Time and

Sequence
Plot
 Plot
 Is the story itself
 A series of related events, linked like
a chain.
 Each event brings us further and
further into the story.
 Conflict
 Hooks us because we care what
happens next
 Problem or struggle
 Fuel of narrative
 The greater the conflict the more we
care about the outcome.
 Two types of conflict:
External and Internal
 External  The problem/struggle
Conflict takes place between two
characters, between a
character and a group, or
between a character and
something non-human
 Internal  The problem/struggle
Conflict takes place within a
character’s mind or heart
 Elements of Plot
 Basic Situation  A.k.a: Exposition
 Opening of the
story
 When the
characters and
their conflict are
introduced
 Elements of Plot
 Complicatio  The actions the main
ns character takes to attempt
to resolve the conflict but
meets with more problems
or complications: danger,
hostility, fear, or even a
new threatening situation
 Elements of Plot
 Clima  Key scene in the story
x  Most tense or suspenseful
moment
 When our emotional
involvement is greatest
 Elements of Plot
 Resoluti  A.K.A: Denouement
on  Occurs at the end of the story
 All the struggles are over and
we know what is going to
happen to all the characters
 Elements of Plot
 Plot  A visual representation of the
Diagram elements of plot; a story map
of sorts that looks like a hill.
 Starts at the bottom with the
Basic Situation, increases with
complications towards the
highest point of interest, the
climax, and back down evening
out on the denouement.
 Class-work
 You and a partner use a plot diagram
to draw a children’s story or a fairy
tale that you both know.
 Time and Sequence
 Every work of fiction is defined by a time span,
a period of time that suits the writer’s
purpose.
 The writer has the ability to manipulate time
to cause whatever effect he/she wants for a
particular story.
 He/she has the freedom to slow down time,
skip time, fast forward time, go back in time,
or stick to real time, it is up to his/her own
creative freedom to do as he/she likes.
 Time and Sequence
 Chronological  The order in which
order events unfold in real
time
 Manipulating Time
 Authors have the opportunity to manipulate
time to control our, the readers, emotions.
 This is most commonly done in instances that
the author wishes the reader to feel suspense.
 To create suspense in the reader an author will
slow down time to emphasize a moment of
danger, or skip over events that would slow
down the storyline.
 Playing with Time
 Flashba  An interruption in the flow of
ck events to present an episode
from the past.
 This technique is used to
provide the readers with
necessary background
information to achieve greater
understanding of a situation or
even a character.
 Playing with Time
 Flash-  Writers may also play with
forward time by jumping ahead days
or years into the future by
using this technique.
 Sometimes the story will go
forward in this new time
other times it will go back to
the original storyline.
 Playing with time
 Foreshado  The technique writers use to
wing bring the future into the
present.
 Hints or clues the writer
suggests leading the reader to
what is to come in the story.
 This keeps the reader guessing
and interested in the storyline
by feeling involved.
 Class-work
 Include an original flashback that is
not in the story that could occur in
the tale.
 VOCABULARY
 RECEDING
 DISARMING
 PROLONGED
 IMPRUDENT
 SURMOUNTED
 UNRUFFLED
 INVARIABLE
 DIVERTING
 IMPULSE
 PROTRUDING
 KEY DETAILS
 Rainsford, a big-  PLOT IMPRESSIONS
game hunter
 Man overboard
 Ship-trap island
 General Zaroff,
another hunter
 Fierce dogs
 A trap