Identifying the Turning Points of a Story

We all have watched film and TV, read books as part of school, and observed other stories that involve conflict. However, a good story needs a good plot, and a good plot follows the plot line.

1. The first part of the plot line is the exposition, which sets up the story.
2. The second part is the rising action, where most of the story takes place.
3. At the end of the rising action comes the climax, the most exciting point of the story.
4. After the climax, the falling action occurs, where the conflict is coming to an end.
5. At the end, there is the resolution, which ends the story. By then, the conflict is solved.
6. If there are no sequels, the resolution is the same as the conclusion.

Today’s entry is on the rising action, where much of the story takes place. About 90% of the plot typically occurs in the rising action.

Somewhere within the rising action of the story, there are several events that result in the start of new subplots or cause a series of reactions. These events are called the turning points, events that change the plot. But today’s entry covers three different types of turning points.

Types of Turning Points:

There are three different types of turning points at both ends of the rising action and in the middle. They are the inciting incident, the crisis, and the climax.

• The inciting incident of the story is what begins the conflict. As the story begins with the setup, there will eventually be a triggering moment where the conflict starts. For a story with a peaceful introduction, this is where all hell breaks loose. For a story with a dark introduction, this is when people are starting to fight back.
• Coming up next is the crisis. While there may be other events that change the story a bit, the crisis is not just a turning point; it’s the turning point. This is where the conflict accelerates the most, and thus, the story is no longer about what the exposition set up. If it is, then a new plot starts up along with the current one. This is easily the most important event of the story.
• After multiple turning points after the definitive turning point, the story will eventually reach the climax. This is the high point of the action. This is where the conflict has gone so far that it cannot go any further. It may continue, but it will no longer intensify. It can be a predictable moment from the beginning or a certain time of the story, or it’s another exciting event.

Here are some questions to ask, which can help you identify the turning points:

• What is the inciting incident? Why is this event the inciting incident?
• What is the crisis? Why is this event the crisis?
• What is the climax? Why is this event the climax?

Inciting Incident:

At the end of the exposition and the start of the rising action, there is an event that triggers the story. To answer the first two questions, this is basically what starts the story.

Using Disney’s Animation Canon as an example, let’s use Pinocchio (1940). For a recap, the story is about a wooden puppet who came to life through a wish. But he wants to become a real boy. In order for him to become a real boy, he must do good deeds. He is even accompanied by Jiminy Cricket to ensure that he doesn’t make the wrong choices. However, a duo with the members Honest John and Gideon have tricked Pinocchio into doing bad things that would ruin his future. He falls for them and faces the consequences. This makes Geppetto worried about him and looks out for him.

• What is the inciting incident? Pinocchio comes to life.
• Why is this the inciting incident? Because this is exactly where it all started. Geppetto was happy to create a new puppet, and then he made a wish that he became a real boy. It started to come true, but he was to do good deeds. While the rest of the story became about bad temptations and looking out for family, they wouldn’t become part of the story had Geppetto’s wish not come true.

Believe it or not, plot lines like these don’t just apply to film or literature. They apply to real life too. Let’s go over the American Civil War, one of the darkest events in American history. Here’s what we know about the Civil War. The war was about slavery. The South wanted to keep slavery while the North wanted it to be gone. The conflict eventually got so intense that a civil war broke out. The North has won, slavery has been abolished, African-Americans were given citizenship rights, and the South have returned to the Union.

• What is the inciting incident? The South secedes from the Union.
• Why is this the inciting incident? Although many experts have agreed that slavery is the main cause (if not, the sole cause) of the Civil War, the one event that finally triggered it was the secession of the South. There may have been other events that drawn outrage and battles, like the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Dred Scott decision, but the South seceding from the Union sealed the deal, and thus the Civil War has started.

Crisis:

Whether this event is in the middle of the story, closer to the beginning, or closer to the end, this is where the conflict intensifies the most. It was so much that it changed the story.

Using Disney’s Animation Canon as an example, let’s use The Lion King (1994). For a recap, the story is about a young cub named Simba, who was excited to becoming the king. However, he has a lot of responsibilities to learn before becoming the king. Meanwhile, his uncle, Scar, was embittered by the birth of Simba since it meant that he cannot become king. He was willing to use extreme means such as murder to take the throne.

• What is the crisis? Scar kills Mufasa.
• Why is this the crisis? Aside to being the saddest moment coming from a Disney movie, this is exactly what changed the plot. It was no longer about the troubles of Simba and the jealousy of Scar. This very event was what led Simba into exile and Scar becoming the king. Simba has felt the guilt that made him not return to the Pridelands, as the Pridelands have gotten worse under Scar’s reign.

