Dramatic Structure of the Plot PDF

Dramatic Structure of the Plot Dr. Sara Fawzy  The sequence of events where each affects the next one through the principle of cause-and-effect. What’s the The causal effect of a plot can be thought of as a...

Dramatic Structure of the Plot Dr. Sara Fawzy  The sequence of events where each affects the next one through the principle of cause-and-effect. What’s the The causal effect of a plot can be thought of as a series of events. plot ? Plots can vary from the simple to complex interwoven structures, with each part sometimes referred to as a subplot/ plot point. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 2  The organization of a dramatic work such as a book, play, or film also is the framework What’s the that allows a story’s plot to unfold. dramatic There are different kinds of dramatic structures worldwide which have been structure of hypothesized by critics, writers and scholars plot ? over time depending on How the acts are structured, where the center of the story is supposed to be presented. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 3  Dramatic structure is typically broken up into acts, scenes, and plot points. Examples of popular dramatic structures include the three-act structure or five-act structure. During the nineteenth century, German playwright Gustav Freytag presented a plot diagram, commonly known as Freytag’s pyramid or Freytag’s triangle. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 4  Freytag's analysis of structure is now one of the most common tools for storytellers. Gustav Freytag wrote (Die Technik des Dramas) which is a definitive study of the five-act dramatic structure, in which he laid out what has come to be known as Freytag's pyramid. 5 Key Elements of Plot Dramatic Structure Under Freytag's pyramid, the plot of a story consists of five parts: 1 2 3 4 5 Exposition (introduction) Rising Climax Return / Catastrophe, Action Falling resolution, or Actions revelation. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 6 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 7 Introduction/Exposition The insertion background information /Early Part of the plot. The information can be about the setting, characters' backstories, prior plot events, historical context, etc. The setting is fixed in a particular place and time, World/ Realm Building & the mood is set, and characters are introduced. Introduction can be conveyed through dialogues, flashbacks, characters' asides, background details, in-universe media, or the narrator telling a back-story. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 8 Introduction/Exposition An information dump (or "infodump") is a large drop of information by the writer to provide background they deem necessary to continue the plot. This is ill-advised in narrative and is even worse when used in dialogue because it slows down the plot or breaks immersion for the audience. Exposition works best when the author provides only the surface— the bare minimum and allows the audience to discover as they go. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 9 Introduction/Exposition Indirect exposition/incluing is a technique of worldbuilding in which the audience is gradually exposed to background information about the world in which a story is set. The idea is to clue the audience into the world, the author is building without them being aware of it. This can be done in several ways: through Parallel Stories, flashbacks, characters' thoughts, background details, or the narrator telling a backstory. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 10  After introducing the key elements of your story, present an inciting incident—also known as an exciting force—that disrupts the status quo of the story and sets the plot into motion. Inciting Incident: The character reacts to something that has happened, and it starts a chain reaction of events. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 11  Rise/ Rising Actions: An exciting force begins immediately after the exposition (introduction), building the rise in one or several stages toward the point of greatest interest. These events are generally the most important parts of the story since the entire plot depends on them to set up the climax and ultimately the satisfactory resolution of the story itself. The main character enters a new world and moves toward a clear goal. The action rises along with the stakes as the lead character faces obstacles and trials. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 12  Climax The climax is the turning point of the story, which changes the protagonist's fate. If things were going well for the protagonist, the plot will turn against them, often revealing the protagonist's hidden weaknesses. The protagonist faces their main conflict head-on, opposing the antagonistic force of the story—typically a villain. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 13  Climax If the story is a comedy, the opposite state of affairs will happen, with things going from bad to good for the protagonist, often requiring the protagonist to draw on hidden inner strengths. Climax is the point of highest tension of drama, or it is the time when the action starts during which the solution is given. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 14  Anti-Climax is a situation in a plot in which something would appear to be difficult to solve is solved through something trivial. For example, destroying a heavily guarded facility would require advanced technology, teamwork, and weaponry for a climax, but for an anticlimax, it may just require pushing a red button which reads, "Emergency Self- Destruct", or simply filling out an eviction notice and destroying the building. The deus ex machina is a form of anticlimax, where an unseen and completely unrelated outside influence/force enters the story and solves the central problem. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 15  Anti-Climax In Anticlimax could involve the protagonist faced with overwhelming odds and ultimately being killed, despite what appears to be a turning point for the character. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 16 Return or Falling action During the Return, the hostility of the counter-part beats upon the soul of the hero. Freytag lays out two rules for this stage: the number of characters must be limited as much as possible, and the number of scenes through which the hero falls should be fewer than in the rise. The conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, creating suspense about the final outcome. The falling action is often out of the protagonist’s control. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 17 Return or Falling action The return or fall may contain a moment of final suspense: Although the catastrophe must be foreshadowed. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 18  Modern dramas increasingly use the fall to increase the relative height of the climax and dramatic impact. Negative The protagonist reaches up but falls and fails to resist doubts, fears, and Climax limitations. It happens when the protagonist has a realization and encounters the greatest fear possible or loses something important, giving the protagonist the courage to take on another obstacle. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 19 Negative Climax 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 20 Negative Climax 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 21  The Finishing/ resolution of a story concludes the plot, tying up loose ends and answering final questions. It can be closed or open ended. Catastrophe The catastrophe is either simple or Resolution complex. denouement In a simple catastrophe, there is no change in the state of the main characters, nor any discovery or unravelling; the plot being only a mere passage out of agitation, to quiet and repose. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 22  In a complex catastrophe, the main character undergoes a change of fortune, sometimes by means of a discovery. The qualifications of this change are probable and necessary: to be probable, it must be the natural result or effect of the foregoing Catastrophe actions. it must spring from the subject itself or take Resolution its rise from the incidents. denouement The discovery in a complex catastrophe must never leave the characters with the same sentiments they had before, but still produce either love or hatred, etc. Sometimes, the change consists in the character beliefs, behaviors or attitudes. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 23 As Freytag says, “It is well understood that the catastrophe must not come entirely as a surprise to the audience.” 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 24 After the catastrophe is a moment of catharsis , where the action of the story is resolved and the tension releases as the audience takes in the story’s final outcome/ moral/ message 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 25  Overall, Freytag argued the center of a play is emotionality and the best way to get that emotionality is to put contrasting emotions back-to-back. A plot is divided into five parts, or acts, which some refer to as a dramatic arc: introduction, rise, climax, return or fall, and catastrophe. Freytag extends the five parts with three moments or crises: the exciting force, the tragic force, and the force of the final suspense. The exciting force leads to the rise, the tragic force leads to the return or fall, and the final moment of suspense leads to the catastrophe. Freytag considers the exciting force to be necessary, but the tragic force and the final moment of suspense are optional. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 26 Plot Diagram Example The Lion King -Exposition: Takes place near Pride Rock in the Pride Land (when Mufasa takes Simba on the tour) Mufasa and Sarabi are Simba’s parents. He is friends with Nala. Scar is Simba’s uncle and he has 3 hyenas that follow him around. -Inciting Force: Scar kills Mufasa and sends Simba away. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 27 Plot Diagram Example -Rising Action: Simba meets Timon and Pumbaa Scar takes over the Pride land and starves the population of lions living there Nala goes to look for help and finds Simba Rafiki helps Simba realize he should go back home to help his family -Climax: Simba kills Scar in battle 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 28 Plot Diagram Example -Falling Action: Simba reunites with his mom and Nala -Resolution: Simba takes his place as king, marries Nala, and continues his family line. 10/19/2024 Dr. Sara Fawzy Ahmed 29 5 act plot structure examples 5 act plot structure examples