Dramatica Theory Book

Chapter 18: The Progression of Plot (Continued)

Sequences

Just as Theme has appreciations that are more character oriented, some more aligned to plot, others that pertain most strongly to genre, and those that are closest to the heart of Theme itself, Progressive Appreciations also touch on all four aspects of the Elements of Structure.

Acts are the most plot-like of the Progressive Appreciations, and accordingly fall in the Type level of the structure. Sequences, on the other hand, occur at the Variation level and therefore, like the Range, are the most Theme-like of the Progressive Appreciations.

What Is A Sequence?

Sequences deal with a quad of Variations much as Acts deal with a quad of Types. The quad we will be interested in is the one containing the Range, as that is the item at the heart of a throughline's Theme. Returning to our example story about an Objective Story Throughline in the Physics Class with a Concern of Obtaining, we shall say the Range is Morality, as illustrated in the quad below.

If Morality is the Range, then Self-Interest is the counter-point. Theme is primarily derived from the balance between items. When examining the quad of Variations containing the Range, we can see that the Range and counter-point make up only one pair out of those that might be created in that quad. We have also seen this kind of balance explored in the chapter on Character where we talked about three different kinds of pairs that might be explored: Dynamic, Companion, and Dependent.