ENG200.001 -- Introduction to Literary Study

Prof. Eileen Joy

Spring 2005

EXERCISE #7 (10 points)

Figure 1. Frame from graphic novel, And I Saw Edgar Allen Poe (the Tompkin Brothers)

". . . . [plots] are just one thing after another, a what and a what and a what. Now try How and Why." (Margaret Atwood, from "Happy Ending")

The editors of our literature anthology tell us that, at its most basic level, the short story plot is simply "the arrangement of the action, an imagined event or a series of such events" (15). Further, "action usually involves conflict, a struggle between opposing forces, and it often falls into something like the same five parts we find in a play: exposition, rising action, turning point (or climax), falling action, conclusion" (15). On a somewhat deeper level, we also have to realize that plot is not only about the arrangement of the action of a story, but is also designed to elicit certain intellectual and emotional responses from us as readers. Whose side are we on, who are we rooting for, and who do we hope will get their "comeuppance," and how has the story been designed to elicit such a response? [Of course, there are often times when we, as readers, purposefully subvert the plot designs of the author: we may wish the story ended differently, or be secretly rooting for the character who is the clear villain.] We should also pay attention to where stories end and begin, for that tells us a lot, too, about how the arrangement of a story's events affect the possible meaning(s) of the story. Because short stories are just that--short--"every detail, every arrangement or ordering must count" (17). Even though stories ultimately "lie" (because they are fiction), they are also trying to tell us something that is true, to give us "new insights into human perception, experience, meaning, or at least to challenge our more or less unconsciously held beliefs" (20).

So, returning to Margaret Atwood's argument above (from her short story "Happy Endings") that plots are just "one thing after another, a what and a what and a what," and that the really difficult thing is the "how" and the "why," choose one story from our anthology that we have not discussed in class, and write a short paper explaining HOW the plot works the way it does in relation to WHY the story means what you believe it means. Please re-read pp. 15-20 and 66-69 in our anthology ("Understanding the Text: Plot" & "Understanding the Text: Narration and Point of View") and also read Atwood's story, "Happy Endings," on pp. 20-22 (because, after all, it's short and funny and actually pertinent to getting you to think a bit deeply about this assignment).

2 pages (TYPED and double-spaced) will suffice.