Language Arts – Reading · 5 min read
Plot and the Story Arc
The plot is the sequence of events in a story. Most plots follow a recognizable arc built around a central conflict.
Thestoryarc
Climax
Turning point
Rising Action
Falling Action
Conflict builds
Events wind down
Resolution
Conflict resolved
Exposition
Characters, setting
Tension rises through a series of complications until the climax, the turning point of the conflict, and then eases toward the resolution.
Exposition
Introduces the main characters, the setting, and the background the reader needs.
Climax
The turning point, the moment of greatest tension when the outcome is decided.
Resolution
The conflict is settled and loose ends are tied up, or deliberately left open.
(denouement)
Passages on the exam are often excerpts, so you may see only part of the arc. Ask where the excerpt falls: Is the conflict just starting, reaching a turning point, or being resolved?
Setting and Conflict
The setting is the time and place of the story, including the social environment and conditions such as weather or historical period. Setting can create mood, shape what characters are able to do, and even act as a source of conflict. The conflict is the struggle that drives the plot.
Character vs. self
Internal
A student struggles with whether to admit she copied a friend’s homework.
Character vs. society
External
A worker challenges an unfair rule in her town.
Character vs. technology or
External
A crew battles a failing ship computer, or a family faces a ghost.
the supernatural
Characterization
Characterization is how an author reveals a character’s personality. The protagonist is the main character; the antagonist opposes the protagonist. A dynamic character changes during the story; a static character does not.
Most exam questions test indirect characterization. A useful checklist is S-T-E-A-L: Speech, Thoughts, Effect on others, Actions, and Looks. Character motivation (why a character acts) is also commonly tested; the answer is usually implied by the character’s goals, fears, or relationships.
Point of View
First person
I, me, we
A character in the story tells it
Intimate; limited to what the narrator knows, and the narrator may be unreliable
Third person limited
he, she, they
Outside the story; follows the thoughts of
Close to one character while keeping
one character
some distance
The pronoun I in dialogue does not make a story first person. Look at the narration outside quotation marks. Also distinguish the narrator (the voice telling the story) from the author (the real writer); a first-person narrator’s opinions are not necessarily the author’s. A third person objective narrator reports only actions and speech, like a camera, with no characters’ thoughts.
Theme vs. Topic, Mood vs. Tone
| Topic A word or phrase naming the subject: loyalty, ambition, family. | Theme A complete statement of the message about that subject: Loyalty sometimes requires telling a friend an unwelcome truth. Themes are usually implied and apply beyond the story. |
|---|---|
| Tone The author’s or narrator’s attitude toward the subject, shown through word choice: admiring, bitter, amused, nostalgic. | Mood The feeling the text creates in the reader, shown through setting, imagery, and events: tense, peaceful, gloomy, hopeful. |
To find a theme, ask what the main character learns or how the character changes, how the conflict is resolved, and what ideas or images repeat. Reject theme choices that are too narrow (they summarize the plot), too absolute (always, never), or unsupported by the ending.
Elements of Poetry
Line and stanza
A line is a single row of a poem; a stanza is a group of lines, like a paragraph. A two-line stanza is a couplet; a four-line stanza is a quatrain.
Rhyme scheme
The pattern of end rhymes, labeled with letters. Lines ending night / bright / sea / free follow AABB; day / tree / away / free follow ABAB.
Refrain
A line or phrase repeated at intervals, often at the end of stanzas, for emphasis.
Alliteration
Repetition of beginning consonant sounds in nearby
Silver streams slid softly
words
Consonance
Repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the ends
The black duck struck the dock
or middles of words
Elements of Drama
| Dialogue The conversation between characters. In a play, dialogue carries nearly all of the plot and characterization; each line follows the speaker’s name. | Stage Directions Italicized or bracketed notes on setting, movement, and manner of speaking: [She turns away, twisting the letter in her hands.] They often reveal emotion the dialogue hides. |
|---|---|
| Monologue and Soliloquy A monologue is a long speech by one character to others on stage. A soliloquy is a speech a character gives alone, revealing private thoughts to the audience. | Aside A brief remark spoken to the audience that other characters on stage are assumed not to hear. Asides often create dramatic irony. |
Plays are divided into acts and scenes. A cast of characters list at the start may identify relationships that help with inference questions.
Plot follows exposition, rising action, climax, falling action,
Identify point of view from the narration, not the dialogue;
and resolution; the climax is the turning point.
the narrator or speaker is not the author.
Conflict is internal (character vs. self) or external (vs.
A theme is a complete statement, not a one-word topic; tone
character, society, nature, technology).
is the author’s attitude, mood is the reader’s feeling.
Most character questions require inference from speech,
Know poetry terms (stanza, rhyme scheme, meter, speaker,
thoughts, effect on others, actions, and looks.
sound devices) and drama terms (stage directions, soliloquy, aside).
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