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2. Theories of Plot
Stanton 1965 states that plot is the story which is an order of events, one event leading to another event. Plot is something bigger and more complex than a
story p. 16. E.M. Foster 1974 says that a plot is a groundwork of a story. It is based on human motivation experiencing conflicts, thus result in actions which
comes from believable and realistic human response p. 86. Cuddon 1999 in The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory
defines plot as “the plan, design, scheme or pattern of events in a play poem or work of fiction;
and, further, the organization of incident and character in such a way as to induce curiosity and suspense in the spectator or reader
” p. 676. According to Kennedy and Gioia 2010, the plot structure is distinguished
in An Introduction to Fiction into Exposition, Crisis, Climax and Conclusion –
also is called as Resolution or Dénouement p. 14. In exposition, there are “opening portion that sets the scene”, introduction of the main characters and “any
o ther background information” needed for readers to understand the story. Crisis
is where the “moment of high tension” is provided. In addition, there is also greater crisis when any action takes or reaches turning point. As for when the
result is to be dec ided, supported by “the moment of greatest tension” the story
has reached its climax. The resolution is the end of the story to be unravelled. On this part, every conflict and tension is resolved. Adversely, Roberts and Jacobs
1989 states that formal categories of structure is divided into 5 parts. They are Exposition, Complication, Crisis, Climax, and Resolution p. 102. Differing from
Kennedy and Gioia only in terms of complication, it is defined as the point in PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
15 which the conflict begins. Separately, in An Introduction to Literature: Fiction,
Poetry and Drama 2008; Barnet, Burto and Cain mention that traditionally,
structure of plot is divided into Exposition, Conflict and Dénouement p. 101. Since it is the traditional plot structure, the structure is much simpler than the ones
which has been developed. However, the researcher would use the plot structure proposed by Kennedy and Gioia as the one proposed by Roberts and Jacobs would
need more elaboration on differentiating between complication and crisis, while the one proposed by Barnet, Burto, and Cain is too simple to classify the many
events leading to climax in the story just into conflict. Disher 2001 defines plot based on its functions in the story. Plot is used
by author as device to arrange events to make a point. Further, it is for characters to act, spring motives and react upon the plot. Simply put, plot is closely related
to charact ers’ development. Plot is also set to “engage the reader’s emotional
interest” until the story improves or even until the story ends p. 100.
C. Theoretical Framework
The theories provided above are used to solve the research problems. There are three research problems to be answered through this study. By applying the
theory of plot toward the story, it helps the researcher to identify the structure to correlate with irony. The researcher analyses the plot of the story based on the
structure of plot proposed by Kennedy and Gioia, which classifies the story into exposition, crisis, climax, and resolution. The plot structure was selected since the
conflicts found in the story would be too many just to classify them into conflicts PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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