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6 V
"t ,i^
THE JUTHORS' HANDBOOK SERIES
THE UNIVERSAL
PLOT CATALOG
AN EXAMINATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF PLOT MA-
TERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION, COMBINED WITH A
COMPLETE INDEX AND A PROGRESSIVE CATE-
GORY IN WHICH THE SOURCE, LIFE AND
END OF ALL DRAMATIC CONFLICT
AND PLOT MATTER ARE
CLASSIFIED
MAKING THE WORK
A PRACTICAL TREATISE
For all Writers of Fiction and Drama, Prose and Verse; also
Editors, Orators, Teachers, Librarians, Newspaper
Men, StatisticiariS and Preachers
HENP' _RT PHILLIPS
Author o{ "The Plot of the Short Stop/," "Art in Short Story Narration.'
"The Photodraaia," and formerly Associate Editor
of the Metropolitan Magazine
INTRODUCTION BY
HOMER CROY
Author of "When to Lock the Stable." etc.
THE HOME CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL
SPEIXGFIELD, MASS.
Cor.vrlght, 1916, by
HENRY ALBERT PHILLIPS
Copyright, 1920. by
THE HOME CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL
PM
TO
EDGAR ALLAN POE
THE FIRST MAN OF LETTERS WITH THE GENIUS AND
COURAGE ir>rrELLIGENTLY TO ANALYZE, UTIUZE
AND UNIVERSALIZE THE FICTION PLOT.
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
INTRODUCTION vii
FOREWORD 3ci
I.— THE NATURE OF PLOT MATERIAL ... 17
Dramatic Expression; Plot Particles; the Ordi-
nary and tlie Extraordinary; ABC of Plotting;
Recognition; Emotional Core; Dramatic Frag-
ments.
II.— DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN PLOT MATE-
RIAL AND COMPLETE PLOT 22
A Confusion of Terms; Analogies in other Fields
of Art; Law of Fiction Plot; the Sum of All the
Parts.
III.— THE RELATION OF PLOT TO LITERARY
CONSTRUCTION 28
Not Compos-ition but Construction; Keystone of
Intelligent Effort; Soul of Organic Matter; Rela-
tion to Strategj'; Non-Fiction Forms.
IV.— COMMON SOURCES OF PLOT MATERIAL 35
Plot Matter also Fiction Material; the Five Senses
and Life; the Dramatic Ear and Eye; the Ficti-
tious Mood and its Stimulants; What Constitutes
Confidences; Stealing Plots or Stimulating Ideas;
Books, Newspapers and Poetry; Phrases, Ex-
cerpts, Pictures and Notes.
v.— WHAT THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG IS 43
Not a List of Actual Plots; Potential Rather than
Existent; Chaos versus System; A Thesaurus,
Ready Reference, Perpetual Stimulant, Sponta-
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGiJ
neous Collector and Efficient File; Eminently Use-
ful for Editors, Orators, Teachers, Librarians,
Newspaper Men, Statisticians, Preacliers — as
well as Writers of all Kinds.
VI.— THE SCOPE OF THE CATALOG 51
Man; his Vicissitudes and his Desires, his Rela-
tionships and his Struggles; the Plot of the Plot
Catalog; a Complete Cycle; the Line of Progres-
sion; that which is Not Man; Ending with the
Beginning.
VIL— HOW TO USE THE PLOT CATALOG. ... 50
A Practical Device, not a Theoretical Contrivance;
the Automatic Plot Collector and File; How One
may be Made; Filed According to the Predomi-
nant Phase; How to Avoid Confusion; All Divi-
sions are Potential ; Practical Illustrations.
VIII.— THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG (I.— The
Grand Divisions) 71
A Progressive Category of Man — his Vicissitudes,
his Desires, his Relationships and his Struggles —
in which All Dramatic Conflict and Plot Material
in the Universe find their Source, Life and End.
IX.— THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG (II.— In-
clining ALL Minor Divisions) 75
Together with Starred References for Filing Plot
Material.
X.— A FICTION EXAMPLE ILLUSTRATING THE
VALUE OF THE CATALOG 107
" A Weaver of Dreams; " its Classification and An-
alysis.
