Definition of Plot

A Plot Summary Of Cheater Pants Junie B Jones

Young schoolteacher Odili narrates this novel about revenge, politics, and corruption in an unnamed African country. Odili lives in the village of Anata. He is unimpressed when his former teacher. Lesson Summary In this lesson, you were introduced to the plot of a story. Each plot has five distinctive features: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

Plot is a literary term used to describe the events that make up a story, or the main part of a story. These events relate to each other in a pattern or a sequence. The structure of a novel depends on the organization of events in the plot of the story.

Plot is known as the foundation of a novel or story, around which the characters and settings are built. It is meant to organize information and events in a logical manner. When writing the plot of a piece of literature, the author has to be careful that it does not dominate the other parts of the story.

Primary Elements of a Plot

There are five main elements in a plot.

1. Exposition or Introduction

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This is the beginning of the story, where characters and setting are established. The conflict or main problem is introduced as well.

Rising Action which occurs when a series of events build up to the conflict. The main characters are established by the time the rising action of a plot occurs, and at the same time, events begin to get complicated. It is during this part of a story that excitement, tension, or crisis is encountered.

In the climax, or the main point of the plot, there is a turning point of the story. This is meant to be the moment of highest interest and emotion, leaving the reader wondering what is going to happen next.

Falling Action, or the winding up of the story, occurs when events and complications begin to resolve. The result of the actions of the main characters are put forward.

Resolution, or the conclusion, is the end of a story, which may occur with either a happy or a tragic ending.

Examples of Plot in Literature

Example #1: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (By J. K. Rowling)

Among the examples of plot in modern literature, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is probably the most familiar to both readers and moviegoers. The plot of the story begins when Harry learns that Professor Snape is after the Sorcerer’s Stone. The Professor lets loose a troll, who nearly kills Harry and his friends. In addition, Harry finds out that Hagrid let out the secret of the giant dog to a stranger in return for a dragon, which means that Snape can now reach the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Example #2: Pride and Prejudice (By Jane Austen)

A very good plot example in romantic fiction appears in the book Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The plot of the story begins when Lizzie’s sister, Jane, falls in love with Darcy’s friend named Mr. Bingley. Lizzie develops and interest in Mr. Wickham, who accuses Darcy of destroying him financially.

When Lizzie goes to meet her friend, she runs into Mr. Darcy, who proposes, and Lizzie rejects. She then writes him a letter telling him why she dislikes him. He writes back, clearing up all misunderstandings and accusations. Jane runs away with Mr. Wickham, and Lizzie realizes that Mr. Darcy is not as bad a man as she had thought him to be.

Function of Plot

A plot is one of the most important parts of a story, and has many different purposes. Firstly, the plot focuses attention on the important characters and their roles in the story. It motivates the characters to affect the story, and connects the events in an orderly manner. The plot creates a desire for the reader to go on reading by absorbing them in the middle of the story, ensuring they want to know what happens next.

The plot leads to the climax, but by gradually releasing the story in order to maintain readers’ interest. During the plot of a book, a reader gets emotionally involved, connecting with the book, not allowing himself to put the book down. Eventually, the plot reveals the entire story, giving the reader a sense of completion that he has finished the story and reached a conclusion.

The plot is what forms a memory in readers’ minds, allowing them to think about the book and even making them want to read it again. By identifying and understanding the plot, the reader is able to understand the message being conveyed by the author, and the explicit or implicit moral of the story.

The play begins withthe brief appearance of a trio of witches and then moves to a militarycamp, where the Scottish King Duncan hears the news that his generals, Macbethand Banquo, have defeated two separate invading armies—one fromIreland, led by the rebel Macdonwald, and one from Norway. Followingtheir pitched battle with these enemy forces, Macbeth and Banquoencounter the witches as they cross a moor. The witches prophesythat Macbeth will be made thane (a rank of Scottish nobility) ofCawdor and eventually King of Scotland. They also prophesy thatMacbeth’s companion, Banquo, will beget a line of Scottish kings,although Banquo will never be king himself. The witches vanish,and Macbeth and Banquo treat their prophecies skeptically untilsome of King Duncan’s men come to thank the two generals for theirvictories in battle and to tell Macbeth that he has indeed beennamed thane of Cawdor. The previous thane betrayed Scotland by fightingfor the Norwegians and Duncan has condemned him to death. Macbethis intrigued by the possibility that the remainder of the witches’prophecy—that he will be crowned king—might be true, but he is uncertainwhat to expect. He visits with King Duncan, and they plan to dinetogether at Inverness, Macbeth’s castle, that night. Macbeth writesahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her all that has happened.

