Talk:Exposition (narrative)/Archive 1

This is a bit too confusing switching through topics trying to tell the diffrence between plot device and plot dump
you try to find what is and isnt plot dump and can barely see the plot device -- 70.177.245.79 (talk) 15:00, 10 November 2004 (UTC)

I think that "plot dump" is exposition as a plot device, but so poorly used that the reader begrudges the author for the heavy-handed exposition. 68.268.134.159 (talk) 07:50, 15 December 2004 (UTC)

Forbidden Planet
Is the Forbidden Planet really a good example of exposition? Rintrah (talk) 14:17, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

I should clarify my question: Can a movie as cheesy as the Forbidden Planet justifiably be cited as an example of "well done" exposition? You need only to watch the film once to see that it is cheesy. Rintrah (talk) 11:45, 10 August 2006 (UTC)


 * And if you watched the film twice, you might notice that it has a very clever story. I'm not the one who added that reference, but I agree with it in principle. Forbidden Planet has many dated elements, but the underlying plot is quite effective and uses exposition in a fairly classic manner, as a setup for the tragic fall of the Walter Pidgeon character. Clampton (talk) 15:47, 10 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Forbidden Planet may appear cheesy to a modern audience; it isn't. The plot, and a lot of the structure including the exposition, is taken from Shakespeare's Tempest.  Might be worth mentioning it in this article, as well as maybe giving examples of good exposition in the film instead of just saying it has some. Capmango (talk) 20:22, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

examples of exposition and its absense
As far as parodies go, I think you should include the one from the GREAT MUPPET CAPER:

Miss Piggy: (after a long expository speech from Diana Rigg) Why are you telling me all this?

Rigg: It's plot exposition; it has to come somewhere!

On the other hand, allergic reactions to exposition can lead to very clumsy scenes. For example, in the movie "HARRY POTTER AND PRISONER OF AZKABAN", no explanation is given as to why Hermione knows a time-travel spell, even though it is crucial to unravelling the plot. The book's explanation was cut because it "slowed down the action", making the spell look like a deus ex machina. CharlesTheBold (talk) 03:25, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Holmes and Watson
Does every line spoken by Sherlock Holmes to Dr Watson count as plot dump? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Capmango (talk • contribs) 23:25, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

"Plot dump" section lacking neutrality and not citing sources
The entire "plot dump" section looks like it's written from the subjective perspective of one author, based on his or her own opinion on what constitutes a good or bad exposition in a work of fiction.--87.164.75.182 (talk) 18:45, 7 March 2008 (UTC) Exposition is a form of explanation of something. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.227.32.125 (talk) 13:11, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Exposition
Exposition is a literary term Use in many ways — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.54.65.45 (talk) 13:51, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

Merge from Incluing
I've done the merge - there didn't seem much to discuss for the merge itself, although people might want to reposition it now it's here, and of course edit it. Dougweller (talk) 16:17, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

Plot dump vs. information dump
In the "Parodies of information dump" section, phrase "information dump" is used a whopping once, in the very last line of the section: "The final episode of the hit-series "LOST" is an information dump." [sic] It seems that this section is less about information dumping and more about random plot dumping. Should there be a distinction between "information dumping" and "plot dumping?"

I understand that plot is a type of information--you are informing the reader about what's going on in the story.

A plot dump has the capacity to be used seriously; or, it would if it wasn't cliched. There is no reason why an entire section should be--albeit indirectly--about parodies on plot dumping and not about how it can be used seriously, as well. I vote that, if we decide that info dumping and plot dumping are different, there should be a few examples of serious plot dumping underneath the examples of information dumping. Cinderlei (talk) 16:13, 5 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Perhaps we shouldn't take it upon ourselves to decide anything and cite reliable sources to differentiate between plot and information dumping. ~ QuasiAbstract {talk/contrib} 07:35, 16 June 2010 (UTC)