What is Exposition in Literature?

Reading a story without exposition would be like trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces—you’d never be able to see the full picture. And that, my friend, is exactly why exposition is a vital element of narrative writing. Want to dive in even deeper? This guide will cover everything from a deep dive into what exposition is to a breakdown of why it’s important—and everything in between.

Exposition Definition

Exposition is the narrative element that provides essential background information to the audience, including setting, characters, character motivations and relationships, tone and mood, and any other relevant details. It lays the foundation for the reader to understand the context of the story, especially the impending conflict. Understanding this baseline information allows the reader to become more fully immersed in the narrative.

In some cases, the exposition is very straightforward. This is called direct exposition and occurs when the action of the story pauses as the narrative focus is on presenting explicit background information before the plot moves forward. On the other hand, indirect exposition relies on more subtle references and inferences to provide essential background information and inform the reader of expository details.

Exposition Pronunciation

Exposition is a four-syllable word that originates from the Latin language. Exposition is produced as follows: ek-spuh-zih-shun

Types of Exposition

There are various ways an author can incorporate expository details into a narrative, allowing them more creativity to build the world in which their story unfolds.

Here are the most popular methods authors use to write exposition:

1. Prologue and Epilogue

Have you ever read a book that has a little chapter before the first chapter? That’s a prologue. A prologue is a separate introductory section that comes before the main narrative. Authors use prologues to relay essential background information that helps set the stage, provide historical context, introduce key characters, or establish the central conflict.

That additional chapter at the end of the main narrative? That’s an epilogue. Authors may incorporate epilogues to provide additional closure to a story or to give insight into characters’ futures. It may tie up loose ends, reveal long-term consequences, or offer a glimpse into characters’ lives after the story’s conclusion.

2. Flashbacks and Memories

Sometimes it’s useful for a reader to learn information about something that occurred before the main narrative takes place. A flashback is a scene (or a sequence of scenes) that interrupts the main narrative to provide insight into past events or memories. Memories are similar but are typically shorter and more seamlessly woven into the narrative structure without breaking away from the main plot too much.

Flashbacks and memories both reveal crucial expository information, often about characters, their past experiences, and their relationships, to enrich the narrative with depth and complexity. Both play a role in adding a deeper layer of understanding to a characterization and character motivations. They can also add more depth and context to a conflict or particular setting.

3. Characters

Another way to seamlessly provide essential background details is through characters. By revealing characters’ inner thoughts, fears, and desires, writers can provide insights into their motivations and emotional states. Similarly, characters can express their thoughts naturally through conversation with other characters, or dialogue.

An author can also reveal a lot through a character’s actions and reactions. Instead of explicitly stating background information, writers can leave it up to the reader to infer essential background information by observing how characters behave in various situations. In addition to providing exposition, these techniques help develop characters and advance the plot while keeping readers engaged. It’s a win-win!

4. Narration

Perhaps one of the most common ways for an author to provide exposition for a story is through narration. Simply put, it’s when the narrator directly presents background information. Whether it’s a third-person omniscient narrator or a first-person narrator, they convey essential details about the setting, characters, and central conflict to the audience.

By using descriptive passages, the narrator can paint a vivid picture of the setting, provide insight into characters’ backgrounds and motivations, and offer overall valuable context for everything to come. The best part? Narration is often so smoothly intertwined throughout the pages that writers can establish a strong foundation for the story while maintaining reader engagement.

Exposition and Plot: Setting Up The Story

There’s no way around it—exposition is a crucial element in storytelling. That means it’s a vital aspect of the classic structure. But where exactly in the narrative structure does exposition take place? Great question! The answer depends on the order in which the story’s events unfold. Some narratives follow a linear plot structure while others follow a non-linear plot structure.

Exposition in Linear vs Non-Linear Narratives

The classic plot structure is linear, or told in chronological order, allowing the audience to follow a clear cause-and-effect storyline as it unfolds for the characters. In this case, exposition typically occurs at the beginning of the narrative—or at least a good chunk of it. Authors do this to help set the stage for the story (and conflict) to unfold through the rising action, climax, falling action, and, eventually, the resolution. However, they will continue to sprinkle additional expository details throughout the narrative as needed.

In contrast, non-linear narratives don’t follow the chronological order of classic storytelling. Instead, the events are presented out of sequence, creating a more complex reading experience layered with anticipation. With this “fragmented” narrative structure, expository details are often dispersed throughout the story. Non-linear narratives are like puzzles, and the exposition is revealed as needed to help put the pieces together, allowing the audience to see the full picture. Though unconventional, this approach to narration (and exposition) is both challenging and highly engaging for readers.

In Medias Res

In some cases, a story starts in the middle of all the action. In literature, this is called “in medias res”—which literally translates to “into the middle of things” in Latin. When a story begins in the middle, the author still needs to provide essential exposition so the reader can understand what the heck is going on. In many cases, they do this using flashbacks, memories, and character reflections or monologues to help provide vital context about events that occurred before the beginning of the narrative. This information is often revealed gradually as the main plot drives forward, adding an extra element of suspense and mystery for the audience.

What is the Purpose of Exposition in a Story?

Exposition helps paint the roadmap of a story, helping a reader understand how things get from point A to point B. In other words, exposition helps bring a story to life by providing vital context that helps the story make sense. Without exposition, audiences would lack the crucial details needed to engage with the plot and empathize with the characters.

