Rising Action, Twist and Frame: the Elements and Types of Plot – Tradition and Modernity (Senior 4 English (Languages)) | Ganzaa

Tradition and Modernity

Lessons

Senior 4 · English (Languages)

Tradition and Modernity

5 lessons

Lesson 4 of 5

Rising Action, Twist and Frame: the Elements and Types of Plot

40 min

Let's begin

"The king died, and then the queen died" is a story. "The king died, and then the queen died of grief" is a plot. The English novelist E. M. Forster made this distinction in 1927: a story is a sequence of events in time; a plot is a sequence connected by cause. In this lesson you learn the parts of a plot, the shapes plots can take, and the devices writers use to keep readers turning pages. You will test every idea on stories you already know from Units 1 to 4.

Definition

Key terms

plot (n): the sequence of events in a story, connected by cause and effect and organised by the writer.
exposition (n): the opening, which introduces characters, setting and the situation.
inciting incident (n): the event that starts the main conflict.
rising action (n): the series of complications that increase tension.
climax (n): the turning point of highest tension, where the conflict comes to a head.
falling action (n): the events that follow from the climax.
resolution (or denouement) (n): the ending, where the conflict is settled and a new situation is established.
subplot (n): a secondary line of action that runs beside the main plot.

1 The elements of plot

The German writer Gustav Freytag described this shape in 1863 for five-act plays; it fits most stories well. Here it is applied to two stories you know.

Element	"How Much Land Does a Man Need?" (Unit 3)	"The Necklace" (Unit 3)
Exposition	Pahom, a hard-working peasant, believes only land is lacking.	Mathilde, a clerk's wife, dreams of luxury.
Inciting incident	He buys his first forty acres.	The invitation to the ball.
Rising action	Quarrels; the move beyond the Volga; news of the Bashkirs; the deal.	The dress; the borrowed necklace; the triumph at the ball.
Climax	The desperate run back to the cap at sunset.	The discovery that the necklace is lost, and the decision to hide it.
Falling action	He collapses and dies.	Ten years of labour to pay the debt.
Resolution	The servant digs a grave: six feet.	The twist: the necklace was paste.

2 Types of plot structure

Type	How events are ordered	Example you know
Linear (chronological)	from beginning to end in time order	"The Wrong Number"; "How Much Land Does a Man Need?"
In medias res	starts in the middle of the action; earlier events are filled in	"The Song of Ngunda", which opens in the seventh season of famine
Flashback / retrospective	the story jumps back, or the whole story is told looking back	Two Soils: Shema narrates from twenty years later
Frame (story within a story)	an outer story contains an inner one	"The Night the Storyteller Came": Uwase's evening frames Rugira's tale
Circular	ends where it began, with the meaning changed	"The Seat by the Window" begins and ends with a seat, now given away
Episodic	a series of loosely linked episodes, often with one hero	a collection of Bakame the hare's adventures
Parallel	two or more plot lines run side by side and connect	a novel following a grandmother in 1965 and her granddaughter today

3 Devices that drive a plot

Conflict is the engine: no conflict, no plot (Unit 2, Lesson 4).
Foreshadowing: hints of what will come. "From the far side of twenty years and a veterinary degree" tells us Shema went to school.
Suspense: the reader's anxious uncertainty about what will happen, as when Pahom runs against the setting sun.
Dramatic irony: the reader knows something a character does not.
Twist (surprise ending): an unexpected turn that changes the meaning of what came before, as in "The Necklace".
Cliffhanger: a chapter or episode that stops at a moment of high suspense.

Worked example: is the twist in "The Necklace" the climax?

Define the climax: the turning point where the main conflict comes to a head and the outcome is decided.
Find the main conflict: Mathilde's vanity and fear of shame against the truth.
Find where it is decided: when the necklace is lost and the Loisels choose to hide the loss. After that, ten years of hardship follow inevitably: that is falling action.
Place the twist: the final line does not change what happens; it changes what it means. It belongs to the resolution, as a twist ending.
Conclusion: the climax is the loss and the lie; the twist is the resolution. (Some critics argue that the revelation is a second, emotional climax. If you take that view, explain it.)

