In  other  words,  the  biography  is  largely  an  elucidation
for  purposes  of  information.  Consequently  clearness  is
the  primary  essential,  and  plot  will  be  limited  in  great
degree  to  the  systematic  presentation  of  facts  in  the  or-
der most  effective  for  purposes  of  lucidity;  and  this  is
naturally  the  simple  order  of  occurrence.  In  the  novel,
on  the  other  hand,  the  whole  situation  is  different.  It  is  1
no  longer  intellectual,  but  emotional  interest  that  is  I
uppermost.  The  reader  does  not  follow  the  fortunes  of
David  and  Steerforth  and  Peggotty  in  order  to  estab-
lish facts,  but  from  interest  in  their  various  adventures,
sympathy  with  Dickens's  attitude  to  life,  admiration  of
his  wonderful  insight  into  character,  or  from  some  other
emotional  appeal.  Clearness  is  no  longer  so  much  the  es-
sential quality  as  are  those  elements  that  contribute  to
sustained  interest,  which  is  always  piqued  by  complica-
tion, by  suspense,  by  mystery.  It  is  not  difficult  to  see,
therefore,  that  in  planning  the  scheme  of  action  the  writer  -
of  what  we  may  call  emotional  narrative  is  more  likely
to  resort  to  complexity  of  plot  structure  than  is  the  writer
of  intellectual  narrative.
»

RHETORICAL  ELEMENTS  IN  PLOT  STRUCTURE

In  the  various  phases  of  narrative  writing  4unity  and
coherence  have  already  been  pointed  out  as  the  two  most
essential  rhetorical  qualities ;  in  plot  structure  their  rel-
ative importance  remains  unchanged,  although  to  them
emphasis  must  be  added.  To  these  clearness,  proportion,
and  selection  are  so  closely  allied  that  they  may  be  con-
sidered as  they  naturally  arise  in  the  discussion  of  the
more  important  elements.
