(INWB) Lesson Topic 3: The Plot Pyramid

After creating a reading schedule, along with reading and understanding the background information, all the beauty that the novel can provide rests at your fingertips. As you read, the events in the novel will come together and form what is called the plot.

Various elements work together to make up the plot. Freytag's Pyramid, more commonly known as the "Plot Pyramid," helps separate the novel into different stages that mirror a pyramid. 

Components of a Plot

The Exposition

The introduction starts off with the base of the pyramid. The introduction is also known as the exposition. During the introduction or exposition, the writer might reveal the setting. The setting is the time and place of the story.

The Setting

The setting of the story can be implied or stated. With an implied setting, the reader might need to pick up on clues within the text in order to determine the time and place of the story. For example, if the narrator says, "The sky was dark with flecks of sparkle throughout, and the wind blew sand across my feet as the waves crashed on the shore," the reader can safely assume that this part of the story occurs at night on a beach. However, with a stated setting, the author reveals the time and place of the story. The narrator might say, "I stood on the beach at night." The reader then clearly knows the setting of the story. Along with the setting, the exposition also introduces the characters and provides the background information the reader needs to understand the novel's start properly.

The Rising Action and Conflict

The rising action appears on the first side of the pyramid. The story's events work together to create conflict, and the action rises from the drama that the conflicts create. Conflict is a struggle between two or more forces, and conflicts can be internal or external. Many different types of conflict occur throughout the literature. The conflict might be man versus man, man versus nature, man versus society, or man versus himself.

Man versus man is an external conflict where a character has an argument, disagreement, struggle, or another type of problem with another character. Man versus man conflict can occur when two friends argue. The conflict of man versus nature is an external conflict where a character has a problem with outside forces in nature such as weather, animals, and land. Man versus nature conflicts tend to occur if there is a bad storm in the story, or the character has a problem with wild animals.

Man versus society is an external conflict where a character encounters a struggle with the laws or beliefs of a group. In the novel for this module, racism represents a man versus society conflict. Many people in Alabama believe that people with a different skin color should be treated differently; however, other people know that everyone is equal regardless of skin color. The internal conflict appears in the form of man versus himself. Man versus himself appears when the character struggles to decide what to do or think. The characters might be trying to decide if they should say something mean to another character, and the characters struggle because they want to be mean, but they know they should be nice. This problem inside someone's brain represents an internal conflict.

The Climax

At the peak of the pyramid, the climax occurs. When the conflict reaches the highest point (the point where forces in conflict meet), and the problems do not have the ability to become worse, a turning point must appear. The climax represents both the height of action and the turning point where a change in the story takes place, and the conflicts can wind down.

The Falling Action

The conflicts wind down during the stage called the falling action. The far side of the pyramid represents the falling action. During this stage, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. These are the events that occur after the climax has been reached.

The Resolution

Last but not least, the resolution, or dénouement, forms the base on the opposite side of the pyramid. The resolution occurs when the falling action unwinds to a conclusion and all loose ends are tied. The resolution provides the conclusion to the story.

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