In case you were absent, here is the handout: Plot Map.docx
No, I don't mean the opposite of "winterize."
How to summarize: The type of summary that you need here is a story summary, and it should be objective. "Objective" here means that you have not added your own opinions and observations. You are telling the story as it is.
One way to summarize a story is to think of it as
To summarize a story or novel, it is helpful to think of a plot map.
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| This is a story map, or plot map, showing the basic outline of a story. It starts out with (1) exposition which introduces the characters, setting, and basic problem.  Actually many of the best stories begin with a "boom" -- beginning in the middle of the action, and then go back to give you more information about the characters and setting. The best stories also weave much of that information into the story so that you are not just getting a big chuck of "Alice was a young girl who always wore a blue dress with a white apron and wore a ribbon to hold back her long blonde hair. She lived in England on a vast estate where. . . . . . . "After the exposition comes the (2) inciting incident, something that happens to kick-off the action of the story. It causes a problem or makes an already existing problem worse. The problem is also called the CONFLICT. In a novel there will likely be more than one conflict, but usually there is one main one that the character is trying to solve. (3) COMPLICATIONS come along for the character(s). The point at which the problem (conflict) is solved is called the (4) climax. In novels, there may be several climaxes in which one problem is solved, but the character goes on to another problem. After the problem is solved, there is often a winding up of the story -- sort of the "they all lived happily ever after. . " or not. That comes in the (5) denouement and resolution.  |
