Talk:Exposition (literary technique)

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Contents 1 Article Emphasis 2 Forbidden Planet 3 This is a bit too confusing switching through topics trying to tell the diffrence between plot device and plot dump 4 Holmes and Watson

[edit] Article Emphasis

Exposition is a respectable literary technique that is used in almost every work of fiction ever written. It seems odd that Wikipedia's only article on the subject (unless there's another I haven't found) concentrates on bad examples and gives the impression that exposition is a somewhat shady practice found only in hastily written horror movies and comic books. I recommend that this article be reorganized so that the opening paragraphs give a straightforward definition of the term and the derogatory expressions "infodumping" and "plot dumping" be moved later in the article, perhaps under the header "Problems with Exposition." I'll do it myself if I find the time, but if someone else wants to do it they have my blessing. Clampton 22:59, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

I agree, and also don't have the time (though hopefully I'll remember to come back and reorganise it if no-one else has) sheridan 11:37, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

I made a stab at rewriting the beginning, but the emphasis in the rest of the article really needs to be changed. Apparently the problem is that the title of this article was originally "Plot dump," but someone moved it last April to "Exposition." At this point I think we should consider making "Plot dump" a separate article and expanding the article on "Exposition" with examples from Homer, the Greek dramatists, the Bible, Beowulf, Shakespeare, and modern fiction/drama, roughly in that order. Clampton 18:21, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Forbidden Planet

Is the Forbidden Planet really a good example of exposition? Rintrah 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 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 15:47, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 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 --70.177.245.78 21:00, 5 November 2006 (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. 68.238.134.157 07:50, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Holmes and Watson

Does every line spoken by Sherlock Holmes to Dr Watson count as plot dump?