Plots

7 basic plots as remembered from second grade by IPL volunteer librarian Jessamyn West:
 * 1) [wo]man vs. nature
 * 2) [wo]man vs. [wo]man
 * 3) [wo]man vs. the environment
 * 4) [wo]man vs. machines/technology
 * 5) [wo]man vs. the supernatural
 * 6) [wo]man vs. self
 * 7) [wo]man vs. god/religion

This book proposes twenty basic plots:
 * Tobias, Ronald B. 20 Master Plots. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 1993. (ISBN 0-89879-595-8)**
 * 1) Quest
 * 2) Adventure
 * 3) Pursuit
 * 4) Rescue
 * 5) Escape
 * 6) Revenge
 * 7) The Riddle
 * 8) Rivalry
 * 9) Underdog
 * 10) Temptation
 * 11) Metamorphosis
 * 12) Transformation
 * 13) Maturation
 * 14) Love
 * 15) Forbidden Love
 * 16) Sacrifice
 * 17) Discovery
 * 18) Wretched Excess
 * 19) Ascension
 * 20) Descension.

Polti, Georges. The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations. trans. Lucille Ray. Polti claims to be trying to reconstruct the 36 plots that Goethe alleges someone named [Carlo] Gozzi came up with. (In the following list, the words in parentheses are our annotations to try to explain some of the less helpful titles.):
 * 1) Supplication (in which the Supplicant must beg something from Power in authority)
 * 2) Deliverance
 * 3) Crime Pursued by Vengeance
 * 4) Vengeance taken for kindred upon kindred
 * 5) Pursuit
 * 6) Disaster
 * 7) Falling Prey to Cruelty of Misfortune
 * 8) Revolt
 * 9) Daring Enterprise
 * 10) Abduction
 * 11) The Enigma (temptation or a riddle)
 * 12) Obtaining
 * 13) Enmity of Kinsmen
 * 14) Rivalry of Kinsmen
 * 15) Murderous Adultery
 * 16) Madness
 * 17) Fatal Imprudence
 * 18) Involuntary Crimes of Love (example: discovery that one has married one’s mother, sister, etc.)
 * 19) Slaying of a Kinsman Unrecognized
 * 20) Self-Sacrificing for an Ideal
 * 21) Self-Sacrifice for Kindred
 * 22) All Sacrificed for Passion
 * 23) Necessity of Sacrificing Loved Ones
 * 24) Rivalry of Superior and Inferior
 * 25) Adultery
 * 26) Crimes of Love
 * 27) Discovery of the Dishonor of a Loved One
 * 28) Obstacles to Love
 * 29) An Enemy Loved
 * 30) Ambition
 * 31) Conflict with a God
 * 32) Mistaken Jealousy
 * 33) Erroneous Judgement
 * 34) Remorse
 * 35) Recovery of a Lost One
 * 36) Loss of Loved Ones.