Appendix III

Plot Planner for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

This Plot Planner depicts the first two chapters of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.

Scenes Above and Below the Line

• Scene One and Scene Two (chapter one) belong above the line because Tom, the protagonist, is not in control; his aunt is, at least until he escapes.
• Scene Three also belongs above the line because a fight ensues, and because of that, Tom is caught by his aunt who has had enough of his antics.
• Scene Four (chapter two) belongs above the line because of Tom is not in charge. His scene goal, which is to get out of having to do his work, sets up tension with the question “Will he succeed or won’t he succeed?”
• This same sort of tension continues in Scene Five (chapter two). We know Tom is clever, but no one is clever enough to convince a friend to do his work for him … or is he? The scene ends below the line because Tom is that clever. Not only is he clever enough to get his friends to do his work, they actually pay him to do it.

Cause and Effect

Scene one and scene two are linked because Tom’s aunt is looking for Tom in scene one. Because of that, in scene two she finds him. Because she finds him, he escapes. Because he escapes he spots the new boy in town. Because of that, Tom gets in a fight. Because he fights and gets caught, he gets punished. And so on … .