XL— A COMPLETE INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS 129
Alphabetized with Cross References.
VI
INTRODUCTION
AVERY great editor once told me some-
thing that has always stuck in my
mind. It was just after I had come to New
York from a small western tov/n and, al-
though I recognized the truth of what he
said, I did not appreciate its depth.
"A writer sells his first story on account
of plot — after that technique has to pull him
through."
I knew that he had said something, but it
took me a long time fighting away at writing
to realize the truth of his remark. Every
person who has the cosmic urge in him that
makes him put himself on paper in narrative
form has a big story in him before he touches
his pen. The author seizes his pen and what is
in him flows out. He sends it out and it sells.
But when he again feels the inward stirring
and, seizing his parturient pen, writes his
next story, the magazine can't see it. It
comes back and comes back, to be cata-
vii
INTRODUCTION
combed In a pigeonhole forever. The au-
thor can't understand why his first story
should sell and his next one scarcely get a
personal letter. He moons around awhile
and then goes back to the grocery.
The reason is that the plot of his first
story was big enough to sell regardless of
technique. After that the author must tell
a less moving tale and tell it more skilfully.
He has to depend on the efficacy of his art.
He has not yet mastered his art and as a
result his postage is staggering.
For his first story the author does not
need anything but paper; after that he
needs every help in the world that he can
get. He has now entered the finest of the
fine arts and must take advantage of every
hint that he can get. If he does not some
one else will; it is merely buttering his own
bread.
As a reader on magazines and as an editor
I have found that ninety out of every hun-
dred stories are sold on account of their plot.
Now, after the young author has sold his
first story, he is up against that old devil
Plot. His first story has poured itself out
viii
INTRODUCTION
and now he must find something to take
the place of that first fine frenzy. He has
not been writing long enough to sell by
technique alone, so plot must pull him
through. But how to get it? That is the
question; that is what makes one tumble
and toss on the midnight ostermoor.
Anybod}^ who can help you run a plot to
earth is a friend from on high. Get him by
the coat tail.
But the beauty of it is that you can learn
to build plots. It is no simple matter —
not by a long shot! — but you can learn.
It is all a question of whether you really
want to learn or whether you are content to
be a dabbler. It is a matter of paying the
price. The first thing you have got to do
is to get plot by the neck; but when you
have got plot eating out of your hand, you
have just about got your fingers on the laurel
wreath.
I figure that I wasted six years in learning
how to sling ink. I began just exactly back-
ward, with no one to tell me how. I first
learned the art of the phrase; I could make
words climb a pole, but I did not know a
ix
INTRODUCTION
blessed thing in the world about plot. I
could think of fine sounding words, but I
could not do anything \vith them — I could
not sell them. The reason was that I did
not know how to dig up a plot. And it is
only recently that I have learned how. If
I had gone to work six years before learning
how to build plots instead of stewing around
over French phrases and Latin subjunctives,
I might now be riding in a twin-six instead
of having to flag street cars.
Homer Croy.
All the Fine Arts serve their tedious
apprenticeships — Painting has its
drawing and color-mixing; Sculp-
ture its modelling and meastiring;
Architecture its draughtsmanship and
mathematics; Music its exercises and
counterpoint. Why except Literature?
FOREWORD
N no other dignified modern profession
do its members just seem to "hap-
pen"— excepting Literature. In Painting
or in Music; in La\v or in the Ministry;
in Carpentering or in Steamfitting — one
must serve an apprenticeship of painstaking
study of theory and daily practical exercises.
The apprentice familiarizes himself with the
tools and learns how to use them. He
solves problems and prepares formulas;
he probes fallacies and progresses in wisdom.
In other words, before the apprentice is
permitted to make a m.oney-yielding servant
of his profession, he must become indis-
putable master of its fundamentals.
xi
FOREWORD
Years of study and apprenticeship usually
culminate in one or more tests of the student's
proficiency in the essayed profession. Suc-
cess is then rewarded with some official
recognition, certificate or diploma which in-
forms the world that the candidate is duly
qualified to practice the said profession with-
out danger to client or public. Further-
more, he is then entitled to the standard rate
of compensation — and as much more as the
public thinks he is worth.
