Freytag’s Pyramid : How to Analyze a Story

Exposition (inciting incident): During the exposition, we are introduced to our main character (Mr. Morton), the setting (Ericson School, present day), and the supporting characters (the teachers, students, parents and caretakers, and the President).

The inciting incident occurs when the President passes “The No Child Left Behind Act,” which forces the teachers and students to either get their test scores up or to close their doors.

Rising Action: The action rises in the story when the students that don’t want to learn English begin sabotaging Mr. Morton’s lessons and plans. Things get worse until Mr. Morton is about to quit his job.
Climax (turning point): The climax in this story is when Mr. Morton calls his mother. He gets the idea to contact the parents and caretakers of the students. This is the turning point in the story. From this point on, things get better for our main and supporting characters (Mr. Morton and the students).
Falling Action: Mr. Morton begins teaching successful lessons and the students begin learning. There is a moment of final suspense, when the students take the test.
Denouement: The students pass the test. Ericson continues to be a great school. Everyone is happy.

Freytag’s Pyramid Exercise Name: ________________________

Directions: Read the following plot summaries, and then write what the expositions, inciting moments, rising actions, climaxes, falling actions and denouements are.

The Iron Giant plot summary

Hogarth Hughes is a 9-year-old boy living in Rockwell, Maine in 1957. One night, while home alone, a large object comes crashing down from the sky and lands behind his house. He goes to investigate, and comes across a robotic giant feeding on the metal in a power plant. Hogarth is chased away by the strange machine, but returns and meets up with him again the next morning. The giant begins to follow him home, and Hogarth eventually allows him to live in the shed behind his house. Hogarth befriends the giant and the giant begins to speak and even learn. However, Kent Mansley, a government agent, sees the giant as a threat to the country, and isn't about to let him get away. Kent Mansley calls in all types of reinforcements to destroy the robot. After attacking it unsuccessfully several times, a nuclear missile is accidentally fired from a battleship.

It seems that the missile will destroy the town. Once the nuclear missile is launched, the Iron Giant sacrifices himself to save the town of Rockwell, Maine by flying into space and colliding with it before it reenters Earth's atmosphere. After his presumed death, a statue is built in his honor. Hogarth gets along in the community after the robots death. One day, Hogarth discovers a stray bolt from the giant's remains, but it reactivates and makes its way (along with all the giant's other parts) to a glacier in Iceland, where he is self-reassembling.