Creative Writing: Plot Approximate Time Needed:   45 minutes Lesson Summary:   Students will articulate the plot (either in outline or paragraph form) for a story (involving assignments previously completed using the Creative Writing: Characterization, Setting, and Tone lesson plans) by combining research on a particular career with elements of plot studied in literature classes. Lesson Objective:   Students will develop web searching skills; articulate and utilize the elements of plot by understanding the roles of both reader and writer; and exercise creative writing skills by conceiving a plot appropriate to the characterization, setting, and tone already established through earlier exercises. Materials and Resources: Completed assignments for Characterization, Setting, and Tone lessons. Helpful Hints:   Teacher should have completed lessons for Characterization, Setting, and Tone before proceeding to this lesson on Plot. Teacher might want to compile--ahead of time--a template for a short list of traits of plot so that students can work within a structure. Teacher might also use this template to briefly review a rubric for the assignment to be evaluated. Teacher might want to review in a previous class (perhaps a literature one) the definition of "conflict" and ask students to complete, for homework, an articulation of the conflict they would like to deal with in their story. Activities Review the definition of "plot" and "conflict." Plot: the sequence of events or actions in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem. Plots may be simple or complex, but every plot is made up of a series of incidents that are related to one another. The most important element of plot is conflict: a struggle between two opposing forces or characters; can be external or internal--from Adventures in English Literature, Harcourt Brace and Jovanovich. Ask students to identify, in a sentence, the conflict that they wish to deal with. For example, "The main conflict of the story arises between Francesca’s desire to escape the war but remain with her family." Teachers might encourage students to use the active (as opposed to passive) voice for this articulation. Drawing on information gathered in doing the lessons on Characterization, Setting, and Tone, students compose a list (perhaps using a teacher-made template) of plot events for their story. Students might combine their imagination with information culled from a particular ECOS career profile. For example, Joan is interested in the life of a government agent. This, combined with students’ imagination (or even information learned in history class), might generate ideas for the plot. She discovers, using ECOS, that working for the State Department might require someone to travel abroad and to handle sensitive documents or engage in espionage. Drawing on her own creative impulses, perhaps a story read in class, and perhaps information learned about a famous spy in history class, Joan then creates a series of incidents (words, phrases, etc.) for her story’s plot. The teacher might want to indicate that plot events do not necessarily have to be linear; they simply have to be related to one another. Remind students that dealing with the conflict--either internal or external--is the ultimate goal of creating the plot. Either continuing in class or as homework, students compose--by properly ordering the list of plot events from Step 3--an outline or series of paragraphs that detail the plot of the story. Teacher may want to ask students to indicate at the end of the outline/paragraph what the resolution to the conflict is. Evaluation:   Students may be evaluated on their outline/paragraph, based on the plot traits established in class. Unit Goal:   Using this lesson and lessons for characterization, setting, plot, and theme, teacher can ask students to combine these major aspects of narrative to create their own short stories.