Plot... Getting to the Point

            Plot is a literary term that describes the events that make up a story. While many confuse this term with a summary, it is much different. The plot not only tells the story, but develops characters and themes as well. It is not simply the chronology of a story, but also the how's and why's behind it.

            Both “Happing Endings” and “A Worn Path” exemplify the significance of plot. In “Happy Endings,” Atwood illustrates that is it the details in a story that matter, for without plot, every story skeleton is the same. Atwood provides a vague skeleton in version A in which two people meet, spend time together, and die. If you remove the detail from every other version Atwood provides, you get the exact same skeleton. By changing from vague descriptions of John and Mary having “jobs which they find stimulating and challenging” and “a stimulating and challenging sex life,” which provide little to nothing as far as character or theme development, to “One day James breezes in on his motorcycle with some top-grade California hybrid and James and Mary got higher than you’d believe possible and they climb into bed,” which presents in-depth descriptions as well as symbolism, Atwood shows that plot is vital to a story in more ways than one (Atwood 143). If plot were strictly defined as what ultimately happens in a story, then all of Atwood’s versions would be the same. Readers can easily recognize the vast differences between versions, however, giving tangible evidence that plot affects characterization and theme as well.

            “A Worn Path” exemplifies the other end of the plot spectrum. Welty uses such powerful imagery that reading it elicits a movie in your mind. Although presented in another way, Welty’s plot serves the same purpose as Atwood’s. The detail in which Welty includes about her characters and their surroundings gives the reader an incredible understanding of these characters. Without the detailed plot given by Welty, we would not understand the incredible strength Phoenix possesses nor the theme of determination presented by this story. 

            In conclusion, the plot is the meat of the story. While it is what we recount to our friends after seeing a new movie, it is not limited to this summary. The plot is also what made us feel a certain way. It is who the characters are, and more importantly why and how they came to be this way.