On this page, we're going to explain the structure of a story. This includes the plot, the theme, the point of view- basically an overview of everything about a story!   First of all: the plot of the story-the sequence of events that gives the story structure and direction. The plot is also refered to as the story line.   Although not every story follows a distinct plot that is that same as every other story, the basic sequence of events in a story are:

1) Exposition: a fancy word for the beginning of the story- where the author "sets the stage"- in this part, the situation of the characters in the story is explained and it leads up to the further development of the plot- the point of view and the setting (the where and the when) is also explained 2) Rising Action: the series of action, or complications, that sets up the conflict for the main character of the story- in this part of the story tension builds, and the story works its way up to the climax 3) Climax: the high point in the story - the turning point where the conflict comes to a head and is decided for one side or the other- usually the most exciting point in the story 4) Falling Action: events that happen after the climax - usually wrap up the story and lead to the conclusion- sometimes the falling action is almost non-existant because the conclusion occurs immeaditely after the climax 5) Resolution: the point of closure- also called the conclusion or denoument- when the conflict is worked out- the end   Often, authors will start in the middle of a story and use flashbacks (narration of events which occured earlier. Flashbacks sometimes makes a story more interesting and builds more suspense (uncertainty or anxiety in the reader about what will happen next). Foreshadowing (hints in a story about what happens later) may also be used to build suspense.   Another important part of a story is the theme- in fact in some stories, it is the most important part. The theme is the story's central concept, or the controlling idea. Many times the theme will make a statement about life, or the human character-or it will make some other statement based on the views of the author. Not all stories have a theme, however- for example, mysteries usually don't make a statement, they just give you a good puzzle to figure out.   A few other things you might like to know about: Characterization: the way an author creates the people in their story and brings them to life- characters may be flat (one-dimensional, i.e. the good guy is always the hero and the bad guy is also the villan) or round (complex, characters that have many sides to them-good, bad, everything), as well as static (they don't change at all during the story) or dynamic (they change or grow during the story, so they are somewhat different at the end) Point of View: the perspective or angle that the story is being told from- there are three main types, listed in the table below. First Person where the story is told by someone who identifies himself as "I," and may or may not be a character in the story (but usually is) -allows you to know the mind of that one character but no others Third Person where the story is told by someone who is not a character in the story and identifies the characters as "he," "she," or "them"- you don't find out anything more than can be seen, heard or know by an observer Omniscient where the story is told by someone who is not a character in the story but can know everything about every character in the story- what they think, what they feel, as well as what they see and hear