To practice many professions, without
either having passed thru an apprenticeship
or possessing the proper credentials, con-
stitutes a breach of common law. The
transgressor is liable to heavy fines or im-
prisonment. This regulation protects both
the public from becoming victims and the pro-
fession from degeneracy. We can scarcely
say that the foregoing is true of the Liter-
ary profession.
The reading and theater-going public
continue to suffer; the high standards of
a selective profession are lowered by medi-
ocrity. Strange as it may seem, this lower-
ing of the standards is not the triumph of a
xu
FOREWORD
foe from without, but the work of an enemy
from within.
Who are the enemies that lurk within the
craft? Are they the unskilled laborers who
have simply "happened" thru the chance
sale of a story? Or are they the writers
who have attained a "name" which they
maintain by grinding out an annual supply
of rubbish? Or are they the manuscript
readers and editors whose standards are
gauged by a limited education, and unbound-
ed opinion, a narrow acquaintance with
literature and a bioad ignorance of Life, a
shallow judgment and a deep-rooted preju-
dice?
It would be a difficult matter indeed to say
who amongst those mentioned, were the
most blameworthy. There are, without
doubt, many of each class within the con-
spiracy of ignorance.
Every year thousands of new aspirants
rush into the alluring vacuum of beholding
their names in print. Many are ignorant
in handling the elemental tools of Grammar
and Rhetoric. Most of them have little or
no acquaintance with those pieces of liter-
xiii
rOEEWOED
ature and drama that are acclaimed by
authorities and educated appreciation as the
master works of the species. They merely
feel that they can "write." They take their
chance, as they would in a lottery. If they
succeed in drawing a winning check from
an editor they accept it as an act of the Will
of God. They forthwith belong to the
writing craft by special warrant of the dollar
sign.
It seems to have become an axiom of tlic
writing craft that its members are born, not
made. In a m.easure, this is true. An
analogy is found in the diamond. Uncut
it is without question a rare mineral, but
cut it becomes a precious gem.
Now that our writer has actually "hap-
pened" into the craft without either labo-
rious apprenticeship or meritorious service,
we would naturally expect him to set about
to perfect himself in the difificult art into
which he has leaped thru sheer mental
agility. We would not be surprised to learn
that he had journeyed afar to see or hear a
famous masterpiece, that he had given up
an evening a week to hearken to some
xiv
FOREWORD
learned master who has given up many-
years to digging into the profound lore of
his adopted vocation, that lie had surrounded
himself with special books that revealed new
aspects of his profession, that he had begun
to lay in a store of impressions to light the
way to continued brilliant effort, that he
had lost no opportunity to seek perfection.
But no, our writer too often relies upon an
infallibility which some might call arrogance.
He is freOuently short-sighted and looks
upon success as Fame. He is many times
self-satisfied in becoming content with ef-
forts that might be improved. He avers
that to study the technique of Literature
or of Dram.a is "unprofessional" with the
same fervor evinced by those dentists, who
rail against their colleagues who advertise
as being "unprofessional." Quite forget-
ting his own manner of entry into the inner
circle, we find him telling those struggling
to break thru the pale, that one must liter-
ally fall into it — from the skies.
We all know this type of writer. We daily
read the magazines that are more than half-
filled with stories that could be bettered in
XV
FOREWORD
rhetoric, plot and technique. Some of us
know well-known writers who are sterile of
plots and are ready to buy them, if necessary.
These few words are meant as a plea for
the literary education of literary people;
in other words, for the aspirants and mem-
bers of the literary craft to take the profes-
sion studiously and seriously. There is more
poor fiction than good literature: there are
more poorly-written plays than well-written
dramas. A wider study of the subject would
lead to a deeper knowledge of it, and a deeper
knowledge would result in the more perfect
product.
There is a great deal of poor fiction, but
literature can be nothing save good. Fic-
tion dies of its own inherent diseases; liter-
ature lives because of its eternal verities.
Henry Albert Phillips.
Larchmont, New York,
December 21, 1915.
