Devised by 19th century German playwright Gustav Freytag, Freytag’s Pyramid is a
paradigm of dramatic structure outlining the seven key steps in successful storytelling
: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, and denouement.
Readers need to understand a character’s thoughts and motivations to empathize with them. Freytag’s pyramid gives
them sufficient time to get attached to your characters
, making the climax even more satisfying (or traumatic, if it’s a tragedy) for them.
Today, Freytag’s pyramid is used
to analyze not only dramatic structures
Under the pyramids
When should things escalate and when should they wind down? What needs to occur for the beginning to become the middle? Freytag answers these questions and, through his handy diagram, helps us
understand the elevation and de-escalation of drama and pace across the entire span of a given story
.
Also known as a plot chart or plot mountain, invented by
Gustav Freytag
(1863) to diagram the structure of a five-act tragedy, but also useful for analyzing the plot of other works of literature. Exposition: Introduces characters, setting, and basic situation.
- Exposition.
- Rising Action.
- Climax.
- Falling Action.
- Resolution.
What are the 5 stages of drama?
A drama is then divided into five parts, or acts, which some refer to as a dramatic arc:
introduction, rise, climax, return or fall, and catastrophe
. Freytag extends the five parts with three moments or crises: the exciting force, the tragic force, and the force of the final suspense.
What is the story pyramid?
A story pyramid is
a graphic organizer that uses a formulaic system to input information such as main character, setting, conflicts, and resolution
. The pyramid starts with the main character at the top and adds a word to each line below it following assigned specific details.
What does Freytag mean?
Early Origins of the Freytag family
Meaning
“Friday”
in German (from the Old High German “frijetag”,) the name could have been originally given to one who was born on a Friday, but there is another, more likely possibility.
What’s a falling action?
Falling action is
what happens near the end of a story after the climax and resolution of the major conflict
. … Simply put, falling action is what the characters are doing after the story’s most dramatic part has happened.
Is the plot the climax?
The climax is
the most exciting point of the story
, and is a turning point for the plot or goals of the main character. The falling action is everything that happens as a result of the climax, including wrapping-up of plot points, questions being answered, and character development.
What is the climax in a story?
The CLIMAX of the story is
when the CONFLICT of the PLOT is resolved
.It is often the most exciting part of the story: when the hero saves the princess, discovers the buried treasure, or slays the dragon. Imagine when you read a story that you are climbing up a mountainside. The CLIMAX is the mountain peak.
What is exposition in the story?
It is important that readers know some of these details in order to understand a story. This is called the EXPOSITION. It is
the background information on the characters and setting explained at the beginning of the story
. The EXPOSITION will often have information about events that happened before the story began.
What are the 5 parts of a short story?
They are true masters at combining the five key elements that go into every great short story:
character, setting, conflict, plot and theme
.
What are the 5 parts of a story?
A story has five basic but important elements. These five components are:
the characters, the setting, the plot, the conflict, and the resolution
. These essential elements keep the story running smoothly and allow the action to develop in a logical way that the reader can follow.
What are the six elements of Aristotle’s Poetics?
The 6 Aristotelean elements are
plot, character, thought, diction, spectacle, and song
.
