A plot device is an element introduced into a story solely to advance or resolve the plot of the story. A narrative or story is a construct created in a suitable format (written spoken poetry prose images song Theater, or Dance) that describes a sequence of Mythos (Aristotle In literature the plot comprises all the events in a story particularly rendered towards the achievement of some particular Artistic or Emotional In the hands of a skilled writer, the reader or viewer will not notice that the device is a construction of the author; it will seem to follow naturally from the setting or characters in the story. A writer is anyone who creates a written work although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally as well as those who have written in many different forms A poorly-written story, on the other hand, may have such awkward or contrived plot devices that the reader has serious trouble maintaining suspension of disbelief. Suspension of disbelief or "willing suspension of disbelief" is an aesthetic theory intended to characterize people's relationships to art
Calling an element of a work a 'plot device' is generally derogatory, implying a lack of complexity in the work. Judging something as a plot device is always subjective, and depends on the degree to which the 'item' serves other purposes or is well-integrated into the tale. For example, the 'magic item' which the protagonists of a fantasy novel have to find or destroy is often a plot device that serves no other purpose.
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MacGuffins and related matters
One of the most common plot devices is the MacGuffin (a term popularized by Alfred Hitchcock). A MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is a Plot device that motivates the characters or advances the story but the details of which are of little or no importance Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 A MacGuffin is an object (or character) which drives the actions of the characters, but whose actual nature is not important to the story; another object would work just as well, if the characters treated it with the same importance. Hitchcock said that "in a thriller the MacGuffin is usually 'the necklace'; in a spy story it is 'the papers'".
MacGuffins are frequently found in 'quest' fantasy stories; the magic artifact which the hero must recover in order to save his village, world or family is a MacGuffin. The labours of Hercules might well qualify. Hercules is the Roman name for the Mythical Greek hero Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena.
MacGuffins are sometimes referred to as "plot coupons" (especially if multiple ones are required) as the protagonist only needs to "collect enough plot coupons and trade them in for a denouement". A plot coupon, and the somewhat less-well-known plot voucher, are the names given by literary critic Nick Lowe to specimens of Plot devices in his 1986 essay The term was coined by Nick Lowe.
Deus ex machina
The term Deus ex Machina is used to refer to a narrative ending in which an improbable event is used to resolve all problematic situations and bring the story to a (generally happy) conclusion. A deus ex machina ( lat. ˈdeːus eks ˈmaːkʰina literally "god from a/the machine" is an improbable The Latin phrase "deus ex machina" has its origins in the conventions of Greek tragedy, and refers to situations in which a mechane (crane) was used to lower actors playing a god or gods onto the stage at the end of a play. DeuS (Brut Des Flandres is a premium Belgian beer manufactured in Buggenhout, Belgium. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca A mechane or machine (Greek μηχανῆ, mēkhanē was a crane used in Greek theatre, especially in the fifth and fourth centuries BC God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity.
The Greek tragedian Euripides is notorious for using this plot device as a means to resolve a hopeless situation. Euripides ( Ancient Greek:) (ca 480 BC–406 BC was the last of the three great tragedians of classical Athens (the other two being Aeschylus For example, in Euripides' play Alcestis, the eponymous heroine agrees to give up her own life to Death in exchange for sparing the life of her husband, Admetus. Alcestis (Άλκηστις / Alkēstis) is an Athenian Tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides. In doing so, however, she imposes upon him a series of extreme promises. Admetus is torn between choosing death or choosing to obey these unreasonable restrictions. In the end, though, Heracles shows up and seizes Alcestis from Death, restoring her to life and freeing Admetus from the promises. In Greek mythology, Heracles or Herakles ("glory of Hera " or The first person known to have criticized the device was Aristotle in his Poetics, where he argued that the resolution of a plot must arise internally, following from previous action of the play. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Aristotle 's Poetics ( Greek: Ποιητικός, c 335 BCE aims to give an account of what he calls 'poetry' (for him the term includes the [1]
Examples of Plot Devices in Fiction
In the Indiana Jones film series, Jones is always on the hunt for some mystical artifact. Dr (also Col Henry Walton Jones Jr, better known as Indiana Jones or Indy after his pet dog is a fictional Adventurer, Soldier In Raiders of the Lost Ark, he's trying to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant, but the Nazis beat him to it. Raiders of the Lost Ark (also known as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) is a 1981 Adventure film directed by Steven The Ark of the Covenant (אָרוֹן הָבְרִית ʔārōn hāb’rīθ, Modern aron habrit) is described in the Bible as a sacred container wherein Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Jones is on a search for the Holy Grail, but the Nazis are in search of it as well. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 Adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a story co-written by Executive producer According to Christian mythology, the Holy Grail was the dish plate or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper, said to possess miraculous powers Both films lead to physical and moral conflict between good and evil.
