Things You Should Know: Plot Structure
Episode 37
What even is a story!? Find out today as Professor Pipes explains the elements of plot structure!
Transcript
Hello and welcome to this Things You Should Know episode of Piper’s Paraphrases. Today I’m here to tell you that You Should Know about the elements of a plot. Nope, not a plot to steal your friend’s food, but the plot of a story.
But before I do so, we’ll need a plot to discuss, sooooo… Story Time!
Once upon a time, there lived three little pigs. I guess they actually weren’t so little, because their mom made them move out and they had to make it on their own. Two of the pigs were pretty dang lazy, so they made houses out of straw and sticks, because, you know, safety regulations don’t exist in fairy tale land. They had lots of extra time, so they danced about as their brother, the third pig, made a strong house out of bricks. In a day. That’s one talented pig. Unfortunately, a big, bad wolf arrived in town. Dun, dun, DUN! He came upon the straw house and asked the first pig to let him in. And though the pig was dumb enough to think a hay house was a good idea, he wasn’t dumb enough to let in a wolf. However, the wolf blew the house down. Oh, apparently fairy tale wolves have really great lung capacity. The pig got away and ran to the house of sticks. No, Cooper, not the band. The house made of sticks. The wolf followed and was able to blow that house down, too, and the pigs ran to the Brick House, it’s mighty mighty. Oh… uh… Anyways, the wolf wasn’t able to blow this house down. Uh doy. After pondering for a moment, he decided to climb down the chimney. Uh oh! However, smarty third pig was prepared. He put a pot of boiling water on the fire at the bottom of the chimney, and the wolf fell in. Now shall we go with the sort of messed up ending or the super messed up ending? Eh. Why not both? In some versions of the story, the wolf burns his booty and runs out of the house and out of town, leaving the pigs to live happily ever after. In other versions, the wolf lands in the pot and the pigs put the lid on. They cook him and eat him and live happily ever after. But now with a taste for bloooooood! … The end, I guess.
Ok, back to plot elements. The start of a story is called the exposition, or the introduction, and it’s used to introduce lots of useful information to the readers: namely, the main characters, the setting, some background and eventually the conflict. So in our sample story, this would be when the pigs move out and build their houses. Next up is the inciting incident, which is also sometimes known as the initiating event. This is when the conflict really sets the plot in motion. It is an event that causes a problem for our narrator that it will take the rest of the story to solve or deal with. In “The Three Little Pigs,” this would be the introduction of the big, bad wolf, since he represents a threat to our lovable pigs. The rising action is basically all the events that result from the inciting incident. More complications occur and the tension builds as the plot is propelled forward towards our next plot element. In this story, that would include the wolf approaching and ultimately blowing down the first two houses, the pigs escaping to the brick house, and the wolf trying, and failing, to blow that down, too. Because, surprise surprise, you can’t just blow down a house. The rising action ends with the climax. There are lots of different definitions of the climax, so I’ll try to sum them all up. Some people call it the highest emotional point of the story. Some say it’s the point of highest tension. Others say it’s the moment when the conflict is resolved, but really, it’s kind of related to all of these things. Basically, the climax is when the conflict is about to be resolved, which makes it a very tense, emotional moment. It’s like the edge of your seat moment, or the point of no return when, like it or not, the conflict is about to end, either positively or negatively. In our little tale, this is when the wolf decides to go down the chimney and the pigs have to figure out what to do. It’s a scary moment! Will the pigs survive? Will the wolf make it in and eat them all up? I’m at the edge of my seat! No matter what, the conflict between the pigs and the wolf will end. This represents the turning point in the story, as the protagonist deals with the conflict head on, and the third pig puts a pot of water on the fire. The events that happen after, and as a result of, the climax are known as the falling action. At this point, the conflict is resolved, characters might react or deal with the events of the climax, and the story heads toward the ending. This is when either the wolf gets burned and runs away or gets boiled and eaten, depending on how dark you want this story to be. Finally, we have the resolution. This term seems a little misleading, since the problem has already been resolved. Instead, the resolution really just means the final picture we are left with. What is life like for everyone now that the conflict is over and done with? It’s the end of the story. For us, this would pretty much be the “they all lived happily ever after” bit. The separation between falling action and resolution can get a little fuzzy, so sometimes people will kind of combine them when describing the ending of stories.
Now, if a story were about you, the exposition might be you sitting in class and your teacher lecturing. You know, all “blah blah blah teacher stuff.” Who cares? The inciting event might be that teacher telling you that you need to know all the elements of plot structure because you’re going to be tested on it. Oh no! You don’t know what that is! The rising action might have involved you asking friends, who also weren’t paying attention in class and don’t know either, and then going online to look it up, because, you know, Google exists. You scrolled through videos and eventually stumbled upon this one, where you hopefully learned everything you need to know. The climax will be the dreaded test! And it’ll be a hard one, because your teacher is super mean, obviously. Will you fail or pass? I think pass. I’ve got you covered. The falling action will involve you turning it in, and your teacher grading it. The resolution? You getting back that test with a big, fat A on the top, of course!
So that’s all, folks, and hopefully you now know all about plot structure, and carnivorous pigs. Thanks for watching this Things You Should Know episode of Piper’s Paraphrases. Go forth, read a bunch, and be good people.