As a war-related example, let’s go over World War I. Here’s what we know about World War I. It was a battle that mostly took place in Europe (but involved the world), with Germany being the biggest perpetrators of the war. It initially started as a conflict between Serbia and Austria, but the alliance systems resulted in the war getting bigger. The United States eventually joined the war, Germany has surrendered, and then Germany was punished by a very harsh treaty.

• What is the crisis? The Zimmermann Telegram
• Why is this the crisis? Because this is exactly what got the United States involved in the war. With Germany having the edge and Russia dropping out of the war, it looked like the Central Powers were about to win. Apparently, it wasn’t a good idea to mess with the United States. When Germany promised to help Mexico take back a few US states, the US declared war on Germany and sided with Britain, France, Italy, and Belgium. Germany ultimately lost the war.

Climax:

And now, for the most exciting point of the story. The conflict has been going far for so long it eventually gets to this point. Despite being the third stage of a plot line, this doesn’t happen until very late in the story.

Using Disney’s Animation Canon as an example, let’s use Frozen (2013). For a recap, the story is about two sisters with the names of Elsa and Anna. After Elsa struck Anna in the head on accident, the king and queen of Arendelle separated the sisters from each other, even though the trolls warned against fear and anxiety. The king and queen eventually died, and then Elsa embarrassed herself in front of everyone as the new queen of Arendelle.

• What is the climax? Anna completely turns into an ice statue.
• Why is this the climax? As the trolls warned, this is exactly what is bound to happen if Elsa lets her fear get the better of herself. She wanted to keep Anna away from her to prevent something like this from happening when it’s fear that she needed to avoid. This was also when Elsa finally learned her lesson that fear is the reason why she couldn’t control her powers.

As a war-related example, let’s go over World War II. Here’s what we know about World War II. It was the biggest war in world history. Germany, once again, becomes the big bully, and this time, they were under a worse leader. He even defied the Treaty of Versailles. Italy was also a threat to the rest of Europe. And the United States, once again, didn’t want to get involved in the war initially, until one of the nations from the same side Germany was on attacked the US. The US got involved and turned the war around, bringing the Axis powers to their knees.

• What is the climax? The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
• Why is this the climax? This was the very event that ended the war. Japan wasn’t giving up, but after two atomic bombings and a potential threat that Tokyo will be next, they finally gave up, giving the United States and the rest of the Allies a victory. Not only that, but the atomic bombings shown America’s true power over the world.

Further Examples of Turning Points:

Now that I went over each of the three turning points and some examples, let’s cover some examples where you’ll have to find all three turning points. In the rest of the entry, I have chosen a TV episode, a movie, and a video game to identify the turning points. While a synopsis will be left unchecked, details will be kept in spoilers to prevent spoiling the stories (unless if you aren’t interested into watching or playing).

Example – SpongeBob SquarePants:

There are so many SpongeBob episodes to identify the turning points of, but I found a good one to identify.

The episode is “Can You Spare a Dime”, which is about Mr. Krabs, Squidward, and SpongeBob. After Squidward quit over a feud with Mr. Krabs, he loses his home, so SpongeBob takes hospitality of him. However, it got to the point where he has become completely dependent on SpongeBob, even getting rude. In most episodes, Squidward gets annoyed by SpongeBob, but in this episode, it’s SpongeBob who gets annoyed by Squidward, as it was Squidward who was childish and SpongeBob who was mature.

Example – Star Wars:

Since Star Wars is a long saga consisting of several movies, let’s stick to one movie. The best one to choose here is Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

The first movie is all about the Death Star. Because it has the ability to destroy an entire planet, the Rebels needed to destroy the Death Star. They even have the plans to it. But Darth Vader wasn’t willing to let the plans go to the Rebels. So he sends some stormtroopers to find anyone who previously had R2-D2 and C-3P0. They eventually found Luke Skywalker, who learns about the Force. He undergoes training to become a Jedi and joins the Rebel Alliance.

Example – inFAMOUS:

Out of all the video games I played, inFAMOUS was the best one in terms of plot. As a game made by Sucker Punch (who is famous for the Sly Cooper series), inFAMOUS is very story-driven, along with the gameplay it offers.

The first game is about a conduit (a superhuman) named Cole MacGrath. After a blast went through Empire City, the whole city went to rot, while Cole learns powers of electricity. He had the choice to either use it to save what’s left of Empire City, or to destroy it for his selfish gains. At the beginning, all he wanted most was to get out of Empire City. But after staying there for so long, leaving Empire City was the last thing he wanted.

Since there’s a good walkthrough and an evil walkthrough, I’m going to base the plot details on the good walkthrough.

Quiz:

With enough examples and definitions given, let’s see if you can complete this quiz. Keep in mind that the movies mentioned are classic films. Spoiler warnings are off this time.