What is premise, conflict, exposition, denouement. The climax is the moment of highest tension in the plot.

Offers several definitions of the concept “plot”. According to Ozhegov, plot in literature is the order and connection of events. Ushakov's dictionary suggests that they be considered a set of actions, the sequence and motivation for the unfolding of what is happening in a work.

Relationship with plot

In modern Russian criticism, plot has a completely different definition. The plot in literature is understood as the course of events against the background of which the confrontation is revealed. The plot is the main artistic conflict.

However, other points of view on this issue have existed in the past and continue to exist. Russian critics mid-19th centuries, supported by Veselovsky and Gorky, considered the compositional aspect of the plot, that is, how exactly the author communicates the content of his work. And the plot in literature is, in their opinion, the actions and relationships of the characters.

This interpretation is directly opposite to that in Ushakov’s dictionary, in which the plot is the content of events in their sequential connection.

Finally, there is a third point of view. Those who adhere to it believe that the concept of “plot” has no independent meaning, and when analyzing it is quite enough to use the terms “plot”, “composition” and “plot diagram”.

Types and variants of product schemes

Modern analysts distinguish two main types of plot: chronicle and concentric. They differ from each other in the nature of the connections between events. Main factor, so to speak, is time. The chronic type reproduces its natural course. Concentric - focuses no longer on the physical, but on the mental.

Concentric plots in literature are detective stories, thrillers, social and psychological novels, dramas. Chronicle is more common in memoirs, sagas, and adventure works.

Concentric plot and its features

In the case of this type of course of events, a clear cause-and-effect relationship between the episodes can be traced. The development of the plot in literature of this type is consistent and logical. It is easy to highlight the beginning and end here. Previous actions are the causes of subsequent ones; all events seem to be pulled together into one node. The writer explores one conflict.

Moreover, the work can be either linear or multilinear - the cause-and-effect relationship is preserved just as clearly, moreover, any new storylines appear as a result of events that have already happened. All parts of a detective story, thriller or story are built on a clearly expressed conflict.

Chronicle story

It can be contrasted with concentric, although in fact there is not an opposite here, but a completely different principle of construction. These types of plots in literature can interpenetrate each other, but most often either one or the other is decisive.

The change of events in a work built on a chronicle principle is tied to time. There may be no clear connection, no strict logical cause-and-effect relationship (or at least this connection is not obvious).

In such a work we can talk about many episodes, the only thing they have in common is that they happen in chronological order. A chronicle plot in literature is a multi-conflict and multi-component canvas, where contradictions arise and fade, and one is replaced by another.

Commencement, climax, denouement

In works whose plot is based on conflict, it is essentially a scheme, a formula. It can be divided into its constituent parts. The elements of plot in literature include exposition, setup, conflict, rising action, crisis, climax, falling action, and resolution.

Of course, not all of the above elements are present in every work. More often you can find several of them, for example, plot, conflict, development of action, crisis, climax and denouement. On the other hand, it matters how exactly the work is analyzed.

The exhibition in this regard is the most static part. Its task is to introduce some of the characters and the setting of the action.

The plot describes one or more events that give rise to the main action. The development of the plot in literature goes through conflict, rising action, crisis to climax. She is also the peak of the work, playing a significant role in revealing the characters’ characters and in the unfolding of the conflict. The denouement adds the final touches to the story being told and to the characters. characters.

In literature, a certain plot structure has developed, which is psychologically justified from the point of view of its influence on the reader. Each element described has its place and meaning.

If a story does not fit into the scheme, it seems sluggish, incomprehensible, and illogical. For a work to be interesting, for readers to empathize with the characters and delve into what is happening to them, everything in it must have its place and develop in accordance with these psychological laws.

Plots of ancient Russian literature

Ancient Russian literature, according to D. S. Likhachev, is “literature of one theme and one plot.” World history and meaning human life- these are the main, deep motives and themes of the writers of those times.

Subjects ancient Russian literature are revealed to us in lives, epistles, walks (descriptions of travel), chronicles. The names of the authors of most of them are unknown. According to the time interval, the Old Russian group includes works written in the 11th-17th centuries.

