plot element
1
3.7
- noun
:
elemento de la trama
- If, however, comprehension is to take place, the viewers need to attend to the main plot elements, encode them, and make inferences from explicit and implicit events.
- crucial plot element
Examples
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I'm sure all the other plot elements would have made a great episode if they'd only gotten rid of the mockumentary bits.
Blog text (31) -
How did she bring these plot elements together?
Blog text (1) -
I'd been thinking of magic systems in which the structure is firm, very visible, and indeed a key plot element of the story.
Blog text (29) -
Four questions were asked: How many crucial plot elements of a programme can children recall immediately after viewing?
Academic text (1994) -
You should offer a prize for a short story weaving together all four plot elements:
Blog text (15) -
Some other plot elements and jokes were recycled in later episodes as well.
Blog text (31) -
The pacing of this pilot was so relentless that the characters' motivations didn't actually make sense, and individual plot elements were incredibly convoluted.
Blog text (1) -
A twist in the story is often an unexpected plot element that keeps readers engaged.
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The protagonist's journey to self-discovery is a crucial plot element in many coming-of-age novels.
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The reveal of the hidden treasure served as a major plot element that drove the narrative forward.
Synonyms
36
5.5
A separate part of a story or plan
34
3.0
An important fact that helps explain a situation or solve a problem
20
5.9
A theme or idea that appears again and again in stories, paintings and music
9
3.5
A series of events in a story, like in a book or film
4
3.2
The main story of a book, film, or play
How Important
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward composition of 'plot' (to draw a graph) + 'element' (a component), so its meaning — a component of a graph or chart — is directly derivable from the constituents. This noun–noun/nominal composition follows common English and cross-linguistic patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
The noun plot element comes from thinking of a story as a puzzle: each element is a small piece that fits into the plot to make the whole. So it means 'a part of the structure of a story'.