XVI
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT
CATALOG
The most effective Plot material is
that which concerns all Mankind Jar
all Time.
CHAPTER I
The Nature of Plot Material
dramatic expression; plot particles;
the ordinary and the extraordinary;
ABC OF plotting; RECOGNITION; EMO-
TIONAL core; dramatic fragments.
lY Plot Material is not meant a Com-
plete Plot, but any data, facts or
fancies that are capable of interesting ex-
pansion, dramatic culmination, effective
characterization or scenic picturization.
Plot material may consist of any item that
suggests an emotional equation to the
plotter, or that may fruitfully expand some
theme or plot already in hand or in mind.
Since all Art consists of dramatic expression
— thru recognized symbols — of the emotional
17
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
vicissitudes of mankind, it is but reasonable
to assume that the inspiration for such ex-
pression nmst come from sources directly
related to Man and his emotions.
Thus, plot material hinges upon a multi-
tude of relationships that are as broad as
the universe, as high as the heavens and as
deep as the human soul. It may consist
of Dramatic Fragments; Extraordinary Ex-
cerpts; Sublime Moments; Pathetic
Flashes; Ejaculatory Situations; Gripping
Climaxes — or a thousand other vicissitudes.
And, too, it may be a Complete Plot, inspired
simultaneously from beginning to end.
In discussing particles of plot material,
however, v/e are not always to think of them
as mighty conflagrations, but as sparks
capable of igniting greater fires of human
emotion. Perhaps a better term for this
material might be kindling, all ready for the
application of the match of inspiration.
Discriminating between the ordinary and
the extraordinary in the selection of plot
material is a fine art that has much to do
with the plotter's success in acquiring valu-
able data. For all plot rnaterial must hav^
I8
THE NATURE OF PLOT MATERIAL
its emotional core and dramatic essence.
It must be fire itself and strike fire_Jn_ the
imagination in^_tajitly. Such particles need
have only a personal value to the particular
plotter suggesting to him a complete cycle
of activity that another might not dream of.
{EXAMPLE I.) A faded flower, a leaf from a child's
primer, a sentimental "motto" brmvned with years, a
cancelled check, a clipping from some local paper, a
marriage announcement — might appear commonplace to
all but the plotter himself, for whom they might be the
golden keys to some of his life's richest treasures.
If ordinary material is employed, it must
be at white heat, or pathetically simple, or
viewed amidst some extraordinary phase, or
suggest more than the obvious. Thus, the
commonplace becomes electrified when the
trained plotter attaches his current of
imagination to it. In fact, the highest art
attainable in plotting is that which is capa-
ble of effectively utilizing the ordinary and
the commonplace phenomena of life. Plot-
ting becomes easier in ratio as it deals with
the extraordinary, but narration more diffi-
cult, because of the greater task of rendering
the extraordinary material convincing.
19
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
The most effective plot material is that
which concerns all mankind at all times.
This implies material and situations which
we instinctively recognize as Truth. Yet
we trespass on the oldest themes instantly.
To escape the hackneyed, we must evolve
new arrangements or novel culminations.
{EXAMPLE 2.) The ABC of plotting are: {A)
Selection; (S) Arrmigement; (C) Ctdmination. They
constitute the beginning, the middle and the end. Selec-
tion co7icerns Plot Material; Arrangement concerns Plot
Development; Culmination concerns Plot Climax.
The successful collecting of plot material
is largely a matter of cultivation. One be-
gins by studying passive phenomena and
grows to see plots budding spontaneously
from the slightest suggestion of inspirational
material. The novice m.ay make the error
of collecting every piece of merely violent
and dynamic matter that comes to his
notice, before he learns to discern that which
is truly emotional and dramatic.
{EXAMPLE 3.) A newspaper heading might read:
CHILD KIDNAPPED— PARENTS IN DESPAIR.
After all, that is hut an ordinary violation of the law in
these days and a commonplace crime. It is too trite an
20
THE NATURE OF PLOT MATERIAL
episode to garner as plot material, else one -would be
swatttped with clippings in less than a year. Bid let
us suppose that the heading read: KIDNAPS HER
FATHER— MOTHER SUES IN VAIN. Such ma-
terial invites a play or a story!
