Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in a literature class.
Professor: Now, we can’t really discuss story arcs without first talking about what a story is… because to understand an arc, you have to understand what you’re talking about in the first place. So what is a story? How would you define a story, Carlos?
Male student: Well, a story is something, I think… that has a beginning, middle, and an end. Apart from that, I would say that it’s about something that happens to a person, or a group of people. And within these rules, I think stories can be very different.
Professor: That’s right, stories vary in terms of what their beginnings, middles, and ends are, but what they have in common is that all stories share these features. By “features,” I mean the structure of a story—that it can be divided into these three parts. So any story could be broken down into its three main components. Beginning, middle, and end. Um, OK… so what about story arcs? Because we’ve talked now about the structure of a story, and the three pieces that make it up, but we haven’t talked about how those pieces connect to one another in a meaningful way. Lindsey?
Female student: Well, I think a story arc would probably refer to what the plot of the story is. Like, what actually happens in the three parts. For example, a common story arc is the Cinderella story arc—she’s sad and alone, then a really good thing happens to her at the beginning because she gets to go to the royal ball, which is a dream come true. But then in the middle, it gets bad again when she has to flee from the ball at midnight, and the prince can’t find her. She has lost her love… they’re separated. Then at the end, it’s happy again when he does find her. So the arc of the story is sad-happy-sad-happy.
Professor: Good description. The Cinderella story arc—sad-happy-sad-happy—is a common one in literature. There are a handful of common story arcs like this one…five or six that repeat themselves in great novels. How do we describe a story arc that does the opposite of the Cinderella story, that starts happy and ends sad? Actually, that story arc… we will come back to in a few minutes.
Male student: I thought a story arc was the same thing as the plot. And there are more than six plots in the world.
Professor: Good point—they are not exactly the same thing, although the plot follows the story arc. The story arc is going to be a more general description of the emotional state of the person the story is about. Like Lesley said, when she described it as happy and sad—you might think of story arcs on a spectrum from happy to sad. The story arc is how you would graph the character’s journey. Where were they the happiest, and where were they the saddest?
Plots, on the other hand, are more specific. There are as many possible plots as there are specific details that you can dream up in your mind. The plots in modern Western literature are extremely varied. There are thousands and thousands of them. They mostly, however, conform to standard story arcs. One of the standard story arcs we have identified: the Cinderella story arc.
Another common arc—the one I hinted at a moment ago—is the tragedy. In a tragedy, things start out fine, but by the end, something so terrible has happened that it is heartbreaking. Tragic. Obviously, this is why it’s called a tragedy.
If you think about some classic stories, you can come up with what other ones might be, right? There’s what we call “rags to riches,” which starts sad and builds to a happy ending. That title is based on the legend of a person working his way up in the world, from wearing rags to owning riches. Then there’s the arc we refer to as “Icarus,” based on the famous Greek myth. Icarus was imprisoned with his father on the island of Crete. To escape, his father created wings out of wax and feathers for them to use to fly out of the prison. His father warned him not to fly too close to the sun, but he didn’t listen. He flew so close to the sun that his wax wings melted, and he could no longer fly. He fell into the sea and perished. So this is a type of tragic story arc that starts off sad, then becomes happy, then ends sad again.
An interesting phenomenon to study is how some story arcs are more popular during certain times, in certain cultures. The Icarus story arc, for example, is not nearly as popular in contemporary America as the Cinderella story arc. Why do you think that is?
