Dusk

Question

by H.H. Munro (Saki)

Norman Gortsby sat on a bench in the Park, with his back to a strip of bush-planted sward, fenced by the park railings, and the Row fronting him across a wide stretch of carriage drive. Hyde Park Corner, with its rattle and hoot of traffic, lay immediately to his right. It was some thirty minutes past six on an early March evening, and dusk had fallen heavily over the scene, dusk mitigated by some faint moonlight and many street lamps. There was a wide emptiness over road and sidewalk, and yet there were many unconsidered figures moving silently through the half-light, or dotted unobtrusively on bench and chair, scarcely to be distinguished from the shadowed gloom in which they sat.

The scene pleased Gortsby and harmonised with his present mood. Dusk, to his mind, was the hour of the defeated. Men and women, who had fought and lost, who hid their fallen fortunes and dead hopes as far as possible from the scrutiny of the curious, came forth in this hour of gloaming, when their shabby clothes and bowed shoulders and unhappy eyes might pass unnoticed, or, at any rate, unrecognised.

A king that is conquered must see strange looks, So bitter a thing is the heart of man.

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Question
Use the passage to answer the question.

Which best describes the type of plot structure used by the author in this story?

(1 point)
Responses which answer is correct and why

parallel
parallel

flashback
flashback

linear
linear

foreshadowed
foreshadowed
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Answer 1

The best description of the type of plot structure used by the author in this story is linear.

A linear plot structure presents events in a chronological order, following a straightforward progression from the beginning to the end without significant shifts in time or perspective. In this excerpt, the narrative unfolds in a direct manner, depicting Norman Gortsby's current thoughts and observations without jumping back (flashback) or forward in time (foreshadowing). The description of the park, the evening, and Gortsby's reflections happen sequentially, maintaining a logical flow that aligns with the linear structure.

While “parallel” might imply a simultaneous narrative involving different characters or timelines, there is no evidence of that in this passage. Thus, the overall structure best fits a linear plot.