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MWDS Box 5: Plot Summary - The Elements of Plot

1. Exposition (E) - the introductory material, which often creates the tone. The exposition gives the setting, introduces the characters, and supplies other facts necessary for understanding. The exposition ends with the inciting moment, which is the single incident in the story's action without which there would be no story.

2. Inciting Moment (IM) - the event or force that sets in motion the rising action of a work of fiction. It is sometimes called the precipitating incident, exciting force, or narrative hook.

3. Rising Action (RA) – this action begins with the inciting moment and gains interest or power as the opposing groups/ideas come into conflict, and proceeds to the climax. It can also be called the complication, including various obstacles that frustrate the protagonist's attempt to reach their goal.

4. Climax (CL) – the turning point in the action, the crisis at which the rising action reverses and becomes the falling action. It is sometimes called the reversal.

5. Falling Action (FA) - the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The falling action might contain a moment of final suspense, during which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt.

6. Resolution (R) – the end of the falling action and the solution of the conflict. The resolution is not always a happy ending. In a comedy the story ends with a denouement (a conclusion) in which the protagonist is better off than at the story's outset. A tragedy ends with a catastrophe in which the protagonist is worse off than at the beginning of the narrative.

7. Dénouement (D) –this involves not only the resolution of the conflict but an explanation of all the secrets and misunderstandings connected with the plot; the tying up of loose ends, exposure of a villain, clearing up a mistaken identity, reuniting characters, etc.

MWDS Box 5: Plot Summary Example

Plot Summary in Paragraph Format: Must be in your OWN words from your reading of the novel/play so a citation will NOT be needed! You must include and label the following: exposition (E), inciting moment (IM), rising action (RA), climax (CL), falling action (FA), resolution (R), and denouement (D).
(E) Peter is introduced narrating the story, which mainly will focus on his point of view and his objectivity to the scenes he is privy to. This is also around the time he meets his future girlfriend, Jordan Almond. Peter returns home and see’s an odd man standing outside the Bob mansion looking across the river. (IM) Bob soon invites Peter to one of his Saturday parties, to which Peter goes too. There he meets Jordan again, and they stumble upon the infamous Mr. Bob. Bob eventually convinces the two to come over and look at his house. He is aiming to impress Petunia and is very excited, with false hope, that maybe she is still in love with them. (RA) Tom invites Peter over and takes him to meet his mistress, Myrtle Potter. There he see’s their city hideout and gets hopelessly drunk at one of their get-togethers. He stumbles to the subway that night and doesn’t remember getting home at all. Bob then invites Tom and Petunia to one of his parties and nervous again. They are all in the Plaza Hotel when Bob is finished yearning for Petunia. He all by forces her to admit to everyone that she does, in fact, love Mr. Bob. Yet she confesses, she still loves Tom too. (CL) After Petunia’s announcement, the couples leave in an angry huff back to Bob’s. Bob takes the wheel, drops her off at her house, and hides the car in his garage. (FA) Tom and Petunia decide to skip town the next day, and is stopped in the middle of their packing by a ghostlike Mr. Potter who is searching for revenge for his dead wife. Tom blurts out Mr. Bob’s name and proceeds to hurry and leave. Ron Bob, having been rejected, seems to go about life in a vegetative state. He takes a relaxing dip in the pool, and is happened upon by Mr. Potter. Grieving over his wife, and blinded by his pain, he shoots Bob, and promptly kills himself as well. (R) Peter, being the only person reasonably close to Bob, takes it upon himself to take care of Bob’s funeral. In the middle of this, Mr. Gatz, Mr. Bob’s father, comes down after reading about the news in the paper. (D) Grief-stricken, yet filled with pride for his son’s accomplishments, attends the funeral with: the Minister, Servants, the Owl-horned glasses man, and Peter himself. Peter eventually moves back West and views the thirsty search of wealth and lack of compassion in humans with scorn and sadness.

MWDS Box 5: Plot Summary Reminders

  • Worth 10 points of the overall grade
  • Must be in your own words
  • No citation is needed
  • Elements of the plot structure must be labeled
  • Each element should contain evidence (summary) from the novel
  • No 1st (I, me, mine, my, we, our, us) or 2nd (you, your) person pronouns
  • Write the summary in the literary present tense.

ex. In the novel the main character experiences an internal change which forces him to reconsider his

path in life.

Allison – Honors Literature & Composition – Updated Jan. 30, 2013 Plot Summary 1