1. Structure
Elements of Plot

2. Structure
• Plot – The sequence of events through which an author
constructs a story
• Structure - the way the writer arranges the plot of a text –
not the action itself
• The author uses the structure to create meaning that is not
directly stated
• The author has made a conscious choice to arrange the
actions and events in a particular order or format to convey
something about the narrative and characters

3. Types of Plots
• Chronological Order – the story is told in the
order that the events happened
• Flashback – an event or scene that took place
before the present time in the narrative is
inserted into the chronological order of the
text
• In media res (in the middle of things) – the
narrative starts in the middle of the action
with out exposition

4. Analyzing Meaning
Young Goodman Brown
• We look for elements that are repeated
• Dialogue – “I will not go any further”
• Action – He continues to walk deeper into the
forest
• Description – The forest grew darker

5. Analyzing Meaning
• We look for shifts in:
• Direction
• Focus
• Time
• Place

6. Analyzing Meaning
• When the author makes these choices in the
structure the reader must pay attention
• The author is communicating a deeper
meaning
• The significance of the action is more
important than the action itself

7. Young Goodman Brown
Freytag’s Plot Structure
Climax: “I have lost my Faith!”
“Come Devil!”
Rising Action: Meets the Falling Action: Walks to the
Traveler – family stories, ceremony, “Look up!”
Sees his mentors
Exposition: Leaves Faith at home Resolution: Wakes
up, rejects himself
and the community,
goes mad

8. Young Goodman Brown
• Hawthorne uses the structure to
communicate Goodman’s Brown realization of
his own sin
• As the events progress he also uses the setting
– Goodman Brown walks deeper into the
darkness and into sin
• The dream at the end is another plot device –
Goodman, as well as the reader, is not sure if
it actually happened.

9. Structure in Poetry
• In poetry structure refers to the pattern or
organization of the poem – the form of the
poem
• examples: sonnet and free verse
• The author makes a conscious choice to write
in this structure and this conveys a specific
meaning

10. Structure in Poetry
• In poetry structure refers to the pattern or
organization of the poem – the form of the
poem
• examples: sonnet and free verse
• The author makes a conscious choice to write
in this structure and this conveys a specific
meaning