Plot and structure

In this section, we will help you identify the elements of the plot and how “Coming Home” is structured.

Plot is a literary term used to describe the events of a story or the main part of a story. These events relate to each other following a certain pattern or a sequence.

In Ronald Frame’s short story we can identify the following plot elements:

Exposition

Around Winter holidays, furniture maker Chris rents a DVD that makes him think of his parents, whom he hasn’t seen in months: “In the DVD rental shop, open again the day after Boxing Day , Chris found a copy of Tokyo Story”.(ll. 1-2) “Chris was very touched by the film. It also made him uncomfortable. He thought of his own parents, left behind in the city”. (ll. 14-15)

Rising action

Chris deci...