Plot device

A plot device or plot mechanism^[1] is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward.^[2]

A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelief. However, a well-crafted plot device, or one that emerges naturally from the setting or characters of the story, may be entirely accepted, or may even be unnoticed by the audience.^{[citation needed]}

^
For example:
- "For instance, a frequently used plot mechanism is a love triangle, where two men try to get the same woman." from Paul Virgil McCracken Flesher; Robert Torry (2007). Film and Religion: An Introduction. Abingdon Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-687-33489-6.
- "Janine functions largely as a plot mechanism: as a foil for the two lovers, as a voyeur, and finally as an unwitting trigger of disaster when she leads in the Gestapo." from Thomas Waugh (4 April 2000). The Fruit Machine: Twenty Years of Writings on Queer Cinema. Duke University Press. p. 107. ISBN 0-8223-2468-7.
^ Fred Pfeil (1990). Another Tale to Tell: Politics and Narrative in Postmodern Culture. Verso. p. 267. ISBN 978-0-86091-992-6. Retrieved 27 July 2013.

[1] For example:
"For instance, a frequently used plot mechanism is a love triangle, where two men try to get the same woman." from Paul Virgil McCracken Flesher; Robert Torry (2007). Film and Religion: An Introduction. Abingdon Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-687-33489-6.

"Janine functions largely as a plot mechanism: as a foil for the two lovers, as a voyeur, and finally as an unwitting trigger of disaster when she leads in the Gestapo." from Thomas Waugh (4 April 2000). The Fruit Machine: Twenty Years of Writings on Queer Cinema. Duke University Press. p. 107. ISBN 0-8223-2468-7.

[2] "For instance, a frequently used plot mechanism is a love triangle, where two men try to get the same woman." from Paul Virgil McCracken Flesher; Robert Torry (2007). Film and Religion: An Introduction. Abingdon Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-687-33489-6.

[3] "Janine functions largely as a plot mechanism: as a foil for the two lovers, as a voyeur, and finally as an unwitting trigger of disaster when she leads in the Gestapo." from Thomas Waugh (4 April 2000). The Fruit Machine: Twenty Years of Writings on Queer Cinema. Duke University Press. p. 107. ISBN 0-8223-2468-7.

[2] Fred Pfeil (1990). Another Tale to Tell: Politics and Narrative in Postmodern Culture. Verso. p. 267. ISBN 978-0-86091-992-6. Retrieved 27 July 2013.

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