The diversity of modern literature

Attempts to classify and describe the plots used have been made more than once. In his book The Four Cycles, Jorge Luis Borges suggested that in world literature there are only four types:

about search;
about the suicide of God;
about the long return;
about the assault and defense of a fortified city.

Christopher Booker identified seven: rags to riches (or vice versa), adventure, there and back again (Tolkien's The Hobbit comes to mind), comedy, tragedy, resurrection and defeating the monster. Georges Polti reduced the entire experience of world literature to 36 plot collisions, and Kipling identified 69 of their variants.

Even specialists of other profiles were not left indifferent by this question. According to Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology, the main subjects of literature are archetypal, and there are only six of them - the shadow, anima, animus, mother, old man and child.

Index to folk tales

Perhaps most of all, the Aarne-Thompson-Uther system “highlighted” the possibilities for writers - it recognizes the existence of approximately 2500 options.

We are, however, talking about folklore here. This system is a catalog, an index of fairy-tale plots known to science at the time of compilation of this monumental work.

There is only one definition for the course of events here. The plot in literature of this kind looks like this: “The persecuted stepdaughter is taken into the forest and abandoned there. Baba Yaga, or Morozko, or Leshy, or 12 months, or Winter test her and reward her. The stepmother’s own daughter also wants to receive a gift, but does not pass the test and dies.”

In fact, Aarne himself established no more than a thousand options for the development of events in the fairy tale, but he allowed for the possibility of new ones and left a place for them in his original classification. This was the first index that came into scientific use and was recognized by the majority. Subsequently, scientists from many countries made their additions to it.

In 2004, an edition of the reference book appeared, in which the descriptions of fairy tale types were updated and made more accurate. This version of the index contained 250 new types.

I talked about these things in some detail in my past articles. But questions, oddly enough, still remain. Okay, then I'll explain more clearly.

Commencement - development and climax - denouement - these are the four constituent elements of any plot in literature. Since I deal with theater, I will tell you how these four elements are embodied in stage space, when interpreting a dramatic work (drama) by the director.

Dramaturgy is (to put it simply) a type of prose literature, which is created according to certain principles stage action existing in the theater. Any drama is built on a dialogue between characters, which has (or should have) a clearly defined effective (target) nature.

Oh yes. Here and there I encounter a misunderstanding of what prose is and what its role is in literature. Many people confuse them, many don’t even understand what’s what. Remember: everything we read is literature. Literature is conventionally divided into two main types or directions: poetry (rhythmic presentation) and prose (non-rhythmic or free (not having a clear rhythmic structure) presentation of the author’s thoughts). Prose, in turn, has many varieties, there is both oral and written prose. There is some “cunning” prose that many people still don’t understand where to classify it as. This is dramaturgy.

Ancient thinkers (from the time of Aristotle, for example) considered dramaturgy to be a type of poetry. However, “why” they did this is completely clear. For the dramaturgy of those times strongly resembled poetic forms (and was rarely presented in direct “non-rhythmic” speech in the way that exists now).

But a lot of time has passed since then. And now - dramatic work has (almost) nothing to do with poetry.

It is believed that any dramaturgy has a written embodiment (in the form of a play) and a stage embodiment (in the form of a director’s interpretation). This is both true and not true – at the same time. For - being formed into a specific work that has four elements of plot, it and, as a consequence, it (the work) can and should be called a type of prose (literature). How the director will retell the play later - God knows. But initially, a dramatic work is a type of prose. Which, in turn, is the “pillar” (direction) of literature itself.

Of course, dramaturgy is very dependent as a variety or genre, because it is “sharpened” not on descriptive, but on effective perception, which is so in demand in the theater. But this does not in any way cancel its literary “roots”.

Yes, any play is initially a literary (prose) work, which is written according to the laws of stage action. Explicit or implicit.

I hope I haven't clouded your brain too much. No? This is good. What to do, without a clear definition of such rules of the game, unfortunately, there is no point in writing about anything else. Because then we will simply get confused in the details. And you won't understand anything. And I will throw information like peas against a wall. Do we need it? Hardly.

So, let's get down to the details that are so dear to me. I will note that I will consider the “commencement, development, climax and denouement” through the prism of dramatic works.

