Structure

How does the author’s structure help enhance the theme/argument or conflicts?


PROSE


sentence structure: repetition, punctuation, rhythm, short vs. long sentences

organization of narrative: nonlinear vs. linear, chapters vs. vignettes

structural devices: recurring images or cyclical points

flashforwards, flashbacks, foreshadowing

order of details: action, gesture, dialogue, description, as well as shifts in direction, focus, time, place

selection of detail to develop the message or story: use of ethos, pathos, logos (appeals to build an argument), deductive vs. inductive reasoning, anecdotes, analogies, facts, descriptions,statistics, dialogue, etc.


DRAMA

Guiding Questions

How does the plot structure impact characterization, conflict, and themes?

How does the playwright develop momentum in developing the complication?

In the end of the tragedy, was the catharsis satisfying after the catastrophe?

What form and structure does the playwright use?

Terms

Dramatic forms (comedy, tragedy, tragicomedy, farce), stage directions, stagecraft (props, music, sound, constructing scenery, lighting, designing costumes, makeup, sound, etc.), proxemics, fourth wall , proscenium arch, apron, blocking, stichomythia, subplot, acts, scenes, dramatic force, plot structure (exposition, dramatic incitement, rising action, complication, climax, crisis, falling action, denouement, catastrophe, catharsis.


POETRY

How are the stanzas arranged? Is there a purposeful design to how the stanzas and breaks are arranged? How does the structure contribute to the meaning? structural devices: recurring images or cyclical points

stanza, rhyme, fixed rhyme,

genre (narrative, lyric, dramatic, epic), form (sonnet, limerick, etc.), repetition, anaphora, punctuation, enjambment, caesura, polysyndeton vs asyndeton


Sentence Stems

  • The author's non-linear plot challenges the reader to ______.

  • The use of flashbacks/foreshadowing/flashforwards serve to ___________.

  • The initial incident that propels the plot forward occurs when ________.

  • The action in this chapter leads to the climax in that ______.

  • The turning point in the novel is when the protagonist must make a decision to _________, leading to ______.

  • The shift in time in the narrative allows for _______.

  • The alternative perspectives impacts the reading of the story in that ________.