Great Beginnings

Beginning at the beginning​

• The NZ short film “Snail’s Pace” directed by Grant Lahood (1989) is a very useful text to build student’s understanding of the three-act structure, and the “jobs” that a good beginning does.
• Before students view the film, you could prepare them for viewing by having them make predictions based on the film’s title.
• Each group or pair makes predictions using this template:

• Each group/pair then shares their predictions with the larger group. Successive groups listen carefully so they don’t repeat ideas that have already been said.
• Full version: https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/snails-pace-1989

The 3 act narrative structure

The three-act structure is a very common story-telling structure that was key to the dramatic theory Aristotle outlined in Poetics c. 335 BC (i.e. 2358 years ago!).
In simple terms it describes a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end. Sometimes these three parts are called the Setup, the Confrontation, and the Resolution.

Act 1

Two key aspects of Act 1 are exposition and the inciting incident.

The exposition provides the reader or audience with key details such as the characters’ names and the setting (the place and time-period it is set). The reader or audience will often get an idea of who the protagonist (hero) is, what their normal life is like, and what they are satisfied and dissatisfied about.

The Inciting Incident is something that happens that sets the protagonist’s journey or adventure in motion – the goal they are working towards becomes clear. The inciting incident raises a dramatic question e.g. Will true love prevail? Will they reach their destination and find what they are looking for? Will they be able to triumph over their adversary?

Act 2

“raises the stakes”. 

It features rising action as the heroes faces obstacles and setbacks as they work towards their goal. Although the heroes have ups and downs, the general movement is escalation – obstacles get bigger and badder!

Act 3

Act 3 resolves the story with the heroes achieving their goal (or not!). The climax is the point where the author brings the main tensions of the story to their most intense point and the dramatic question answered, leaving the protagonist and other characters with a new sense of who they really are.

Overall structure of “Snail’s Pace”

​Directed by Grant LaHood (1989)​

What is the inciting incident that marks the end of Act 1?
If we were to add one more scene late in Act 2 (but before snail reaches the lettuce), what would it be? Why does this extra scene fit into the three-act structure?
What is the climax that marks the end of Act 2/beginning of Act 3?
How does the soundtrack reinforce the three act structure?

Act 1

How does the exposition tell us about:

• the setting (time-period and place)
• the main character?
• what to expect?

How does Act 1 create empathy for the main character?

Story structure graphing activity​

Give students a list of key plot events and have them score the level of dramatic tension at that point.

Other text ideas: What are some other simple (scaffolding) texts that could be used to illustrate the Three Act Story structure?

What does a good introduction do?​

What “jobs” does the introductory section of “Snail’s Pace” do?

• Introduces setting – time and place
• Introduces character
• Creates empathy for protagonist. How? Because we see things through the eyes of the snail (i.e. world moves fast, point of view)
• Creates conflict
• Shows tone
• Sets expectations
• Hooks us in – we want to find out whether snail achieves goal of getting the lettuce or not
• Helps us make predictions

A good beginning usually lets the reader/audience know:

• The genre or type of text/story it is
• The setting  (place and time-period)
• Main characters
• Protagonist
• Antagonist
• The main conflict
• The goal or problem to be solved
• The tone and mood the author is wanting to create (e.g., playful, weird, scary, serious, stern, bleak)
• As well as providing key information, a good beginning usually creates empathy for the main character(s) and leads us to make predictions about what will happen.
  No matter what, a good beginning is always one which makes us want to read on!

Some ways that beginnings can hook the reader or audience in are:

• Creating mystery
• Leaving gaps
• Starting immediately with the inciting incident
• Beginning in media res (in the middle of things)
• Starting with dialogue or using dialogue for exposition
• Showing a paradox such as a character having goals or qualities that seem to be opposites
• Setting the rules (especially for invented world stories)

Hooking the reader…

Some stories provide most or all of the exposition in a very direct way.
For example, they will use proper nouns to tell us the full names of the different characters and places and give us the date for the time-period in which the story is set.
Many other stories have gaps in their beginnings which can make the reader curious, so they want to read or view more.

Repeated close reading activities

For each text beginning students read or view in the unit, support them to:

• Summarise the exposition – what we learn about the characters, setting and situation and how we learn this
• Describe the inciting incident
• Explain how the author made you feel empathy for the main character
• Predict what will happen along the way (in Act 2) and at the end (Act 3) and explain why and how they predicted that
• Respond as a reader to the beginning
• Did the author ‘hook you in” and want you want to read more? How?
• What do you want to happen by the end of this story?
• How did the author make you want this to happen?
• Do you think you will get the ending you want? Why or why not? (consider clues in the beginning as well as your prior knowledge).

Thinking about gaps in the exposition

The following table might help students think about what information is given by the author – and what information the author withholds to create tension or interest or mystery.

Key summative activities this unit builds up to

1. Creative writing task

Your task is to write the first page of a novel that leaves your readers wanting to read more.

Plan your story by recording detailed notes about the genre, the characters, and the setting of your novel. Remember that you may want to create curiosity by holding some of these details back and by hinting rather than telling somethings.

Make sure your novel beginning includes an ‘inciting event’ that sets the story in motion.

2. Digital Learning Object (DLO)

Create a DLO. Find the beginning of a story or novel or film that you think has a “great beginning” Make a DLO where you explain the different reasons it is a great beginning. Make sure you use key vocabulary from this unit.

3. Synthesis task

Select two or three texts that have good beginnings. Write an argument convincing other students why one of the story beginnings is better than the other(s).

Key terminology