1. Tools for Analyzing Text
Plot Structure
And
Conflict

2. Plot Structure Components
• Exposition – Sets the mood & conditions
existing at the beginning of a story
• Includes two important story elements:
 Characters – the people who experience the
events of the plot
 Setting – tells the reader WHEN & WHERE
a story takes place.

3. Characters
• The people involved in a story
– Protagonist:
• the main character of a story
• The character who experiences the main conflict in
a story
– Antagonist:
• The character who opposes the protagonist.
• May work against the main character.

4. Setting
• The place where a story occurs
• Setting can be:
The geographical location (ex. Raleigh, NC)
The time period (between 2000 & 2010)
The socio-economic characteristics of the
location (ex. Campus of NC State Un.)
The specific building, room, etc. (ex. The
Student Union)

5. Rising Action
• Introduces the conflict or problem in a
story.
• Includes the series of events, conflicts, and
crises in the story that leads up to the
climax.
• Provides progressive intensity in a story.

6. Climax
• The high point of a story where the conflict
changes or is resolved.
• The “Turning Point” in a story.
• A crucial event that takes place & from the
climax forward, the protagonist moves
toward his/her inevitable end.

7. Falling Action
• All action events that follow the climax
(high point) in a story.
• The main character (Protagonist) may still
more conflicts in this part of a story.
• Events in this part do not really change
how the story will inevitably end.

8. Resolution
• How the story conflict is settled.
• Where loose ends are tied up.
• The hero (main character) either emerges
triumphant or is defeated.

9. Conflict
• The problem in a story.
• The struggle between two forces in a story.
• Conflict leads through a story to the
climax.
• Conflict can be:
– Interpersonal Conflict – Human vs. Human,
Human vs. Nature, or Human vs. Society.
– Internal Conflict – Human vs. Self.

10. Conflict
• The problem in a story.
• The struggle between two forces in a story.
• Conflict leads through a story to the
climax.
• Conflict can be:
– Interpersonal Conflict – Human vs. Human,
Human vs. Nature, or Human vs. Society.
– Internal Conflict – Human vs. Self.