Clue 2: Plot & Short Story Structure

1) What a plot structure looks like !



1. Exposition: The exposition of a plot diagram is usually almost always in the beginning of a story. It tells the reader who the characters are, the setting, some background information, and the time the story takes place. Different stories have more obvious expositions. For example in fairy tales expositions are easily identified with the common phrase, "Once Upon a time in a land faraway lived a Princes..." In that sentence, it tells the reader: a) the time: once up on a time b) the place: in a land faraway c) the main character: the princess.
2. Rising action: The rising action is the part of the story that leads up to the climax. Its all those other events that build up the feeling of suspense and gets you wondering what happens next. You are introduced to the conflict before the Rising action starts though, and during the rising action you get to know your characters more intimatley. The rising action is usually the longest part of the plot structure, because most of the obstacles your character has to face happen here.
3. Climax
The climax is the peak of your story, just like the top of the mountain is the peak of the climb. Just like when you climb a mountain, the climax is your goal, or the point you are working towards. For writers and readers, the climax is what they are also working or looking towards. It is the most dramatic part of the story. During the climax, the main character has to make a choice, and what happens after he or she makes that choice is the action that determines the ending of the story. After the climax the main character is almost always changed in some way, whether it is physically, emotionally, or mentally.
4. Falling Action/ Resolution
The resolution is how the story comes to a close in affect to what happens in the climax. The falling action is the events that lead to the resolution. Other unanswered questions can be either answered or left hanging, depending on whether there is as sequel to the story or not. In that case the resolution can be the beginning of the ending.



2) Why do stories need to be structured? What does this reveal about our need, as humans, to contruct understanding?



If stories are not structured, then they wouldn't make sense to the reader. The reader would be confused and not understand the character or even the story itself at all. For example if you opened a book and started reading about the end of the story and how everybody lived happily ever after, you wouldn't know anything about any of the characters, and it would have been a waste of your time to read what you just read. This shows us that we as humans like things to be in order, and we like to stick to things that are familiar to us. For us to be able to understand something, we need to be guided along something that we've seen before or know a bit of what to expect. Stories that have no structure are also extremely confusing to readers because we cannot follow what the writer is trying to show us. If one events lead to another that brings us to another beginning to an interwoven story, the reader will be left having nothing but confusion in their head. Also, if there are big holes in a plot of a story that a writer is writing, then it shows the reader that either the writer was being careless, or they meant to fill in those details later on in the story. If the writer never answers these questions, then the reader will obviously be constantly left wondering what really happend in the story.



3)After you looked at the plot graph and structure of "Marigolds" what new things did you see in the story that you didn't see before?



After I looked at the plot graph and structure of "Marigolds," I noticed that the author deliberatley sets up the exposition of the story in a poor place. The time this story takes place is also during an extremely difficult time of U.S. History; the Great Depression. Later on in the Rising Action, we are also shown this aspect more thoroughly through the example of Ms. Lottie's home. It is described as barely standing and decaying. The second thing I noticed was that it was Lizabeth's anger at her poverty and her confusion at the situation at home that led her to make the decision to destory Ms. Lottie's Marigolds. Although reading the story the first time through I didn't understand the true reason Lizabeth destroyed the Marigolds, looking at the plot structure I thought I had a better understanding of why. Her decision also led her to the realization that made her become a woman. This was the affect of her choice: Lizabeth was changed emotionally and changed from a child to a woman. Although this change can also be described physically, the true change happens on the inside and its in the way of thinking that really makes one into an adult. Through Lizabeth's choice and consequences, you can really see how she is forced to face what her actions have truly done, and be mature enough to apologize for it.



4) What is the theme of marigolds and how does the structure of the story make that theme evident?
I think that the theme of Marigolds is this: to know how to feel compassion, you have to lose your innocence. When Lizabeth was full of innocence, she was also ignorant to other people's feelings and their inner thoughts. Just like any other child who doesn't know better he believed in a world where everything was set and definite; her father was the rock of her family and her mother was the soft voice who comforted them. When this idea of hers is shattered through one overheard conversation, this is when her ignorance starts to falter. In knowing how to feel compassion, you transition from being a child to becoming an adult (in your way of thinking). The structure of Marigolds makes the theme obvious because Lizabeth's way of thinking changes dramatically the moment she looks into Ms. Lottie's eyes and feels compassion for her and realizes what she has truly done. The consequence of Lizabeth's actions is truly what brings out the change in her. As the story ends, we are shown how Ms. Lottie never planted Marigolds again. In the story, her marigolds were the light of beauty in her life and no amount of apologies or explanation from Lizabeth could make it right again. Lizabeth realized that too, and so when she grew up she remembers this turning point in her life. In memory of this, she also plants marigolds.