2.
THE ELEMENTS OF PLOT
2.1 The Definition of Plot
Plot is the events that form a significant pattern of action with a beginning, a
middle and an end. Plot is also a literary term defined as the events that make up a
story, particularly as they relate to one another in a pattern, in a sequence, through
cause and effect, how the reader views the story, or simply by coincidence. They
move from one place or event to another in order to form a pattern, usually with
the purpose of overcoming a conflict. The plot is more formally called a narrative.
According to Perrine (1974:41) plot is the sequence of incident or events which
the story is composed and it may conclude what character says or thinks, as well
as what he does, but it leaves out a description and an analysis and concentrates
ordinarily on major happening. Plot, as a storyline made by the reader in the form
of a row of events in chronological order, and are interconnected causality in
accordance with what was happened to the perpetrators story. From the definition
above it can be concluded groove / plot is an interrelated story in chronological
order to show the intent of existing storyline.
Plot may be defined as a story’s sequence of incidents, arranged in dramatic
order. One is tempted to insert the word “chronological.” But doing so would
exclude many stories that depart from this strict ordering of events. According to
Stanton (1965:14) the plot is story that contains the sequences of events, but each
incident is only connected in cause and effect, an event which caused or led to the
occurrence of other events.
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The plot is decided by three essential elements: events, conflict, and climax.
William Kenney (1966:13) suggested, the structure of plots divided into three
parts. They are the beginning which consists of the exposition on introduction, the
middle which consists of conflict, complication and climax and the end which
converses denouement or resolution.
2.1.1 Event
An event refers to a process rather than a state of being, though this
is many times hard to discern in a text, as most sentences seem to refer to
processes. However, for an event to occur, some alteration must take
place--relying on contextual clues is crucial to determine this change.
Event in a story refers to the main things that happen in a story. If a
story is flat, we say that it had no events. Events make a story or movie
interesting, because every event has its own settings and interests.
2.1.2 Conflict
Conflict is a clash action, desire, ideas, or goals in the plot of a
story or drama. Conflict may exist between the main character and other
person or persons (man again man): between the main character and some
external force physical nature, society, or fate (man against some
destructive element in his own nature (man again himself) (Laurence
Perrine, 1988: 1408).
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2.1.3 Climax
The climax is the highest point of interest in a story. There are five
main elements to the flow of any good story: exposition, rising action,
climax, falling action and resolution. The climax is the high point of the
action, and is often a turning point in terms of plot and the story's
characters.
2.2 Parts of Plot
In any story, there are five elements that make the plot a whole and complete
body of work. Gustav Freytag considered plot a narrative structure that divides a
story into five parts, like the five acts of a play. These parts are: exposition (of the
situation), rising action (through conflict), climax (or turning point), falling
action; and resolution. These are the following definition of plot elements:
2.2.1 Exposition
The first part of a plot is the exposition. Every story must have a
beginning. The start, or exposition, is where the characters and setting are
established. During this part of the novel, the conflict or main problem is
also introduced. The exposition is the beginning of the story and it is the
place where the characters are introduced to the reader. Also in the
exposition, the setting that the story is taking place is expounded upon so
that the reader can get a mental picture of where the story is taking place.
These elements are extremely important because it contains all of the
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background information that is needed to understand the story and where
the plot is going.
The exposition introduces all of the main characters in the story. It
shows how they relate to one another, what their goals and motivations
are, and the kind of person they are. The audience may have questions
about any of these things, which get settled, but if they do have them they
are specific and well-focused questions. Most importantly, in the
exposition, the audience gets to know the main character (protagonist), and
the protagonist gets to know his or her main goal and what is at stake if he
or she fails to attain this goal and if he eventually attains this goal.
The exposition is the portion of a story that introduces important
background information to the audience; for example, information about
the setting, events occurring before the main plot, characters' back stories,
etc. Exposition can be conveyed through dialogues, flashbacks, character's
thoughts, background details, in-universe media or the narrator telling a
back-story. Alexander Bain and John Genung described exposition as one
of four rhetorical modes of discourse, along with argumentation,
description, and narration.
2.2.2 Rising Action
The second part of a plot is rising action. In this next section, the
reader has the opportunity to see where the problem or conflict arises
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within the story, as well as the tension that is a direct result of the conflict,
which includes the motivation as well as obstacles of each of the main
characters in the story.
The rising action of a plot is the series of events that build up and
create tension and suspense. This tension is a result of the basic conflict
that exists and makes the story interesting. The rising action can be
identified as the ingredients that complicate matters in a plot. We will see
rising action in any story, from a complex novel to a simple children's
story.
Rising action is the second phase in Freytag's five-phase structure. It
starts with the death of the characters or a conflict. "Conflict" in Freytag's
discussion must not be confused with "conflict" in Sir Arthur Thomas
Quiller-Couch's critical apparatus to categorize plots into types, e.g., man
vs. society. The difference is that an entire story can be discussed
according to Quiller-Couch's mode of analysis, while Freytag is talking
about the second act in a five-act play, at a time when all of the major
characters have been introduced, their motives and allegiances have been
made clear (at least for the most part), and they now begin to struggle
against one another.
2.2.3 Climax
The third part of a plot is the climax. The climax the most exciting
point and the turning point of the story. This is the part of the story that
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makes the reader want to know what is going to happen next and all of the
major action in the story comes to a head.
Every good narrative takes the reader on a journey, steadily
building the story and the reader's interest. The climax is the point during a
narrative when the action or conflict reaches its peak, and this point in the
story leads to the story's resolution. Writing a good climax requires more
than just creating an interesting conflict with lots of drama. Instead, a
climax is most exciting when the narrative has a steady, increasing conflict
or action that draws the reader in.
The point of climax is the turning point of the story, where the
main character makes the single big decision that defines the outcome of
the story and who he or she is as a person. The dramatic phase that Freytag
called the "climax" is the third of the five phases and occupies the middle
of the story. Thus "the climax" may refer to either the point of climax or to
the third phase of the drama.
2.2.4 Falling Action
The fourth part of a plot is the falling action. Falling Action is the
actions and events that immediately follow directly after the climax. At
this point in the story, this is where the problems begin to unwind.
Freytag called this phase "falling action" in the sense that the loose
ends are being tied up. However, it is often the time of greatest overall
tension, because it is the phase in which everything goes mostly wrong.
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In this phase, the villain has the upper hand. It seems that evil will
triumph. The protagonist has never been further from accomplishing the
goal. For Freytag, this is true both in tragedies and comedies, because both
of these types of plots classically show good winning over evil. The
question is which side the protagonist has put himself on, and this may not
be immediately clear to the audience.
2.2.5 Resolution
The fifth and final part of a plot is the resolution, which essentially
is the end of the story. At this point all of the problems that the characters
faced throughout the story are worked out and the story is concluded.
The resolution, also often called denouement, which is French for "to
untie" or "unraveling", is the conclusion of the story. Here, the conflicts
are resolved, all loose ends are tied up, and the story concludes with
either a happy or sad ending.
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