Our first concern, then, as progressive plot
collectors, shall be to acquire— if we are not
endowed with it — the faculty of Recognition.
This implies an instantaneous knowledge
that material under consideration is valuable.
The test of plot particles comes in effectively
translating them into terms of emotion that
shall re-excite a reader or an audience with
the feeling that gave them birth.
Dramatic fragments will flash across the
heavens of the average mind perhaps a
dozen times a day. The average person has
no use for these poignant flashes. With
the writer of drama, or fiction, the case
should be different — fictional ideas are the
most important part of his stock in trade.
All inspirational data may be called plot
material. And that which inspires the
creation, continuation and culmination of
fictional m.aterial is the nucleus of all pro-
gressive fictional endeavor.
21
// this is so {meaniyig the Beginning
of our Plot); and this is so (mea?iing
the Development); therefore this 7nnst
he so {meaning the Climax and End).
CHAPTER II
Discrimination Between Plot Material
AND Complete Plot
A confusion of terms ; ANALOGIES IN OTHER
FIELDS OF art; LAW OF FICTION PLOT;
THE SUM OF ALL THE PARTS.
T)LOT Material includes one or all of the
-■- many varieties of inspirational matter
that contribute to the nucleus of the Com-
plete Plot. By Plot Material we mean
fragments picked up here and there by the
alert plot collector, or odd tid-bits of expe-
rience garnered from the thoughts or lives of
humanity.
The Complete Plot, however, rarely hap-
pens— it is constructed. It is a combination
of the stability of science and the subtlety
of art. It requires the brains of structure,
22
PLOT MATERIAL AND COMPLETE PLOT
the imagination of artifice and the fancy of
adornment.
{EXAMPLE 4.) The most remarkable case of purei
ftclion, completely plotted, that has come to public notice
in years, is to be found iti the columns of the newspapers
of November, 1915. GIRL CLAIMS BODY AS
MYTHICAL LOVER'S. In -which a romantic unloved
girl claims a body in the morgtie as that of her fiance. A
lover at last — tho a dead one! It is sJieerest fact, yet
fiction of the higliest rank. The dangers surrounding
it are obvious. Current magazines were naturally deluged
with this plot whole cloth.
Just as "one swallow does not make a
summer," so one plot particle, germ, frag-
ment or item of material does not make a
Complete Plot. The purpose of the plot is
to select and assimilate organic particles of
like material into one palpitating organism.
We should lay especial stress on discrim-
ination between plot material and the com-
plete plot because of a widespread confusion
of the two terms. Many plot collectors have
labored under the delusion that they were
the possessors of plots in great quantities —
until they came to the practical point of
trying to evolve a complete story or play from
a given item of collected material. It
23
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
proved to be but an isolated fragment.
Disappointment at this juncture is often
keen enough to sever the fine threads of
further creation.
Can you imagine other works of art being
submitted for public approval tho incom-
pletely conceived — a piece of music with the
motif only half developed; a statuary group
with one of the figures that completes the
thought missing; an architectural work
unbalanced thru lack of finished design?
The plot, or plan, or motif in fiction, or
drama, is more subtle than the foregoing
because of our task of not merely simulating
emotions, but, further, of creating convinc-
ing life. Gratifying conviction depends upon
completeness of plot.
Plot fragments — as will be seen after
studying the Plot Catalog — are as plentiful
as the sands of the sea. The only condition
is that we must go to the seaside for them —
to the Shores of Humanity beside the Sea of
Life. There is the sand worn from the ages
by the Tides of Time, washed by the Waves
of Passion, swept by the Storms of Struggle
and stilled by the Calms of Death.
24
PLOT MATERIAL AND COMPLETE PLOT
Complete Plots are seldom the work of
nature, but, rather, of the skill and genius
of some accomplished builder of plots. Those
that fall into the hands of plot collectors are
bound to be branded with two damaging
stigmas. They are either the finished product
of some other plot builder, or prodigies of
nature that will no doubt be seized upon as
common property by a score of current writers.
