1 Plot in literature, theater, movies
According to Aristotle's Poetics, a plot in literature is "the arrangement of incidents" that (ideally) each follow plausibly from the other. The plot is like the chalk outline that guides the painter's brush. An example of the type of plot which follows these sorts of lines is the linear plot of development to be discerned within the pages of a bildungsroman novel.
Aristotle notes that a string of unconnected speeches, no matter how well-executed, will not have as much emotional impact as a series of tightly connected speeches delivered by imperfect speakers.
The concept of plot and the associated concept of construction of plot, emplotment , has of course developed considerably since Aristotle made these insightful observations. The episodic narrative tradition which Aristotle indicates has systematically been subverted over the intervening years, to the extent that the concept of beginning, middle, end are merely regarded as a conventional device when no other is to hand.
This is particularly true in the cinematic tradition where the folding and reversal of episodic narrative is now a commonplace. Moreover, many writers and film directors, particularly those with a proclivity for the Modernist or other subsequent and derivative movements which emerged during or after the early 20th century seem more concerned that plot is an encumbrance to their artistic medium than an assistance.
2 Plot in printing
A plot is a drawn graphical representation of data, such as the output of a plotter or the process of plotting data by hand. Plots are used in
- Mathematics: plotting the graph of a function
- Meteorology: weather plots - isobar, isotherm, isogon, isotach, isohumeAn isohume is a line of equal or constant humidity on a graph, plot, or map; an isopleth of humidity. For example, isohumes are commonly seen on weather maps to show large-scale humidity distributions. External link . A lesson plan that deals with drawing, isodrosothermAn isodrosotherm is a line of equal or constant dew point on a graph, plot, or map; an isopleth of dew point. External links . A lesson plan that deals with drawing various isopleths including isodrotherms.
- CPU designTo a large extent, the design of a CPU or central processing unit, is the design of its control unit. The modern (ie, 1965 to 1985) way to design control logic is to write a microprogram. CPU design was originally an ad-hoc process. Just getting a CPU to design: plots of integrated circuitAn integrated circuit (IC is a thin chip consisting of thousands or millions of interconnected semiconductor devices, mainly transistors, as well as passive components like resistors. As of 2004, typical chips are of size 1 cm2 or smaller, but larger oness can resemble die photo s.
3 Other meanings
- A small piece of planted ground, as for a gardenA garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation and enjoyment of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. In its most common form, known as a residential garden, it is found adjacent to. A cemeteryGreen-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York A cemetery is a place (usually an enclosed area of land) in which dead bodies are buried. The term cemetery implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are t provides plots for dead bodies.
- A plot is a planned conspiracyAlternate uses: See Conspiracy (disambiguation Conspiracy in common usage, is the act of working in secret to obtain some goal, usually understood with negative connotations. As a legal term, conspiracy has historically been defined, in America, as an agr. E.g.,the Babington plot, July 20 Plot or The Passover Plot.
- Epistemological historian Paul Veyne (1971: 46-47; English trans. by Min Moore-Rinvolucri 1984: 32-33) defines a plot in the following way: "Facts do not exist in isolation, in the sense that the fabric of history is what we shall call a plot, a very human and not very "scientific" mixture of material causes, aims, and chances--a slice of life, in short, that the historian cuts as he [sic] wills and in which facts have their objective connections and relative importance...the word plot has the advantage of reminding us that what the historian studies is as human as a play or a novel....then what are the facts worthy of rousing the interest of the historian? All depends on the plot chosen; a fact is interesting or uninteresting...in history as in the theater, to show everything is impossible--not because it would require too many pages, but because there is no elementary historical fact, no event worthy atom. If one ceases to see events in their plots, one is sucked into the abyss of the infintismal."
