CAME
ABOUT
 CHEKHOV’S GUN- IS A TECHNIQUE IN STORY TELLING WHERE AN
OBJECT OR A DEVICE INTRODUCED EARLY IN THE STORY WILL PLAY A
SIGNIFICANT ROLE BUT IT SIGNIFICANCE WILL NOT BE REVEALED UNTIL
LATER IN THE STORY
 IN MEDIAS RES – IS A LATIN PHRASE FOR THE WORD “ IN THE MIDDLE OF
THINGS” THIS IS A TECHNIQUE FOR STORY TELLING WHERE THE STORY
BEGINS RIGHT AT THE MIDDLE OF IT, THEREFORE BY PASSING THE
EXPOSITION WHICH WILL ONLY BE FILLED IN GRADUALLY VIA
FALSHBACKS OR DIALOGUES TALKING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN THE
PAST
 NARRATIVE HOOK- PROVIDES A CATCHY OPENING OF A STORY TO KEEP
THE READER’S INTEREST AND PRUDENT TO CONTINUE READING ON
  HYPODIEGESIS- ALSO CALLED AS A STORY WITHIN A STORY. THIS IS
WHERE A STORY IS EMBEDDED IN ANOTHER STORY.
 DEUS-EX-MACHINA- IS A LATIN PHRASE FOR “GOD FROM THE MACHINE.
THIS WAY PF STORY TELLING INVOLVES UNEXPECTED EVENTS SAVE
SEEMINGLY HOPELESS SITUATION
 PLOT TWIST- IS A WAY OF STORY TELLING WHICH INTRODUCES A
RADICAL CHANGE FROM THE EXPECTED OUTCOME OF THE PLOT. ALSO
SOMETHIMES CALLED AS “SURPRISE ENDING”
 POETIC JUSTICE- TELLS ABOUT THE TRIUMPH OF GOOD AND EVIL .
GOOD CHARACTERS ARE REWARDED AND BAD CHARACTERS ARE
PUNISHED
 CLIFFHANGER- IS A NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE WHERE THE ENDING DOES
NOT LEAVE A RESOLUTIONS AND KEEPS THE READER IN SUSPENSE
 FLASHBACK- IS AN INTERJECTED SCENE IN A STORY THAT TAKE takes it
back in time from the current point in the story and often used to tell the events
that happened before another important event
 FLASHFORWARD- tells a scene that takes the narrative to a future time from the
current point of the story
 FORESHADOWING- indicates or hints something is coming in the latter part of
the story.

Point-of-view is a narrative convention which tells from whose perspective is the

story told. It may be a character, first person point-of view; third person narrator, telling
the story by an impersonal narrator not affected by story situations; and unreliable
narrator, telling the story by an insincere narrator, misleading the readers; stream of
consciousness, exposing the character’s mind to the readers through his monologue;
audience surrogate, character who expresses queries or agitations which are the same
questions that readers would ask.

Another convention is style. There are also a number of techniques under this
convention. Figures of speech like hyperbole, metonymy, euphemism, oxymoron, and
many more are style techniques. Pathos or emotional appeal is another style technique
used to inspire or pity a character.
In addition to these techniques for style are sensory detail, which forms mental
images of scenes using descriptive words; Leitwortstil, which repeats on purpose the
words that usually express a motif or theme important to the story; dramatic
visualization, which presents an object or character with much description or gestures
and dialogues making scenes vivid for the audience.

Another approach that shapes the mind of literary enthusiasts is formalism which is
also called new criticism. This uses close reading of a piece of literature. This means
that the formalists’ interpretation of a work of art is formulated by the information and
details of the piece itself. Formalists do not interpret a work based on matters that are
outside the confines of the work like history, politics, society, time or even the author.
They see it autonomously and can be gauged through internal structure and language.
Considered are form, structure, technical features as more important than the content
and context.
Formalists focus is on rhetorical and logical connections within the writing. Moreover,
formalists look into the sound and syntax of poetic language, rhyme, repetitions and
word pictures. This criticism favors medium over content. Also, this criticism
philosophically questions the method of communicating ideas and value expression. It
looks into the manipulation of language by the artist to achieve the aesthetic effect.