A Well-Told Story: Understanding the Dramatic Organization of a Story

Printed Page 29
 Analyze 
Use the basic features.

To keep readers’ interest, even the most exciting remembered events need to be organized in a way that builds suspense and tension. But if you compare the dramatic structure of Dillard’s story to Brandt’s, for example, you will see that writers may not always devote the same amount of space to the same elements of a story. Take another look at Figure 2.1 (p. 12), showing the parts of a dramatic arc. Recall that after several paragraphs of exposition, Dillard devotes most of the story to the rising action, as the man chases Dillard and Mikey relentlessly through streets and backyards. The climax comes when he catches the children, but the story ends with no falling action other than a line of dialogue and the writer’s thoughts for a quick resolution. Brandt has a more complicated rising action that includes the mini-climaxes of getting caught and getting arrested before the final confrontation with her parents, followed by falling action and a briefly stated resolution.

ANALYZE & WRITE

Write a paragraph or two analyzing the dramatic arc of Ruprecht’s story in “In Too Deep”:

  1. Skim the selection and note in the margin where you find the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, or whether any of them is omitted.
  2. How effective are Ruprecht’s choices about how to plot his narrative? How does Ruprecht’s emphasis differ from that of Brandt or Dillard?
  3. Describe how useful the dramatic arc was for you in terms of understanding Ruprecht’s narrative technique. Did it help you understand how Ruprecht created(or undermined) tension, for example?

    Question