The 5-Point Narrative: How to Plot a Short Story
Short story writing should be enjoyable for students. Yet given the creative prose tasks on current examination papers, students have the stressful challenge of needing to write creatively under timed conditions. One way teachers can ease the pressure of this requirement is by supplying students with a narrative structuring method they can use to plot their stories quickly in response to prompts. Once the basic structure of a story is outlined, the writer is free to imagine and inscribe the rich detail that will enhance the storytelling and boost the performance of their work.
In his 1863 treatise Die Technik des Dramas (Technique of the Drama, 1863), German novelist and playwright Gustav Freytag developed a model for dramatic structure, later named Freytag's Pyramid. Based on the classical and Shakespearean five-act play structure, the paradigm outlines a dramatic arc in five parts or acts:
The stages are easily defined and distinguished: The exposition sets the scene for the story, as its introduction. An inciting event then sets in motion the rising action, characterised by complication. At the climax, a turning point is reached and rounded, as events are seen to change the direction of the narrative. The falling action may involve a final element of suspense that brings about the conclusion. The resolution - also called the dénouement, from the French dénouer ‘unknot’ - signals the untying of the complexities of the narrative.
The Internet abounds with articles and graphs developed from Freytag’s model. One of the most useful examples for teaching this 5-act structuring method comes from the educational website BBC Bitesize, which breaks the Cinderella story arc down into the five acts:
Exposition - Cinderella’s mother has died and the stepmother moves in with her two daughters.
Rising action – The ‘ugly sisters’ make Cinderella do the housework and don’t invite her to the ball.
Climax – With a little help from her fairy godmother, Cinderella makes it to the palace ball and dances with the prince.
Falling action - The prince finds Cinderella’s glass slipper and travels the country to find her.
Resolution – Despite the efforts of the ugly sisters, the prince finds Cinderella. They get married and live happily ever after.
Demonstrating how a student might adapt this model, the following is an example of how the 5-point narrative structuring method might be employed given an exam-style prompt:
Write a story with the title ‘Nowhere to Hide’.
1. [Exposition] The main character is hiding in a dark closet, trying not to make a sound. They think someone is in their house.
2. [Rising action] They hear the footsteps they’ve been hiding from. In a state of quiet panic, they debate whether to move.
3. [Climax] The footsteps gradually become closer. Unable to stay put, the character bursts out of the closet, running on adrenaline to escape.
4. [Falling action] The character nears the living room, but hears voices and more pairs of footsteps; they think there must be burglars in their house.
5. [Resolution] Suddenly, the lights come up and there is a surprise party for the character's sister. The character feels relieved and annoyed at the same time: Her house wasn’t being burgled after all, but nobody let her in on the surprise because they know she can’t keep a secret.
A student can take five or ten minutes at the start of the creative prose exam task to outline a skeleton structure of this kind, leaving them with focus and time to incorporate the kind of bodily, sensory detail that will heighten the tensions of this thrilling plot and make the reveal more amusing for the reader.
How Freytag’s dramatic model can be so well adapted and employed for this writing purpose encourages an enquiry into the five-part structure of it, which offers a pleasing, logical form for the mind to replicate. The paradigm is further proof, it seems, of the impressionable force of scaffolds.