Types+of+Plots

Plot Types of Plots in Modern Literature These plots are often found in modern literature. Sometimes they are also found in traditional stories.

Episodic:

 * Structure of plot:
 * Book is made up of a series of chapters or stories, each of which has its own plot, builds to an end, and has its own climax.
 * The episodes are usually linked because they are all about the same character, but there is no overall plot or climax to the book.
 * Episodes could be put in a different order or left out without changing the story substantially.
 * Example--George and Martha, by James Marshall.

Gradual development:

 * Plot has incidents and conflict, but tension and suspense are minimal, and plot does not rise to a definite climax.
 * Example--Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst.

Rising action:

 * Plot has definite conflict, tension, and suspense which rises to a climax; plot ends at that point without fully resolving the outcome.
 * Example--The Borrowers, by Mary Norton; Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert O'Brien.

Rising and falling action:

 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 35px;">Plot has definite conflict, tension, and suspense which rises to a climax; climax is followed by the denouement in which the outcome is resolved.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 35px;">Example--Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 35px;">Parallel plot:

 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 35px;">Two plots which have similar incidents are described simultaneously or one after the other; plots may (usually do) intersect at some point
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 35px;">Examples--Blueberries for Sal, by Robert McCloskey; Slake's Limbo, by Felice Holman.

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