{EX A MPLE 5 .) As an instance of the first 7nentioned:
A clever raconteur told a story one evening to a gathering
of friends, among ivhorn was a ivell-known writer of
fiction. The story purported to he taken from real life.
He wrote it down next day almost verbatim and sent it to
iJie magazine for which it was especially adapted. It was
retttrned with a note from the editor caustically stating
that they had published the story in the previous month's
issue!
The law of the fiction plot is a simple one.
It is analogous with the syllogism of logic.
Near the opening of our plot we make a
statement, more or less direct, that so and
so is the case — the hero desires happiness,
for instance. But in terms of action, or
narration, we proceed to follow this state-
ment v/ith another equally vital — the villain,
rival, or obstacle is determined that he shall
25
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
not attain happiness. Both being equally
determined a struggle ensues, therefore the
following must happen — hence our Climax.
{EXAMPLE 6.) Kipling in his earlier stories fre-
quently states his problems in so many words. Take
the opening line of "Beyond the Pale": "A man shotdd,
whatever happens, keep to his own caste, breed and race."
Here is the first premise of our syllogism. Our hero does
not keep to his caste, is the second premise. It follows
that what happens is the natural conclusion.
The complete plot then is the ultimate con-
dition in the process of plotting. It is as
absolute as the mathematical axiom that
tells us that the Whole is the Sum of All the
Parts. The process of arriving at the com-
plete plot may be reversed, tho it must always
continue to be the sum of all the parts. Our
usual method in plot construction is to begin
with a Cause and lead up to the dramatic
effect of that cause. But in the mystery
type of story we set forth the Effect in the
beginning and do not disclose the Cause
until the Climax has been reached. The
Middle, or Obstacle, concerns the continued
struggle of untoward circumstances to baffle
the reader, listener or observer.
26
PLOT MATERIAL AND COMPLETE PLOT
{EXAMPLE 7.) ''Ar den— the Village of Despair"
opens with a statement from the lips of Andrew Fraling of
the terrible Effect of some malign agency. The last word
in the story discloses the Cause — morphine. In the play,
" Under Cover," the Effect of a gem smuggler y upon a
certain group of persons is dramatically set forth in the
first act. The Cause is not ftdly disclosed until the
identity of the secret service chief is made one with that of
the hero in the last act.
In our opening lines we set in motion a
specific action. It should become our aim
thruout the remainder of our construction to
develop this motive to its implied grand
crisis — and STOP. Our plot is complete;
our product is perfect; our goal has been at-
tained. The Middle of our product has
been concerned with the obstacle interposing
itself to prevent or delay the desired climax.
Art, of course, must invest and permeate the
whole with conviction.
In conclusion we may say that a Plot is
the unpolished material for a COMPLETE
and DECISIVE action; it should be com-
posed of cumulative and interesting incidents
rising to a dramatic climax and terminating
in a manner calculated to gratify the par-
ticipant and warrant the interest aroused in
its beginning.
27
Plot operates within the matter it in-
habits just as a soul does within a
body: it first seeks perfect form and
then ignites with indestructible life.
CHAPTER III
The Relation of Plot to Literary
Construction
NOT composition, BUT CONSTRUCTION; KEY-
STONE OF INTELLIGENT EFFORT; SOUL OF
ORGANIC MATTER; RELATION TO STRATEGY;
NON-FICTION FORMS.
PLOT is something more than a mere
plan, or design — the beginning, end
and scope of which we may behold at a
glance. A plan, or design, is after all but
a set of instructions, cold and lifeless, tho
composed and carried to fruition possibly
by genius.
A plot, however, becomes a living thing.
It palpitates, it moves, it excites — and it
may even run away with the inexpert plot
manipulator.
A plan may include the bringing together
28
RELATION OF PLOT TO LITERARY CONSTRUCTION
from every direction of the elements that
shall enter into its composition. But the
perfect plot is never a matter of composition,
but a delicate task of construction. We con-
struct in but one direction — upward. We
select only such building material as shall
bear an integral relation to the end in view.
A plot selects and assimilates organic par-
ticles of like material into a palpitating
organism. On the other hand, our plan
is but a structural organization wherein
beauty and balance, strength and integrity
combine to form a perfect design.