Several books in the Harry Potter series orient around a certain object. Harry Potter is a series of seven Fantasy novels written by British author J In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry believes there is a magical stone in Hogwarts with special powers. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (published in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) is the first novel in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is a setting in J K Lord Voldemort needs this stone to bring back his body, and Harry looks for the stone first to prevent Voldemort's return. Lord Voldemort (ˈvoʊldəmɔrt or ˈvoʊldəmɔr is a Fictional character and the main antagonist in the Harry Potter novel series written
In Agatha Christie books, plot devices help her detectives solve a murder mystery. Agatha Mary Clarissa Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 &ndash 12 January 1976 commonly known as Agatha Christie, was an English For example, in Murder on the Orient Express her detective, Hercule Poirot, finds a little piece of information. Murder on the Orient Express is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on He learns the victim was really a kidnapper. Although this knowledge seems unimportant, he believes the murder must be connected to this fact he learned.
J R R Tolkien's books, The Lord of the Rings is an example of the subjective nature of labelling something a plot device. The Lord of the Rings is an epic The One Ring has been labelled a plot device, since the quest to destroy it drives the entire plot of the trilogy. However for something to be considered a true plot device its nature should be unimportant, and that is not the case with the ring. The corrupting power of the ring, and the ability of the humble to withstand it when the powerful would not, is a significant part of the book, and this, in the eyes of most commentators, elevates the ring above the level of a mere plot device.
Other devices
Another common form of plot device is the object, typically given to the protagonist shortly before, that allows them to escape from a situation that would be otherwise impossible. Nick Lowe coined the term 'plot voucher' for these, as the protagonist needs to "save the voucher and cash it in at the appropriate time". Examples of this might include the object given to a character which later deflects an otherwise fatal bullet. Most of the devices given to James Bond by Q fall into this category. James Bond 007 is a Fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve Novels and two Short story Q is a Fictional character in the James Bond novels and films.
Other plot devices are simply one-offs to get the protagonist to the next scene of the story. The enemy spy, who suddenly appears, defects, reveals the location of the secret headquarters and is never heard of again, would be an extreme example. Without this 'device' the hero would never find the headquarters and be unable to reach the climactic scene; however the character becomes less of a plot device if the author gives them a back-story and a plausible motivation for defecting, and makes them an interesting character in their own right.
Many video games rely hugely on plot devices; lesser games are sometimes entirely centred around characters performing arbitrary tasks in order to 'win' the game. Even relatively well-plotted games often involve the protagonist in a series of relatively unconnected and unjustified tasks.
Some other plot devices include:
- Deathtrap — overly complicated method of killing a character, used solely to provide a means of escape
- Quest — complicated search for capture or return of an object or person
- Quibble — following the exact terms of an agreement to escape what would normally be expected
In humor-themed forms of entertainment, particularly those that break the fourth wall in pursuit of comedy, plot devices or the concept itself may be deliberately pointed out to the audience for a joke. A deathtrap is a Literary and Dramatic Plot device in which a Villain, who has captured the Hero or another sympathetic character This article is about the word for other meanings see Quest (disambiguation A quest is a journey towards a goal used in Mythology In Literature, a quibble is a common Plot device, used to fulfill the exact verbal conditions of an agreement in order to avoid the intended meaning The fourth wall is the imaginary wall at the front of the stage in a Proscenium Theater, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play For example, in the one-shot DC comic book Blasters, written by Peter David, one of the protagonists is shown installing a device, made by an alien race known as the "Plaht", into her spacecraft that will allow herself and her companion to locate the other protagonists, which was required to forward the plot of the story. In the American Comic book industry the term one-shot is used to denote a pilot comic or a stand-alone story created to last as one issue DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative For the Grenadian politician see Peter David (politician. Peter Allen David (often abbreviated PAD) (born September 23 Her companion then seemingly turned to face the reader and said, "Oh, I get it. It's a Plaht device. "
The animated series Sheep in the Big City even featured a robot character actually named "Plot Device", who apparently worked for the antagonists and served no other purpose than to advance the plot when it arrived at an apparent standstill (usually by coming up with ridiculous plans to capture Sheep). Sheep in the Big City is an American Animated television series which ran on Cartoon Network for two seasons from November 2000 to April
The popular card game munchkin contains a literal "plot device" that dramatically turns the tide of a game. Munchkin is a card game by Steve Jackson Games, written by Steve Jackson and illustrated by John Kovalic, that has a humorous take on
See also
External links
- Television Tropes and Idioms Big wiki of literary clichés, including some about plot devices
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