Red Space Rocket

This week in English we are working on story structure and typical stories.

Stories, at least in the modern Western world, have a typical three act structure. In the first act we meet the characters, in the second act they have a problem and in the final act they resolve the problem.

The problem are different from story to story.

Here are seven options which cover many stories.

[wo]man vs. nature
[wo]man vs. man
[wo]man vs. the environment
[wo]man vs. machines/technology
[wo]man vs. the supernatural
[wo]man vs. self
[wo]man vs. god/religion

For example a story of a woman climbing a mountain would be woman vs. nature and woman vs. herself.

Tobias proposed that there are twenty basic plots. Here they are

1. Quest
2. Adventure
3. Pursuit
4. Rescue
5. Escape
6. Revenge
7. The Riddle
8. Rivalry
9. Underdog
10. Temptation
11. Metamorphosis
12. Transformation
13. Maturation
14. Love
15. Forbidden Love
16. Sacrifice
17. Discovery
18. Wretched Excess
19. Ascension
20. Descension.

Big stories, such as movies or books, are usually made up a collection of plots. If you have seen the Lord of the Rings films (or read the books) consider which of these twenty plots are used.

For more information about these categories see this link.