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Salaam in the 1980s when people mainly used UDA for transport and the daladala
transport system was beginning to take part. The setting also refers to the social or
cultural environment. A story, for example, could be set during a time of peace or
war. One should also know the setting by asking: What are the traditions and beliefs
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of a society depicted in the story? The second element is the plot. Plot is how the
story is put together. It is how one event leads to or causes another event. You can
analyse a plot by looking at how characters interact with one another to cause events
of the story to advance. The plot is driven or moves forward because of conflict.
Conflict is the misunderstanding between characters or opposing forces. Conflict is
what makes us continue reading a literary work. We want to know how the conflict
is resolved.

Conflict is always introduced at the exposition stage, which is the beginning of the
story. Slowly, the conflict becomes complicated and thickens as the story advances
to further stages of the plot. The following is an exploration of the basic elements
of the plot.

(i) Exposition: Here, the writer or author introduces characters and setting by
providing their descriptions and background. He/she introduces the conflict
as well.
(ii) Rising action: At this stage, the story gets more exciting and the conflict
strengthens. It is also where the suspense gets stronger. Suspense is when we

want to know how the conflict is resolved.
(iii) Climax: This is the moment of greatest tension or excitement in the story. It is
where the conflict reaches its highest point and begins to be resolved.

(iv) Falling action: It is a story moment when we know the story will end soon,
and a possible way of ending. It is often very short.
(v) Denouement (resolution): This stage is where all the challenges and
conflicts are resolved and the story ends.

Thus, the plot’s stages and elements can be summarised as in the following diagram:

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