So, What is a “tie”? This is where the story itself began. Let's take for example a dramatic work (play) “The Seagull” by A.P. Chekhov.

Where exactly does “The Seagull” begin? Since Kostya Treplev and his beloved Nina Zarechnaya are preparing to show a performance for their mother, who occasionally comes to the estate of her brother Sorin, Arkadina, where Kostya lives. The most important starting point of this story (“the plot”) is Arkadina’s arrival. And that's why. "Prima" arrives, " socialite" And for Kostya, the performance is a reason to regain (or earn) his mother’s respect.

It begins with Kostya’s difficult relationship with his mother, which will be clearly confirmed in the scene of the play. this story. By the way, during the performance the mother behaves disrespectfully, constantly commenting on certain plot moves and mocking their ineptitude.

“Development” consists of several turning points and events. This is the process of maturation of the main conflict of the play. PROCESS. Remember development does not consist of one moment, it is always a complex of moments that intensifies the conflict. What is the main conflict in the play “The Seagull” - every director must understand for himself.

Chekhov, in the sense of defining the conflict of his plays, is not a simple author. More precisely, there are some of his plays in which the conflict is multi-level. “The Seagull” is just one of those. In this play one can look for a conflict between the needs and interests of generations (both creative and – age – “fathers and sons”). It is possible - a conflict in the area of “the price of success” (to what extent can and is possible to reach in order to achieve success). You can even formulate the conflict in the area of the junction of times(this is not an age conflict, it is rather a technotronic conflict).

And the “plot” that I wrote about above stems from the age conflict between fathers and children. But if you are looking for (using) another conflict to select production decisions, you will it is useful to define “commencement, development, climax, denouement” based on the conflict. I will talk about this in more detail below.

What turning points and events can be called “development” in the play “The Seagull”? This is the actual break in the relationship between Treplev and Nina Zarechnaya in the scene with the dead seagull. And Kostya’s failed suicide attempt some time later (the scene when Arkadina bandages her son’s head). And Kostya challenges Arkadina’s husband, the writer Trigorin, to a duel, which the latter does not accept.

The culmination of the plot, if we define the conflict in the area of “fathers and children,” is the departure (and in fact, escape) of the mother and her husband from the estate of her brother, Sorin.. "We didn't agree." The generations did not understand each other and decided to disperse in order to prevent something completely bad from happening.

“Dénouement” - the death of Kostya Treplev in the finale. The younger generation is losing to the older generation - in courage, determination, will - in everything. “Denomination” is how the conflict ends in the end.

And finally - I will tell you how best to formulate “commencement, development, climax and denouement”, taking into account the generational conflict I have chosen.

At the beginning of our history, there is a clash of generations. So let’s call the “commencement” – “collision”. In “development” we observe the struggle and the possibility of (attempts to) adapt generations to each other. Let’s call it “confrontation” or tug of war.” The culmination is “we didn’t agree.” “Denomination” - finding itself out of the confrontation - the younger generation destroys itself (Kostya commits suicide, and Nina gets lost in the endless hardships of life and professional life). "Death."

The plot is an element of the plot, the starting point in the development of the action of a literary work; the event from which the main conflict of the work grows and moves towards its final resolution. IN literary work the characters' actions are logically interconnected. Each event arises as a result of the previous one. The sequence of events in a story that influence other events based on cause and effect is single action and represents the plot of a work of art.

The plot reveals the characters, their relationships, as well as the series of events described. Since the plot is based on the emergence, growth, and resolution of a conflict, that is, a collision of opposing forces, the structure of a literary work includes several stages of its development.

The plot structure

The plot structure of a literary work includes the following elements:

exposition;
string;
action development;
climax;
denouement.

In the structure of the works there are also other plot elements, for example, or an epilogue. Each element performs its own function. For example, the exposition provides information about the main participants in future events, time and place even before the development of the action, and the prologue tells about what happened before the events described in the work.

There are three essential elements of a plot: plot, plot. Every story uses a plot to build a narrative, even if it has an unconventional plot structure.

The plot is usually found at the beginning of the work, although sometimes it appears in the middle or at the end. For example, the reader learns about the decision of the hero of N.V. Gogol’s novel “Dead Souls” Chichikov to acquire dead souls at the end of the work.

