How Plot Orders Events: Fiction/Drama - AP English Literature and Composition
- What is a framed narrative (frame story) in terms of plot order?
- An outer story encloses and organizes an inner story. Creates layers of meaning through nested narratives.
- What is foreshadowing as a plot-order technique?
- Hints or signals that anticipate later events. Creates suspense by planting clues about future events.
- Identify the plot-order term: the story opens with a crisis, then explains how it happened.
- In medias res. Plunges reader into action before providing context.
- Which plot structure best fits: the final scene repeats the opening image to close the arc?
- Circular plot structure. Ending echoes beginning for thematic resonance.
- What is a flashback as a plot-order technique?
- An interruption that shifts to earlier events to supply context. Temporarily reverses time to provide backstory.
- Identify the plot-order device: years pass in one sentence between two scenes.
- Temporal gap (ellipsis) with compressed time. Jumps forward to maintain narrative economy.
- What is a parallel plot (dual plotlines) in narrative ordering?
- Two plotlines alternate and develop in relation to each other. Creates comparison or contrast through simultaneous stories.
- What is pacing as it relates to how a plot orders events?
- The narrative speed created by expanding or compressing time. Controls reader engagement through temporal manipulation.
- What is a frame narrative (framing device) in plot structure?
- An outer story that encloses and organizes an inner narrative. Creates layers by nesting one story inside another.
- Identify the plot-order technique: the story opens with the climax, then rewinds.
- In medias res with subsequent flashbacks. Hooks audience, then fills in missing context.
- Identify the plot-order technique: a scene interrupts the present to show childhood.
- Flashback. Past intrudes on present to provide backstory.
- What is a parallel plot line in terms of ordering events?
- Two event sequences alternate, often to invite comparison or tension. Juxtaposes storylines to build suspense or meaning.
- What is anagnorisis as a plot event?
- A moment of recognition that changes a character's understanding. Greek for "discovery" - often triggers plot reversals.
- What is a montage sequence as a plot-order strategy?
- A condensed series of brief scenes showing time passing quickly. Borrowed from film; compresses extended time periods.
- Which plot-order effect is most directly created by delaying a key event until late in the narrative?
- Suspense through withheld information. Strategic delay builds tension and curiosity.
- Identify the plot-order technique: the narrator states early that the hero will die later.
- Foreshadowing (often explicit or proleptic). Direct revelation creates dramatic irony.
- Identify the plot-order term: early hints that a later disaster will occur.
- Foreshadowing. Creates anticipation by planting narrative clues.
- What is a reversal (peripeteia) in the ordering of plot events?
- A turning point where events shift sharply in direction or fortune. Greek term for sudden change in character's circumstances.
- Which plot structure best fits: chapters alternate between two characters' timelines?
- Parallel plot lines (alternating structure). Weaves separate stories for comparison or contrast.
- What is a temporal gap (ellipsis) in plot order?
- A deliberate omission of intervening time between narrated events. Skips unimportant time to maintain narrative momentum.
- Which plot-order label fits: Chapter A (present), Chapter B (past), Chapter C (present)?
- Nonchronological order with a flashback. Past interrupts present timeline for context.
- What is a subplot in relation to plot ordering?
- A secondary sequence of events interwoven with the main plot. Enriches main plot through parallel or contrasting action.
- Identify the plot-order structure: an outer narrator introduces a found diary that becomes the main story.
- Frame narrative. Embeds the central story within another narrative.
- What is a time shift in narrative structure?
- A move forward or backward in time between scenes or sections. Transitions that reorder chronology for effect.
- What is a flashback as a plot-order device?
- An insertion of earlier events into the present narrative. Interrupts forward momentum to reveal past context.
- What is episodic plot structure?
- A sequence of loosely linked episodes rather than one tight arc. Common in picaresque novels and TV series formats.
- What is a nonlinear fragmented plot structure?
- The story is told in fragments that the reader must assemble. Mirrors psychological experience or thematic complexity.
- What is in medias res as a plot opening strategy?
- The narrative begins in the middle of the action, then fills in. Latin for "into the middle of things" - starts mid-crisis.
- What is non-linear plot order?
- Events are presented out of time sequence (reordered in time). Disrupts chronology for thematic or dramatic effect.
- What is in medias res as a way to order plot events?
- The narrative begins in the middle of the action. Latin for "into the middle of things"; hooks readers immediately.
- Identify the plot-order term: a scene showing events earlier than the main timeline.
- Flashback. Interrupts present action to show past events.
- What is nonchronological plot order?
- Events are presented out of story-time sequence for effect. Disrupts linear time for dramatic or thematic impact.
- What is foreshadowing as a way of ordering events?
- Early cues that anticipate later events and shape expectations. Plants seeds that bloom into later significance.
- Which plot-order label fits: the narrator tells the ending first, then recounts earlier causes?
- Nonchronological order (beginning with the outcome). Reverses cause-effect order for dramatic impact.
- Identify the plot-order structure: alternating chapters follow two characters until their stories meet.
- Parallel plotlines. Weaves separate threads toward convergence.