Writing Composition: Elements of a Plot Chart

Contributed by:

Ivan Tue, Mar 01, 2022 11:53 AM UTC

In this lesson, students will learn how to use the plot chart for fictional literature.
Exposition
Rising Action
Climax
Falling Action
Resolution

1. PLOT CHART Name: _________________________
TITLE: CLIMAX:
AUTHOR:
FALLING ACTION:
RISING ACTION:
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•
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•
• CONFLICT: RESOLUTION:
EXPOSITION:
Setting:
THEME:
Characters:
Point of View:
Blackbird and Lily Instructional Resources
Elements of a Plot Chart
Blackbird and Lily Instructional Resources

2. 3
4
2
5
1
Plot Chart

3. ✤ A conflict is a struggle bet ween opposing forces. Conflict is one of the most
important elements of stories, novels, and plays because it causes the
action.
✤ There are t wo kinds of conflict: external and internal.
✤ An external conflict is one in which a character struggles against some
outside force, such as another person. Another kind of external conflict
may occur bet ween a character and some force in nature.
✤ An internal conflict takes place within the mind of a character. The
character struggles to make a decision, take an action, or overcome a
feeling.

4. ✤ Plot is the sequence
of events that make
up a story. Each
event results from a
previous one and
causes the next.

5. 1. Exposition
✤ In the plot of a story or TITLE:
AUTHOR:
PLOT CHART
CLIMAX:
Name: _________________________
FALLING ACTION:
RISING ACTION:
•
drama, the exposition,
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•
•
•
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•
or introduction, is the
• CONFLICT: RESOLUTION:
EXPOSITION:
Setting:
THEME:
Characters:
part of the work that Point of View:
Blackbird and Lily Instructional Resources
introduces the
characters, setting, and
basic situation.

6. Point of View
✤ Point of view is the perspective from which a story is told. It is either a
narrator outside the story or a character in the story.
✤ First-person point of view: told by a character who uses the first
person pronoun “I.”
✤ Omniscient third-person point of view: narrator uses third-person
pronouns such as “he” and “she” and knows and tells about each
character feels and thinks.
✤ Limited third-person point of view: narrator uses third person
pronouns such as “he” and “she” and relates the inner thoughts and
feelings of only one character. Everything is viewed from this
character’s perspective.

7. 2. Rising Action
PLOT CHART Name: _________________________
✤This part of the
TITLE: CLIMAX:
AUTHOR:
FALLING ACTION:
RISING ACTION:
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•
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•
story begins to
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•
• CONFLICT: RESOLUTION:
EXPOSITION:
build conflict(s). A
Setting:
THEME:
Characters:
Point of View:
Blackbird and Lily Instructional Resources
building of suspense
or interest occurs.

8. 3. Climax
✤ The climax, also called
PLOT CHART Name: _________________________
TITLE: CLIMAX:
AUTHOR:
FALLING ACTION:
RISING ACTION:
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the turning point, is the
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high point in the action of
• CONFLICT: RESOLUTION:
EXPOSITION:
Setting:
THEME:
Characters:
the plot. It is the moment Point of View:
Blackbird and Lily Instructional Resources
of greatest tension, when
the outcome of the plot
hangs in the balance.

9. 4. Falling Action
✤All the action PLOT CHART Name: _________________________
TITLE: CLIMAX:
AUTHOR:
FALLING ACTION:
RISING ACTION:
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•
after the climax.
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•
•
•
• CONFLICT: RESOLUTION:
EXPOSITION:
Setting:
THEME:
Conflicts and
Characters:
Point of View:
Blackbird and Lily Instructional Resources
complications
begin to resolve.

10. 5. Resolution
PLOT CHART Name: _________________________
✤The resolution
TITLE: CLIMAX:
AUTHOR:
FALLING ACTION:
RISING ACTION:
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•
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is the outcome
• CONFLICT: RESOLUTION:
EXPOSITION:
Setting:
THEME:
Characters:
Point of View:
Blackbird and Lily Instructional Resources
of the conflict
in the plot.

11. Putting It All Together
Beginning
1. Exposition of Story
2. Rising Action
Middle
3. Climax of Story
4. Falling Action
End
5. Resolution of Story

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