In large-scale works (for example, in L.N. Tolstoy’s novel “Anna Karenina”) there are often several plots that begin different storylines. Each separate part a work of art (part, chapter, action, etc.) has a separate plot, subordinate to the general one. The plot of a work is the starting point for the development of action.

Types of ties

The set-up usually begins after exposure (introduction). In this case, the story becomes motivated and consistent. However, some works begin with a sudden, unmotivated beginning, which gives them poignancy and secrecy. This plot contains intrigue (Latin inticare - to confuse, confuse), i.e. a way of organizing actions in a work by increasing tension, hidden intentions, and acute confrontation of interests. The presence of intrigue is characteristic mainly of action-packed adventure and adventurous works (for example,). In detective novels, the plot, as a rule, is a description of a crime that will soon be solved by detectives; in adventure novels, it is a scene that motivates the characters to exploits. An example of an intriguing plot is the beginning of N. G. Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?”

The meaning of the plot in the work

The plot is the event from which the development of action in the work begins. In the beginning, as a rule, the main conflict begins, a clash of forces occurs, which leads to the development of subsequent events in the work.

The tie has great importance in revealing the characters' personalities. The plot usually shows the first clash of antipodes, the emergence of tension between the heroes, the appearance conflict situation, which will develop further and deepen towards its final resolution. The plot determines the main lines of plot development, orients the reader in the division of forces, and specifies the theme and problems of the work.

The tie is often considered to be the most significant part plot, since the climax and denouement depend on the events described at the beginning of the work.

Examples of plots in works

The theme of a drama is its unified action. The theme of Macbeth is ambition. The theme of Romeo and Juliet is love. The theme primarily shapes the drama.

The plot is a theme in a more specific form. The plot of "Macbeth": Macbeth strives for power and commits atrocities for this. Plot of "Romeo and Juliet": Romeo and Juliet love each other; The Montagues and Capulets interfere with their love. – In other words, the plot determines the main line of the dramatic struggle.

The plot of a drama is a system of the most important circumstances and the sequence of the most significant events that determine the dramatic struggle. (When retelling the plot, the “dramatic knot” and the most acute moments of the dramatic struggle should be noted)

Intrigue in drama is sometimes called sequential actions of one of the characters, subordinate to a conscious plan. For example, in Othello, Iago leads the intrigue. Sometimes the intrigue of a drama is called all the interactions of the participants in the drama, the relationship of individual intrigues. general view The plot is a kind of basic scheme of the work, including the sequence of actions occurring in the work and the totality of character relationships existing in it. Typically, the plot includes the following elements: exposition (Exposition (Latin expositio - display, presentation) in literary criticism and folklore - part of the work that precedes the beginning of the development of units of the structure of the work, in particular, part of the work in drama, epic, lyric poetry, which precedes the beginning of the plot. The exposition follows the arrangement of the characters, the circumstances develop, the reasons that “trigger" the plot conflict are shown. The exposition can follow both before and after the plot. In folklore, also, it is part of a cumulative work that precedes the beginning of the unfolding of the elements of cumulation.

Exposition is the beginning of the main events in the work), the plot (The plot is the event that is the beginning of the action. It either reveals existing contradictions, or itself creates (“knots”) conflicts.

Thus, in William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark,” the plot is the meeting of Hamlet (the main character of the tragedy) with a ghost, and the subsequent decision to take revenge on the treacherous king for the murder of his father.

The plot is one of the key elements of the plot.), development of action, climax, denouement (The denouement of the plot is the outcome of events, the resolution of the contradictions of the plot.) and postposition, as well as, in some works, prologue and epilogue. The main prerequisite for the development of the plot is time, and in historical terms ( historical period actions of the work), and in the physical (the passage of time during the work).

Plot and plot. The concept of plot is closely related to the concept of the plot of the work. In modern Russian literary criticism (as well as in the practice of school teaching of literature), the term “plot” usually refers to the very course of events in a work, and the plot is understood as the main artistic conflict that develops in the course of these events. Historically, other views on the relationship between plot and plot have existed and continue to exist. For example:

Ushakov’s explanatory dictionary defines plot as “a set of actions, events in which the main content of a work of art is revealed,” and plot as “the content of events depicted in a literary work in their sequential connection.” Thus, the plot, in contrast to the plot, is attributed to the obligatory presentation of the events of the work in their time sequence.