To break it down even further, here are some of the key reasons why exposition is so important to a story:

Establishing Context: Exposition provides essential background information about the setting, characters, and initial conflict, setting the stage for the events that will unfold.
Engaging the Audience: Exposition captivates the audience’s interest by immersing them in the narrative world and piquing their curiosity about the characters and their lives.
Developing Characters: By revealing key details about characters’ pasts and personalities, exposition deepens characterization and allows readers to be more emotionally invested (and connected) to the characters and plot.
Advancing the Plot: Exposition provides crucial information that drives the plot forward, establishing the central conflict and setting in motion the main event(s) of the story.
Building Theme: Exposition helps provide the narrative with deeper layers of meaning and enhances its overall impact on the audience.

Tips for Teaching Exposition

Start with Explicit Instruction: While students are likely familiar with the concept of exposition, they may not know what it’s called or why it’s used. Begin by explaining what exposition is and its importance in storytelling.
Use Mentor Texts with Engaging Exposition: Focus on mentor texts with engaging exposition, allowing students to fully experience how the different expositions can bring the story to life and draw the reader into the plot.
Share Different Types of Exposition: Incorporate a variety of examples that demonstrate different types of exposition, challenging students to reflect on how exposition contributes to the overall narrative in each case.
Analyze Short Stories: Thanks to their compact plotlines, short stories are perfect teaching tools for helping students understand exposition in context. After reading, have them reflect on the impact these details had on their reading experience.
Identify Details While Reading: Since expository can be woven throughout a narrative, have students use color-coding techniques or underlining to identify expository details within a given text. This visual aid will help students recognize and analyze exposition as they read.
Decipher Dialogue: Examine how exposition is conveyed through character dialogue. Analyze conversations between characters to identify instances where background information or essential details about the story are revealed through spoken interactions. (Psst… here are some short stories perfect for analyzing dialogue.)
Find Examples in Pop Culture: Ask students to share examples of exposition from pop culture, including song lyrics, movies, TV shows, or even video games. Have them explain how the background information is crucial to fully understanding (and enjoying) the media.
Practice Writing Exposition: Provide students with a photograph and challenge them to provide context by writing a descriptive backstory for the image. Give students an opportunity to share their writing, discussing similarities and differences among their expository details.

Examples of Exposition

1. Exposition through monologue in Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

“I wasted the last weeks of August watching bad cartoons. I didn’t go to the mall, the lake, or the pool, or answer the phone. I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I don’t have anyone to sit with

I am Outcast.

There is no point looking for my ex-friends.”

This excerpt from the novel’s first chapter “Welcome to Merryweather High” serves as a poignant example of exposition through monologue. As the story starts, the protagonist, Melinda Sordino, shares her inner thoughts and feelings as she heads to her first day of freshman year. The expository details revealed throughout this section help the reader pick up on the sense of isolation and alienation she feels. Readers get the sense that something (while unsure of the specifics at this point) happened over the summer that led to her being an outcast this year.

While there are still many details to be filled in, the reader is eager to put the pieces together to understand what happened to Melinda and why her friends (and many of the other kids at school) turned against her. This first section provides insight into Melinda’s emotional state and the social dynamics at Merryweather High and establishes the foundation for the story’s central conflict.

2. Exposition through dialogue in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”

“They do say,” Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, “that over in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery.”

Old Man Warner snorted.

“Pack of crazy fools,” he said. “Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them. Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more, live that way for a while. Used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.’ First thing you know, we’d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There’s always been a lottery,” he added petulantly. “Bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody.”

The above excerpt is from a conversation between two townspeople, Mr. Adams and Old Man Warner, as townspeople start their annual lottery. As Old Man Warner clearly expresses his distaste for the “young folks” attitudes, Jackson is able to underscore the tension between the tradition and change present throughout the story.

Despite its brevity, this conversation between Mr. Adams and Old Man Warner reveals a lot of key details for the readers. They learn about the longstanding practice of the lottery and the resistance it faces from some members of the community. Old Man Warner’s dismissive attitude towards change and his insistence on upholding tradition provide crucial context for understanding the horrifying events that unfold later in the story (dun, dun dun). Rather than just tossing these details into the narration, Jackson effectively weaves them into the conversation among characters, providing vital information while seamlessly building suspense as the lottery drawing approaches.

Access my complete short story analysis of “The Lottery” here.

3.Exposition through flashbacks in the movie Up

To be honest, I don’t know if there’s a more tear-jerking example of exposition than the beginning of Pixar’s movie Up. The movie starts with a sequence of flashbacks to provide a backstory to one of the main characters, Carl Fredricksen. Though the scenes have no words, viewers are taken on an emotional journey through key moments in Carl’s life, showcasing everything from his adventurous dreams as a boy to his loving relationship with his wife, Ellie. Unfortunately, the flashbacks include Ellie’s death, followed by visions of Carl as a lonely and grief-stricken old man—a stark contrast to the character we saw only minutes before.

Without these scenes, it would be easy to view Carl Fredricksen as a grumpy old man (because that’s exactly how he acts for much of the film). However, these additional insights provide essential background information about Carl’s character, motivations, and emotional journey, helping readers empathize with his bitterness and lost sense of adventure.

Watch the emotional montage here.