Critical Reading: Analyze Literary Plot Structure
- Jan 7, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: Nov 21, 2024
Table of Contents
Introduction
As parents and tutors, we want to encourage students to learn the fundamentals of reading to have an academic advantage in their language arts and English literature classes. We must encourage students to become comfortable with analyzing the plot structure of literature so they will have strong analytical skills that will assist them in their reading comprehension development and essay writing skills.
Learning to analyze literary works through plot structure is a vital skill that will help students gain more confidence in their academic studies and progressively achieve their academic goals.
We can assist students in discovering how to navigate their efforts towards analyzing a literary work plot structure through books, movies, visual media, and drama plays, which they should hone their skills in to develop excellent academic results in school or university. In this blog post, we will explore how grasping the concept of plot structure can improve a student's reading comprehension and aid them in unlocking deeper context for their discussions in literature or language arts class.
Analyzing Literature helps students understand what happened earlier in a story. Freytag's Pyramid of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement are useful aspects of literary analysis that students should become accustomed to analyzing. When students are equipped with how to utilize Freytag's Pyramid, they will be enabled to spot key elements in many sources, improving their grades and academic achievements as a result.
Critical Reading: What is the structure of a plot?
The order of events determines the plot structure of a story.
Students will learn about the characteristics of a plot's structure when they read through a story and learn about its characters, events, setting, and main idea. If students learn how to apply what they learn to understand how a plot works, they will be more capable of analyzing novels and achieving better results from their active study.
Critical Reading: How is Plot Structure Primarily Used?
If students can discover the story structure, they become more skilled at understanding the message and meaning that is intended by the author. As parents or tutors, we can help our students understand that the purpose of a plot structure is to deliver the story and aid them in exploring other aspects of the plot structure so they can identify other aspects of literature study that are also important for a student to understand.
Four Aspects to Understand Plot Structure in Literature
1. What is the plot structure in literature?
While all plots have a beginning, middle, and end, there is much more to the fundamental plot structure than this. In general, every plot has these five components in the following order:
Exposition/introduction
Rising action
Climax/turning point
Falling action
Resolution/denouement
Introduction/Exposition
The setting and primary protagonists are introduced in the story's first act. We learn who is involved, when the story occurs, and where.
The reader is only now beginning to understand the setting and central themes of the novel.
Rising Action
The central conflict is introduced and developed in this storyline section to arouse the reader's interest in the text while building tension inside the story. The conflict may impact one individual or many characters.
Climax
The climax, arguably the most essential aspect of a story and the central plot point, places our characters in a situation where they must make a decision that will affect the rest of the story.
Falling Action
At this point, the plot starts to wind down after the tension has been relieved. The key characters' actions and the climax's effects begin to be seen, and we begin to understand what this means for them and their world. The author also tries to wrap up unresolved issues in the main plot and related subplots.
Resolution/denouement
Everything has been resolved at the novel's end, and the new world and the characters' perceptions have been adjusted. All unfinished business has been properly wrapped up, and the conflict from the climax has been settled. At this point, the reader has the impression that there is nothing more to learn or take away from the story because of this part's sense of closure.
2. Know what to look for in a story: identify the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution
Learning reading strategies is an essential reading skill for both avid and struggling readers. Every story comprises distinct reading elements that can help define the reading formation: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. The exposition provides a brief overview to introduce the setting and characters; rising action progresses the plot of the story by creating tension; the climax is typically seen as the turning point or most exciting point in the story; falling action serves to resolve all conflicts before the resolution can be reached; and finally, resolution wraps things up nicely with a conclusion. When reading a piece, it’s beneficial to consider these reading strategies to understand what you’re reading better.
3. Analyze how the author uses each plot point
Reading strategies can help struggling readers analyze how the author has used each plot point. These strategies should fit the reader’s understanding and needs. For those who may struggle with comprehending literature, it is important to understand how the author advances their plot through character and setting development.
Examining clues throughout the reading material can help readers connect different plot points and threads. This will allow them to understand better what is happening in the story and uncover potential meanings behind events or items. With the right reading strategies, readers can unlock a greater comprehension of an author’s work, leading to a more enjoyable reading experience.
Let’s look at an example of how Tae Keller analyzes each plot point in the structure of her book, “When You Trap a Tiger” in the following video…
4. Compare and contrast two works using their plot structures
Reading two works can help one understand them better by comparing and contrasting their plots. Even struggling readers can use this reading strategy. It encourages a reader to look deeper into the text and recognize the characteristics of each work.
For example, while reading a novel and a short story, one might observe that the book follows a more linear path from beginning to middle to end, while the short story may jump around quite a bit more. Comparing and contrasting these plot structures can offer insight into how each type of narrative works, providing reading strategies for students to understand better how stories work and how to enjoy them more fully.
You can also compare and contrast two works of literature by figuring out how their plots work. This will help you improve your reading comprehension skills, which will help you do well in literature class.
If we compare and contrast two similar yet slightly different books, we could compare "When You Trap a Tiger," by Tae Keller, and "The Last Cuentista," by Donna Barba Higuera. This novel is about a girl named Petra Pea who wishes to be a storyteller like her abuelita but believes her world is ending. More particularly, the story begins (the exposition) with a comet that has destroyed Earth, and Petra and her family are among the few hundred scientists and their children who will travel to a new planet.
They will be the ones to keep the human race going. Petra wakes up on this new planet hundreds of years later and finds she is the only person who remembers Earth. During the ship's journey, a lousy group, the Collective, takes control of it and tries to erase all humanity's mistakes. They have erased the memories of everyone on board, either one by one or all at once. In this story, the plot follows a structure that shares the deeper meaning of the message within the story, which is similar to "When You Trap a Tiger."
Conclusion
By providing students with resources and methods for analyzing a piece of literature more accurately, you inspire them to progress further in their academic studies for subjects that involve reading comprehension, reading analysis, and essay writing skills.
Additionally, there are online tutoring for middle school students, critical thinking courses, online education communities, reading comprehension tutoring, and essay writing tutoring opportunities available for students to supplement with available resources and methods provided for them by their parent(s), guardian(s), or teachers at school.
Next Steps:
Start by selecting a literary work with a clear and well-defined plot structure, such as a classic novel or short story.
Encourage your student to read the text actively, paying close attention to key plot points, character development, and narrative devices.
Guide them in identifying the plot's exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
Use graphic organizers or story maps to represent the plot structure and facilitate comprehension visually. Then, engage in discussions that delve deeper into the significance of each plot element and its contribution to the overall theme and message of the work.
Please encourage your student to practice analyzing plot structures in other literary works independently, honing their critical reading skills along the way.
New here? Welcome! I’m Natasha, and I’m here to help students gain confidence in their reading, writing, and critical thinking skills so they can progressively reach optimal academic success in their humanities coursework by using their newly acquired skills.
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