1. Plot and Conflict
What makes a great
story?
Unit 1 Notes

2. Warm Up
You and your group
members are stranded on
a deserted island.
•You only have the items
written on your group’s
notecard with you to
survive and escape.
•Work with your group to
write a short tale
describing the events that
occurred on your island.
Image Source

3. Plot
Narrative is a fancy
word for story
Plot = the series of
events in a narrative

4. Conflict
Conflict is at the heart of any good story.
Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces.
Two types of conflict:
internal conflict = a struggle within the
character’s mind
external conflict = a clash between a character
and an outside force, such as another character,
society, or a force of nature

5. Specific Internal/External
Conflicts
Internal
Conflict Types
External Conflict Types
character vs.
himself: a struggle
between opposing
needs, desires, and
emotions within the
character
character vs. character: two characters
struggle against each other (verbally,
physically, etc.)
character vs. society: a character
struggling against society’s pressures (the
expectations of a group, cultural
traditions, social rules, etc.)
character vs. nature: a character
struggling against forces of nature
(storm, flood, drought, bitter cold, etc.)

6. Famous Stories and their
conflicts
Famous text:
conflict : internal or external
• What type?
why? :
Famous text:
conflict: internal or external
• What type?
why?:

7. Plot Structure
Exposition: introduces setting, characters, and conflict
Rising Action: builds suspense; presents complications that intensify
the conflict
Climax: the turning point; moment of greatest suspense; makes
outcome of conflict clear
Falling Action: eases the suspense, reveals the outcome of the climax,
shows the resolution of the conflict
Resolution: reveals the final outcome, ties up loose ends

8. Narrative Structure
Mountain
• Which goes
where???
• Falling
action
• Exposition
• Resolution
• Rising action
• Climax

9. Sequence and Time
Most stories follow chronological order (events follow a linear
structure meaning they follow in the order they happened)
However, sometimes author’s chose to play with the order of
events:
Flashback: an account of a conversation, episode, or event that
happened before the beginning of the story, or at an earlier
point
Foreshadowing: a writers use of hints or clues in early scenes to
suggest events that will occur later

10. Flashback is... An image or memory
clue to help me
remember flashback:
What does flashback do
in a story?
Strategies to recognize
flashback:
Flashback

11. Flashback is...
• an account that
occurred at an earlier
time
An image or memory
clue to help me
remember flashback:
What does flashback do in a
story?
•interrupts the main action to
describe something that
happened earlier
• shows how past events led to
the present
• gives background info
Strategies to recognize
flashback:
•Look for possible word clues
such as “that summer” or “as
a young boy” or “her earliest
memory”
•Keep track of chronological
order to recognize flashback
Flashback

12. Foreshadowing is... An image or memory
clue to help me
remember
foreshadowing...
What does
foreshadowing do in a
story?
Strategies to recognize
foreshadowing:
Foreshadowing

13. Foreshadowing is...
• use of hints to suggest
what will happen later
An image or memory
clue to help me
remember
foreshadowing...
What does foreshadowing do
in a story?
•prepares the reader for
events that will happen later
•creates suspense
•makes you want to keep
reading
Strategies to recognize
foreshadowing:
• notice repeated ideas and
descriptions
•notice characters acting
unusually or strangely
Foreshadowing