The previous interpretation was supported in the 1920s by representatives of OPOYAZ, who proposed to distinguish between two sides of the narrative: they called the very development of events in the world of the work “plot”, and the way these events are depicted by the author - “plot”.

Another interpretation comes from Russian critics of the mid-19th century and was also supported by A. N. Veselovsky and M. Gorky: they called the plot the very development of the action of the work, adding to this the relationships of the characters, and by the plot they understood the compositional side of the work, that is, how exactly the author reports the content of the plot. It is easy to see that the meanings of the terms “plot” and “fable” in this interpretation, compared to the previous one, change places.

Finally, there is also a point of view that the concept of “plot” has no independent meaning, and to analyze a work it is quite enough to operate with the concepts of “plot”, “plot diagram” (that is, plot in the sense of the first two of the above options), “plot composition” (the way the author presents the events from the plot outline).

Typology of plots. Repeated attempts have been made to classify the plots of literary works, to divide them according to various signs, highlight the most typical ones. The analysis allowed, in particular, to highlight large group so-called “wandering plots” - plots that are repeated many times in different designs among different peoples and in different regions, mostly in folk art(fairy tales, myths, legends).

According to A.E. Neamtsu, from the whole variety of traditional plots, four main genetic groups can be distinguished: mythological, folklore, historical and literary.

As noted by Prof. E.M. Meletinsky, “most traditional plots in the West go back to biblical and ancient myths.”

There are several attempts to reduce the diversity of plots to a small, but at the same time comprehensive set of plot schemes. In the famous short story “The Four Cycles,” Borges claims that all plots come down to just four options:

On the assault and defense of the fortified city (Troy)

About the Long Return (Odysseus)

About the search (Jason)

On the suicide of a god (Odin, Attis)

PERIPETIA (Greek peripe’teia - “sudden turn”), as defined by Aristotle (“Poetics”, Chapter XI) is “the transformation of an action into its opposite”, one of the essential elements of complicating a tragic plot. Examples illustrating this definition (for example, in “Oedipus the King” the shepherd, who appears to reveal Oedipus his origin and thereby dispel his fear, achieves the opposite effect with his exposure), allow us to compare Aristotelian peripeteia with the “tragic irony” of modern aesthetics, but, in general speaking, the term “peripeteia” is used more broadly by Aristotle, denoting any unexpected turn in the development of the plot. Lessing and many other theorists of tragedy attributed to Aristotle an understanding of this term and themselves understood it in the sense of that turning point of a tragic action (and not a specific “action”, an act that Aristotle apparently had in mind), which determines the beginning of the descending line of “denouement” " (cm.).

In modern literary criticism, the term “P.” is sometimes applied to non-dramatic types of verbal art, for example. to the development of the plot of the epic (see) and novel (see).

Just finishing my planned essay,
we understand why we should
start it. (c) Blaise Pascal

IN classic version The following parts of the work of art are distinguished:
- prologue
- exposition
- string
- development
- climax
- epilogue

This article will focus on the finale of a work of art.

1. Proportionality of parts of the text
2. Crisis
Decisive choice
3. Climax
4. Downward action
Denouement
Final conflict
5. Epilogue

PROPORTIONALITY

An experienced author is usually distinguished from a beginner by the proportionality of the parts of the work.
A beginner sits down to write, in love with his idea. He sketches out the beginning of the work quite quickly - intuitively feeling both the exposition and the plot, but then the difficulties begin.
The main reason is that the author did not think through the entire work to the end. And a novice author often doesn’t even know that this needs to be thought through. He has never heard of the elements of composition and believes that everyone writes like him - on a whim. Alas.

The most common flaws in the development of action:

The result is a cephalopod text, eighty percent consisting of an introduction, then a couple of paragraphs about the middle and a sacramental end - “in general, everyone died.”

Disproportionality – typical mistake novice authors.
What to do?
Double-check yourself and your creation using arithmetic. Break your item into meaningful parts and count the signs - the result will surprise you.

