- plot or character -
In his Poetics, Aristotle says that Plot is the “first principle,” the most important feature of tragedy. He defines plot as “the arrangement of the incidents” and according to him, tragedies where the outcome depends on a tightly constructed cause-and-effect chain of actions are superior to those that depend primarily on the character and personality of the protagonist.
Foster-Harris, a 1950's era writing instructor said that plot is an emotional problem caused by two conflicting emotions being felt by the same person (the main character), and the working-out of that conflict.
In his Poetics, Aristotle says that Plot is the “first principle,” the most important feature of tragedy. He defines plot as “the arrangement of the incidents” and according to him, tragedies where the outcome depends on a tightly constructed cause-and-effect chain of actions are superior to those that depend primarily on the character and personality of the protagonist.
Foster-Harris, a 1950's era writing instructor said that plot is an emotional problem caused by two conflicting emotions being felt by the same person (the main character), and the working-out of that conflict.
People often say that there are only a certain number of basic plots in all of literature, and that any story is really just a variation on these plots. Since Foster-Harris claims that all plots stem from conflict, he describes this in terms of what the main character feels: "I have an inner conflict of emotions, feelings.... What, in any case, can I do to resolve the inner problems?" This is in accord with the canonical view that the basic elements of plot revolve around a problem dealt with in sequence: "Exposition - Rising Action - Climax - Falling Action - Denouement".
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