What is plot summary

Then, students will report their findings to the group. They talk about the movie chosen and how the plot summary they found is structured. Looking at the previous activity, students are going to create a panorama on the board with the teacher. They are going to create a parallel pointing out what should and what should not be included in a plot summary.

For example:. Students are going to answer these questions: [they will receive these questions along with the plot summaries they are going to analyze]. In the first part of the class it is important to have a discussion about the previous activity. First of all, they are going to read aloud the questions they needed to answer in the previous class.

While they answer them, it is important to point out some definitions of the genre, and make them reflect about the tasks they have already made and the following tasks. Now they are going to start thinking about the movie they are going to use for the plot summary they will have to do.

The task is: they need to choose one movie and write down as many things as they can remember about the movie: a brief summary of the story, the theme, characters, main scenes, what most called their attention, etc. Homework: You are going to research and find more technical information that you might not remember in class. Next class you are going to start creating your own plot summary. After finishing it, you are going to submit your plot summary to imdb.

This is very important for them to complete the task in the following classes. In this class, students are going to create the first version of their own plot summaries of a movie they have already watched. It is a way to review the concepts of what a plot summary is and also see if they understood what it is and how a plot summary is made].

Students are going to create a plot summary individually or in pairs. So they receive a sheet of paper to be completed in class with basic information of the movie they chose and a space for them to write down their plot summary. They will use the information from their homework. Students hand in their texts at the end of the class to be corrected by the teacher. For example, in Shakespeare's "Hamlet," the Danish prince discovers that his father was murdered by his own brother, which leads to the infamously tragic events to come.

The revelations of the inciting incident and rising action result in events that may alter the future in unchangeable ways. A comprehensive plot summary defines the inciting incident, briefly describes it and outlines the events that lead to the highest point of action. All stories eventually reach a "point of no return," the climax.

The climax is an event that changes the course of a story, for better or worse. For example, the climax of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" happens when Romeo murders Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, in a duel. In your plot summary, define the consequences or results of this point in the plot. Although Romeo and Juliet's romance had been forbidden, it becomes near impossible to maintain after Tybalt's death, since Romeo is banished to Mantua.

His banishment furthers the symbolic divide between the two feuding families. The climax often changes the characters and can set off a chain reaction of events. Tensions are highest here, instilling in the reader a sense of excitement, dread, and urgency.

In classic tales of heroes, the climax would be when the hero finally faces the big monster, and the reader is left to wonder who will win and what this outcome could mean for the other characters and the world as a whole within the story.

This is when the tension has been released and the story begins to wind down. How did their choices affect themselves and those around them? At this point, the author also ties up loose ends in the main plot and any subplots.

This final plot point is when everything has been wrapped up and the new world—and the new sense of normalcy for the characters—has been established. The conflict from the climax has been resolved, and all loose ends have been neatly tied up unless the author is purposely setting up the story for a sequel!

There is a sense of finality and closure here , making the reader feel that there is nothing more they can learn or gain from the narrative. The resolution can be pretty short—sometimes just a paragraph or so—and might even take the form of an epilogue , which generally takes place a while after the main action and plot of the story. Be careful not to conflate "resolution" with "happy ending"—resolutions can be tragic and entirely unexpected, too!

In Romeo and Juliet , the resolution is the point at which the family feud between the Capulets and Montagues is at last put to an end following the deaths of the titular lovers. Many people use a plot diagram to help them visualize the plot definition and structure.

The triangular part of the diagram indicates changing tensions in the plot. The diagram begins with a flat, horizontal line for the exposition , showing a lack of tension as well as what is normal for the characters in the story. This elevation changes, however, with the rising action , or immediately after the conflict has been introduced. The rising action is an increasing line indicating the building of tension , all the way up until it reaches the climax —the peak or turning point of the story, and when everything changes.

The falling action is a decreasing line, indicating a decline in tension and the wrapping up of the plot and any subplots. After, the line flatlines once more into a resolution —a new sense of normal for the characters in the story. You can use the plot diagram as a reference when writing a story and to ensure you have all major plot points. While most plots follow the same basic structure, the details of stories can vary quite a bit! Here are four plot examples from literature to give you an idea of how you can use the fundamental plot structure while still making your story entirely your own.

He pretends to go crazy and possibly becomes truly mad to confuse Claudius. Later, he passes up the opportunity to kill his uncle while he prays. Climax: Hamlet stabs and kills Polonius, believing it to be his uncle. This is an important turning point at which Hamlet has committed himself to both violence and revenge. Another climax can be said to be when Hamlet duels Laertes.

Falling Action: Hamlet is sent to England but manages to avoid execution and instead returns to Denmark. Ophelia goes mad and dies. Hamlet duels Laertes, ultimately resulting in the deaths of the entire royal family. Resolution: As he lay dying, Hamlet tells Horatio to make Fortinbras the king of Denmark and to share his story.

Fortinbras arrives and speaks hopefully about the future of Denmark. Artist's rendition of Hamlet's murder of King Claudius. Exposition: Lockwood arrives at Wuthering Heights to meet with Heathcliff, a wealthy landlord, about renting Thrushcross Grange, another manor just a few miles away.

While staying overnight, he sees the ghost of a woman named Catherine. After settling in at the Grange, Lockwood asks the housekeeper, Nelly Dean, to relay to him the story of Heathcliff and the Heights. Rising Action: Most of the rising action takes place in the past when Catherine and Heathcliff were young. We learn that the two children were very close. One day, a dog bite forces Catherine to stay for several weeks at the Grange where the Lintons live, leading her to become infatuated with the young Edgar Linton.

Feeling hurt and betrayed, Heathcliff runs away for three years, and Catherine and Edgar get married. Climax: Catherine becomes sick, gives birth to a daughter named Cathy, and dies. Heathcliff begs Catherine to never leave him, to haunt him—even if it drives him mad. Falling Action: Many years pass in Nelly's story. A chain of events allows Heathcliff to gain control of both the Heights and the Grange.

He then forces the young Cathy to live with him at the Heights and act as a servant. Lockwood leaves the Grange to return to London. Resolution: Six months later, Lockwood goes back to see Nelly and learns that Heathcliff, still heartbroken and now tired of seeking revenge, has died. Cathy and Hareton fall in love and plan to get married; they inherit the Grange and the Heights.

Lockwood visits the graves of Catherine and Heathcliff, noting that both are finally at peace. Exposition: Teenager Carrie is an outcast and lives with her controlling, fiercely religious mother. One day, she starts her period in the showers at school after P.