According to the classical scheme, 20% of the volume is allocated to the introduction, 50% to the main action, 10% to the climax and 20% to the denouement.
Experiments with structure are, of course, possible, but are they always justified?

- develop the planned plot threads. It is possible to add new, secondary ones, but not to the detriment of the main idea of the work.

Develop images of the main characters. It is possible to introduce new characters, but again, taking into account the main idea.

Draw the reader into emotional experiences about what is happening.

“People read books to empathize with the characters and worry about them. If someone asks you to look for hidden symbolism, vague hints, and consider the nuances of various philosophical views, guessing at the subtext, comprehending the meaning of the existential - don’t listen. This has ruined many writers and readers. People read books to experience what the characters feel. People want to laugh, cry, suffer with them. If you are a writer, your the main task- make the reader empathize” (c) James N. Frey. How to write a brilliant novel.

The middle of the work is actually the story itself that the author tells.
This may be a non-standard situation in the life of the characters or, conversely, a standard one, but with an inadequate reaction of the characters.
The plot threads intertwine, complement and mutually decorate each other.
The intensity of passions is growing, the conflict indicated in the beginning has reached its boiling point, the problem that confronted the hero at the very beginning must be resolved, or it will destroy him.

A CRISIS is coming.

A crisis is a state of affairs in which a decisive change in one direction or another is inevitable.

Hercule Poirot collects passengers " Orient Express" to tell them who killed Ratchett.
Bazarov is preparing for a decisive explanation with Odintsova.
The “Water Society” in Kislovodsk relishes with pleasure the insidious slander against Princess Mary spread by Grushnitsky and his friend.

And here attention! The crisis described must correspond to the chosen genre. For example, in a fiction story the story always plays the role of background, and the point of greatest tension occurs when the characters stop believing in the possibility of happiness.

A crisis prompts the protagonist to take action - he tries to get rid of danger and/or get what he wants.

At the same time, the crisis is the flowering of the reader’s feelings towards the hero.
The protagonist faces serious problems. The reader tries them on himself and is horrified.
The reader identifies with the Protagonist and admires his behavior.
The reader understands the motives of the Antagonist, but at the same time does not share his beliefs and does not support his ideology.

Throughout the entire narrative, the hero constantly found himself at forks in the plot, making decisions - what to do next?
And finally, the hero has reached the moment of the main decision, before him is the DECISIVE CHOICE.

The hero commits a certain action that leads the plot to its climax.
The decisive choice that the hero is forced to make manifests itself in the form of the CLIMAX POINT.

For example, a burglar breaks into a house. The decisive choice of the owner of the house is self-defense, and the climax is the moment when the owner hits the robber in the head.

Sometimes the choice and the climax are connected to each other, turning into one action, in other cases quite a lot of time can pass between them.

The climax is the peak of the plot, highest point conflict of the work, the point of its resolution, when the reader understands whether the thesis or antithesis wins.

According to James N. Frey:

The climax is the target, and the plot is the arrow flying towards it.
The climax is the opposite shore to which you build a bridge in your work.
The culmination is the finish of the marathon.
The climax is the final blow to the battle that unfolds in your work.
You can say it differently.
The plot is a question mark, the climax is an exclamation mark.
The plot is hunger, the climax is saturation.
The plot is a puck being thrown, a hand on the hilt, a finger on the trigger, the climax is a bullet between the eyes.
Climax is the end for which the beginning was born.

At the climax, the coward gains courage, the loved one agrees to marry, the loser wins, the winner loses, the saint sins, the sinners atone for their sins. This is what is meant by the definition of climax as “revolutionary change.” The state of things is changing dramatically: everything is turned upside down.

The work lives from the beginning (conflict!) to the climax (conflict!) - until the moment when it becomes clear: who wins.

IN tragic work climax most often it becomes the death of the hero.
In dramatic life story heroes at the moment of highest tension are led through difficult situation, after which the tension subsides.
In a comedy, as a rule, the climax occurs at the moment when all the secrets are revealed and the characters find themselves in a funny and awkward situation.
In a detective story, the climax is the moment when the name of the killer (kidnapper, robber) is called.

