Theme of The Week is a single element you critique in your assigned book. This way if paired with a member more than once, you get to give feedback on something different.

This week, we will give feedback on Plot.

❝Plot refers to the sequence of events inside a story which affect other events through the principle of cause and effect. The causal events of a plot can be thought of as a series of sentences linked by "and so". Plots can vary from simple structures such as in a traditional ballad to complex interwoven structures sometimes referred to as an imbroglio. The term plot can serve as a verb and refer to a character planning future actions in the story.

In the narrative sense, the term highlights the important points which have important consequences within the story, according to Ansen Dibell. The term is similar in meaning to the term storyline.❞ ــ Wikipedia.

What to look for in Plot?

- Was the main plot clear and believable?

Did the main character have a clearly defined problem to solve? Did you feel by the end of the piece that this problem was solved or did the character become resolved to live with it?

Were you able to determine the time and place of the story quickly enough?

Did the story start at the right place? Did it end at the right place in the plot?

Are there scenes which do not seem to further the plot?

Was every subplot useful? Did it add to the overall story or did the author seem to stick it in just for complexity?

Pacing: Did the plot/subplots move fast enough to keep the reader's attention?

Resolution of conflict: Did the conflict and tension in the plots  come to some reasonable ending? Or did the author leave us hanging, wondering what happened? When you finished, were there things that you still felt needed to be explained?

If the author did leave some conflict unresolved, did they indicate somewhere that future stories are pending?

P.S. Questions borrowed from: http://www.crayne.com/howcrit.html