Plot, Escalation, and Other Sorts of Movement

I've made this a "graded" discussion just so that it shows up in your to-do list. You're not really getting graded on this!

You do not need to all the reading below! The Burroway, Saunders, and Alison are essays about this topic; the other things are examples. Maybe try the essays and then see which, if any, of the examples you want to read.

If you know of amazing essays about this topic (plot, escalation, pacing, movement) you would like to share, please upload them.

Janet Burroway, Story as checkmark Download Story as checkmark (look at pages 169-72)

George Saunders, Rise, Baby Rise! Download Rise, Baby Rise!

Donald Barthelme, The School Download The School

Jane Alison, Beyond the Narrative Arc Links to an external site.

A couple of stories I think does traditional plot really well and in multi-layered ways that don't seem too formulaic:

ZZ Packer, Brownies Download Brownies

Susan Perabo, The Payoff Download The Payoff