In literary and artistic works of epic genres, significant in volume, such as “Anna Karenina” and “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy, “The Idiot” and “The Brothers Karamazov” by F.M. Dostoevsky, “The Life of Klim Samgin” by M. Gorky, “ Quiet Don" and "Virgin Soil Upturned" by M.A. Sholokhov, “The Master and Margarita” by M.A. Bulgakov, where, as a rule, several are intertwined storylines, not one, but several climaxes are possible, each of which can play a decisive role in the readers’ perception of the text.

DOWN-DOWN ACTION

However, the climax is not the end of the work.
The author needs to complete the story = wind down the action, show how the narrative environment has changed as a result of the resolution of the conflict.
It is desirable that the speed at which the plot unfolds matches the speed at which it unfolds. Although options are possible - see. Plot schemes Here
Usually the pace of the story slows down.

The denouement is coming.

As a rule, it is impossible to determine the boundaries of the climax or denouement. The climax is the specific moment when the reader realizes that a key conflict has been resolved. And the denouement is an event that exhausts the conflict, a period at the end of a sentence, an event that should finally clarify everything.
The unity of climax and denouement proves the main idea of the work.

THE ENDING CONFLICT

Occurs after the climax.
Its model is exactly the opposite of the conflict from the beginning of the work - it does not grow, but rather fades away. Its function is to give the reader the impression that the plot has been presented to the end.

“Think of the final conflict as an operation to clear captured territory of the enemy after the decisive battle has been won in a long war.” (c) James N. Frey

In some works there is no final conflict at all. This is because all conflicts are resolved at the moment of climax.

The ending of the story can be tragic or happy - depending on the ideological goals of the work.

The ending may be open - like, the hero went through difficult trials, changed internally, but life goes on. This will allow the reader to reflect upon it after finishing reading. Even if NOTHING happens in the ending, there should be some meaning to it.

The ending must have a meaningful meaning. Let artistic justice be done. Artistic justice is a punishment commensurate with the gravity of the crime, or a reward commensurate with virtue.
The villains must get what they deserve, the sufferers must receive retribution. Those who have erred must pay for their mistakes and see the light, or continue to be ignorant. Each of the characters has changed, made some important conclusions for themselves, which the author wants to present as the main idea of his work.

EPILOGUE
- the final part added to the finished one work of art and not necessarily connected with it by the inextricable development of action.

Just as the prologue introduces the characters before the action begins or reports what preceded it, so the epilogue introduces the reader to the fate of the characters who interested him in the work.

An epilogue differs from an afterword in that the first can be a reflection, while an epilogue is always a story.

Epilogues can be structured in different ways, again, it all depends on the author’s goals.

For example, let's look at the epilogues of Tolstoy and Turgenev

"War and Peace". In such a global novel, it is not easy to fix the ending. Therefore, Tolstoy structurally divides the epilogue into two parts, and gives it as many as three plans - historical, family and philosophical. Tolstoy's epilogue not so much ends the story about the fate of the heroes, but rather precedes their new, so to speak, adventures. Thus, Pierre’s participation in the Decembrist uprising is beyond doubt. Just like his insoluble dispute with Nikolai Rostov is evidence of their future discord. So the life of the heroes of the epilogue is far from over.

« Noble Nest" The epilogue is built on a completely different principle. Eight years later, Lavretsky visits the estate. He is sad, but a turning point has already taken place in him, the past is closed to him.

His heart felt sad, but not heavy and not regrettable: he had something to regret, nothing to be ashamed of. “Play, have fun, grow, young forces,” he thought, and there was no bitterness in his thoughts, “you have life ahead, and it will be easier for you to live: you won’t have to, like us, find your way, fight, fall and get up in the midst of darkness; we were trying to figure out how to survive - and how many of us didn’t survive! - but you need to do the work, work, and the blessing of our brother, the old man, will be with you. And for me, after today, after these feelings, all that remains is to give it to you last bow- and, although with sadness, but without envy, without any dark feelings, say, in view of the end, in view of the waiting God: “Hello, lonely old age! Burn out, useless life!”
Lavretsky quietly stood up and quietly left; no one noticed him, no one stopped him; cheerful shouts were heard louder than ever in the garden behind the green solid wall of tall linden trees. He got into the tarantass and ordered the coachman to go home and not drive the horses. (Turgenev. The Noble Nest)