Tip

Find the climax by asking "after this, is there any going back?" The climax is the point after which the outcome is fixed. Pahom could still turn back at midday; he cannot once he is running against the sun. Mathilde could still confess before she writes the letter; after it, the debt is certain.

Warning

Don't retell the story when asked about plot. A plot question asks how events are arranged and connected: why the story starts where it does, where the tension rises, what the climax decides. Use the terms (exposition, climax, flashback, foreshadowing), and keep summary to one or two sentences.

How to make your writing suspenseful, a TED-Ed lesson by Victoria Smith (about 4½ minutes, 2017). Note the difference she draws between surprise and suspense, and decide which one "The Necklace" depends on.

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Practice

Label each event from "The First Calf" (Unit 2) as exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action or resolution: (a) the committee chooses Mutesi's family; (b) the calf is born and named; (c) Grandmother's words and Byiringiro's news; (d) Keza hands over the rope; (e) the gift of milk three months later; (f) supper in silence.
Name the plot structure: (a) a story that begins at a funeral and then tells the dead man's life; (b) a story told in the order things happened; (c) a story that opens with a girl already running from a fire.
Find one example of foreshadowing in "The Robin-Chat Who Heard Wrong" (Unit 1).
Explain the difference between a story and a plot, using Forster's example and one of your own.
Rewrite the opening of "The Wrong Number" so that it begins in medias res (40–60 words).
"A twist ending is a cheap trick." Discuss with reference to "The Necklace" (80–100 words).

Show answersHide answers

(b) exposition; (a) inciting incident; (f) rising action; (c) climax (the moment the family's decision turns); (d) falling action; (e) resolution. (Accept (d) as the climax if the answer argues that the handover is the decisive act.)
(a) flashback (or frame) (b) linear (c) in medias res.
The crane "did not look up" and the robin-chat "was in a hurry": both hint that the message will be lost. Or the translators' note that the robin-chat was known as a flighty bird.
A story lists events in time; a plot connects them by cause. "The king died, and then the queen died" is a story; adding "of grief" makes it a plot. Own example: "It rained; the match was cancelled" (story) versus "The match was cancelled because the rain had flooded the pitch" (plot).
Model: "Eighty-five thousand," Kalisa whispered, tapping the screen. "Wrong number, eh? You could buy your computer next month." Mugisha stared at the note under the figure: Fees Term 2, Uwase S3. An hour earlier he had been selling mangoes. Now he was holding someone else's term.
Model: Not in "The Necklace". A cheap twist surprises without meaning; Maupassant's twist changes the meaning of everything before it. The ten years of labour were real, but they were unnecessary: one honest sentence would have saved them. The twist therefore completes the moral instead of replacing it. It is also prepared: Madame Forestier lends the necklace easily and never opens the case, small hints that it was not precious.

Quick check

Put the elements of Freytag's pyramid in order.

Tap the cards in the right order.

Key points

A plot connects events by cause. Its elements: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution.
Structures: linear, in medias res, flashback or retrospective, frame, circular, episodic, parallel.
Devices: conflict, foreshadowing, suspense, dramatic irony, twist, cliffhanger.
The climax is the point of no return; analyse arrangement, don't retell.

Sources and credits

Key terms, plot diagram, tables, worked example, questions and practice written by Ganzaa. Forster's story–plot distinction is from Aspects of the Novel (1927); Freytag's pyramid from Die Technik des Dramas (1863).
Video: How to make your writing suspenseful, Victoria Smith, TED-Ed, embedded from YouTube.

11 The elements of plot

22 Types of plot structure

33 Devices that drive a plot

1 The elements of plot

2 Types of plot structure

3 Devices that drive a plot