Lady Macbeth suffers none of her husband’s uncertainty.She desires the kingship for him and wants him to murder Duncanin order to obtain it. When Macbeth arrives at Inverness, she overrides allof her husband’s objections and persuades him to kill the king thatvery night. He and Lady Macbeth plan to get Duncan’s two chamberlainsdrunk so they will black out; the next morning they will blame themurder on the chamberlains, who will be defenseless, as they willremember nothing. While Duncan is asleep, Macbeth stabs him, despitehis doubts and a number of supernatural portents, including a visionof a bloody dagger. When Duncan’s death is discovered the next morning,Macbeth kills the chamberlains—ostensibly out of rage at their crime—andeasily assumes the kingship. Duncan’s sons Malcolm and Donalbainflee to England and Ireland, respectively, fearing that whoeverkilled Duncan desires their demise as well.

Yellowstone Plot Summary

Fearful of the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s heirs willseize the throne, Macbeth hires a group of murderers to kill Banquoand his son Fleance. They ambush Banquo on his way to a royal feast,but they fail to kill Fleance, who escapes into the night. Macbeth becomesfurious: as long as Fleance is alive, he fears that his power remainsinsecure. At the feast that night, Banquo’s ghost visits Macbeth.When he sees the ghost, Macbeth raves fearfully, startling his guests,who include most of the great Scottish nobility. Lady Macbeth triesto neutralize the damage, but Macbeth’s kingship incites increasingresistance from his nobles and subjects. Frightened, Macbeth goesto visit the witches in their cavern. There, they show him a sequenceof demons and spirits who present him with further prophecies: hemust beware of Macduff, a Scottish nobleman who opposed Macbeth’saccession to the throne; he is incapable of being harmedby any man born of woman; and he will be safe until Birnam Woodcomes to Dunsinane Castle. Macbeth is relieved and feels secure, becausehe knows that all men are born of women and that forests cannotmove. When he learns that Macduff has fled to Englandto join Malcolm, Macbeth orders that Macduff’s castle be seizedand, most cruelly, that Lady Macduff and her children be murdered.

When news of his family’s execution reachesMacduff in England, he is stricken with grief and vows revenge.Prince Malcolm, Duncan’s son, has succeeded in raising an army inEngland, and Macduff joins him as he rides to Scotland to challengeMacbeth’s forces. The invasion has the support of the Scottish nobles, whoare appalled and frightened by Macbeth’s tyrannical and murderousbehavior. Lady Macbeth, meanwhile, becomes plagued with fits ofsleepwalking in which she bemoans what she believes to be bloodstainson her hands. Before Macbeth’s opponents arrive, Macbeth receivesnews that she has killed herself, causing him to sink into a deepand pessimistic despair. Nevertheless, he awaits the English andfortifies Dunsinane, to which he seems to have withdrawn in orderto defend himself, certain that the witches’ prophecies guaranteehis invincibility. He is struck numb with fear, however, when helearns that the English army is advancing on Dunsinane shieldedwith boughs cut from Birnam Wood. Birnam Wood is indeed coming toDunsinane, fulfilling half of the witches’ prophecy.

The Plot Summary Of Second Class Citizen

In the battle, Macbeth hews violently, but the Englishforces gradually overwhelm his army and castle. On the battlefield,Macbeth encounters the vengeful Macduff, who declares that he wasnot “of woman born” but was instead “untimely ripped” from his mother’swomb (what we now call birth by cesarean section). Though he realizesthat he is doomed, Macbeth continues to fight until Macduff killsand beheads him. Malcolm, now the King of Scotland, declares hisbenevolent intentions for the country and invites all to see himcrowned at Scone.