Graphic. Punctuation
Phonetic Stylistic Devices
English Vocabulary
Lexical Stylistic Devices
Syntactical Stylistic Devices
Decoding Stylistics
Biographies
Guidelines
Analysis
Texts
Guidelines
Plot
The term plot refers to an author's arrangement of the events that make up a story. The plot of a work is not necessarily the same as the story. When we tell a story we generally start at the beginning and continue in a chronological order until we come to the end. Plots, however, do not always follow this pattern. Many writers choose to mix events up in order to provoke specific responses in the reader. They may, for example, start in the middle of things (in medias res) and use flashbacks or dialogue to refer to previous events.The author's choices regarding plot do not stop simply at organising the events of his tale. He must also decide when the story begins, which events should be dealt with at length, which aspects of the story can be quickly summarised and when the story should end. Time is entirely subjective. The events of several years can be condensed into a paragraph, while a complete chapter may be dedicated to a particularly significant moment. The author's aim in writing a story will direct the choices he makes, and therefore analysing these aspects of plot gives us invaluable insight into the meaning of his work.
Love stories, adventure stories, detective stories, horror stories: writers never seem to run out of ideas for stories. Although each story is unique, many of them share some basic elements.
Conflict
Conflict is the driving force behind many plots. It may come from:
• outside: the main character may be in conflict with external forces such as his family, society, physical hardship or nature;
• within: the character may be forced to make a difficult choice, or he may have to question his values and beliefs.
Suspense
Suspense is also an important element in many plots. Creating suspense generally involves denying the reader immediate access to information which is essential to the full understanding of the story. The clearest example of this can be found in detective stories, where the author does not reveal the identity of the murderer until the very last moment. Suspense is often created through the careful ordering of events in the story.
Subplot
In some stories the main plot is accompanied by a subplot - a second story that is complete in its own right. The subplot is usually linked in some way to events in the main plot and generally helps to deepen our understanding of it.