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What is the lecture mainly about? |
Gist-content. The lecture primarily discusses the definition of story arcs and several examples of them. |
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| ✗ | A How plots shape storytelling |
The professor differentiates between plots and story arcs, but plots are not the main focus of the lecture. |
| ✓ | B What a story arc is and different types of story arcs |
Correct. The professor defines what a story arc is and discusses several examples of them. |
| ✗ | C The definition of stories |
The professor discusses this definition in the beginning with the class, but this is not the primary focus of the lecture. |
| ✗ | D The Cinderella story arc |
This story arc is defined in the lecture and discussed a fair amount, but it is not the central topic of the lecture. |
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What does the professor mean when she says that story arcs and plots are not the same thing? |
Detail. The professor illustrates the difference between story arcs and plots—that plots are varied and much more specific, while story arcs are more general and reflect the emotional states of the audience or characters in the story. |
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| ✗ | A A story arc is more important than a plot. |
The professor does not imply this at any point in the lecture. |
| ✗ | B There are many more story arcs than plots. |
The professor indicates that the opposite is true—there are many more potential plots than there are story arcs. |
| ✗ | C A plot is more about emotional states, while a story arc is more about specific, unemotional facts. |
The professor indicates that the opposite is true—that plots are more specific and fact-driven, while story arcs reflect emotional states and are more general. |
| ✓ | D A story arc is more general, while a plot is more specific. |
Correct. The professor notes that plots are much more specific, but typically follow some standard, general story arc. |
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Why does the professor clarify what she means when she discusses the “features” of a story, including the beginning, middle, and end? |
Inference. The professor says: “By ‘features,’ I mean the structure of a story—that it can be divided into these three parts.” |
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| ✓ | A To stress that she is referring to the structure of the story |
Correct. This is precisely the clarification that the professor gives in the quote. |
| ✗ | B To establish the origin of the term “features” |
The professor does not discuss this at any point in the lecture. |
| ✗ | C To claim that all stories have different features |
In the context of discussing the “features” of a story, the professor says that all stories have the same features: a beginning, middle, and end. |
| ✗ | D To challenge the idea of developing a universal definition of a story |
The professor does not discuss this concept at any point in the lecture. |
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What does the professor say about stories that follow the tragedy story arc? |
Detail. The professor states that in a tragedy arc, the situation starts off happily but ends sadly. |
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| ✗ | A They ultimately lead to the main character’s triumph. |
The professor does not mention this idea in the lecture. |
| ✗ | B They go from sad to happy to sad to happy. |
This defines the Cinderella story arc, not the tragedy story arc. |
| ✓ | C They go from happy to sad. |
Correct. The standard tragedy story arc goes from happy to sad. |
| ✗ | D They involve characters who overstep their bounds. |
The professor describes the Icarus arc, in which the character of Icarus oversteps his bounds by flying too close to the sun. But the professor does not claim that this theme is common to all tragedy story arcs. |
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In the lecture, the professor discusses the characteristics of story arcs and plots. Select from the five statements below THREE that characterize story arcs and TWO that characterize plots. This question is worth 2 points. |
Connecting Content. According to the professor, plots are specific, fact-based, and separate from emotional states. Meanwhile, story arcs are general, and they relate to the emotional state of the reader or characters in the story. |
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| a There are thousands of variations. |
Plot. Plots are fact-specific, and therefore many thousands of potential plots exist. |
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| b There are only a handful of common ones. |
Story Arc. Story arcs are more general, and therefore only a handful of them exist. |
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| c They can be shown on an emotional spectrum. |
Story Arc. Story arcs deal with emotional states, while plots are fact-driven. |
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| d They involve specific facts and details. |
Plot. Plots are driven by specific facts and details, while story arcs relate to emotional states of the reader or characters in the story. |
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| e Of the common types, popularity varies across time and culture. |
Story Arc. The professor indicates that some story arcs are more prevalent or popular at certain times or in certain cultures. |
Narrator: Listen again to part of the lecture. Then answer the question.
Professor: Icarus was imprisoned with his father on the island of Crete. To escape, his father created wings out of wax and feathers for them to use to fly out of the prison. His father warned him not to fly too close to the sun, but he didn’t listen. He flew so close to the sun that his wax wings melted, and he could no longer fly. He fell into the sea and perished. So this is a type of tragic story arc that starts sad, then becomes happy, then ends sad again.
Narrator: Why does the professor say this:
Professor: So this is a type of tragic story arc that starts sad, then becomes happy, then ends sad again.
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Function of What Is Said. This quote is used to demonstrate a particular story arc that has not yet been discussed (the Icarus story arc), but that is based upon a broader type of arc (the tragedy story arc) already defined. |
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| ✗ | A To remind students of a story they have likely forgotten |
The story is used to provide detail about the origins of this new story arc, not to remind students of the original story itself. |
| ✗ | B To show that the best stories tend to follow a tragedy story arc |
The professor does not indicate that any one type of story arc tends to produce better stories than others. |
| ✗ | C To illustrate the Cinderella story arc |
This example does not follow the Cinderella story arc. |
| ✓ | D To illustrate a specific type of story arc not yet discussed |
Correct. The Icarus story arc is based on the tragedy story arc, with the added feature of a sad beginning state. |