The greatest virtue of a plot lies in the
fact that it does not disclose its full poten-
tiality in an instant — it unfolds it step by
step.
{EXAMPLE 8.) (j) // aims toward a fixed goal;
{2) It meets the obstacles that stand in its path; (j) It
attains its coveted goal in a surprising, admirable, awe-
inspiring, or effective manner.
The reader, listener, observer or appreci-
ator of any form of plot becomes conscious
only of following (not working) out a de-
lightful problem, or veiled scheme, to its
29
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
perfect completion. His emotions are so
affected that the problem becomes real and
the medium a thing of life and experience.
In other words, thru the employment of
the plot, we must endow literary or dramatic
matter so faithfully with the phenomena of
life that the appreclator will give way to
illusion and accept It as emotional expe-
rience— past, present or possible.
The plot constructor has the same advan-
tage over the reader, listener or observer that
the commander of an attacking force has
over his adversary. The attacking general
knows exactly where he Is going to strike,
he plans precisely when he shall resort to
his heavy artillery, he has estimated the re-
sources of the enemy and calculated the
effect on his ensemble and he has kept ever
In mind his final objective. Thus we see
the application of Plot In military tactics.
If our attacking general fails In his plotting,
his action parallels that of our authors
failing continually in plot — It becomes merely
offensive.
We may reduce the plot element to a single
word.
30
RELATION OF PLOT TO LITERARY CONSTRUCTION
(EX A MPLE 9.) On one occasion an officer was being
falsely accused of many crimes by a high statesman. His
single retort was based on knowledge that tio one else in
the empire dreamed of: " Traitor!" It was such a verbal
bomb of Truth that the statesman stood self-accused.
This leads us to remark that plot must be
alway the embodiment of Truth, not neces-
sarily the retail of facts.
We have seen how the mind that retains
its plotting faculty in a nice choice, that-
elects one word and rejects the many thou-
sand others in our language, may attain both
the ideal and the dramatic effect. Thruout,
plotting involves primarily the processes of
selection and election. Thus thru sentence,
phrase and paragraph in the progressive
construction of rhetoric, composition and
fiction we distinguish that which is forceful,
perfect or effective thru its adherence to
these processes. The phrase is one of the
most effective instruments in vitalizing prose
or poetry, fiction or drama. The phraseolog-
ical sentence, when isolated, should disclose
an organic perfection — a suggestive range
well begun and completely ended in itself. It
should be in full possession of its plot faculties!
31
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
{EXAMPLE 10.) "The moan seetned to recur with
each breath-like zephyr chat rose from the soft bosom of
the utnbrous night. " The cry in question came from
the lips of a poor girl who was that moment an outcast
and enduring the pangs of child-birth. The phraseology
is such that it suggests a farther range of vision that is
complete and effective in itself, while it intensifies the
picture it foreshadows.
Plot then is something more than either
rhetoric or logic — it is the vitalizing force
that makes both rhetoric and logic personal.
What is it that makes a good joke, anec-
dote or bon-mot differ from a poor one?
You have heard a good one spoken by one
person and heard it retold by another later.
The facts were the same, but the unskilful
narrator had lost the point. The plot had
fallen to pieces! Plot value, then, may be
found in the pith of a remark; the spice
of a bon-mot; the point of a joke; the inter-
est of an anecdote; the appeal of a speech;
the conviction in a sermon; the big moment
of the play; the punch of the photoplay;
the climax of the short story. The good
plotter is the good after-dinner speaker;
the good raconteur; the good orator; the
good preacher; the good dramatist; the
RELATION OF PLOT TO LITERARY CONSTRUCTION
good photoplaywright; the good short story
writer.
The shorter the literary product, the more
difficult the art required in plotting it.
A five-word phrase is sometimes harder to
plot effectively than a fifty-thousand-word
novel.
{EX A MPLE II.) Let us suppose that Patrick Henry
had remarked: " Well, I'd rather die than not be given
liberty!" which is, in essence, the same as the immortal
phrase, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" A slight
rearrangement is made involving plot value and 7ve have
a sentence of living fire.
The plot, from the point of view of the
writer, is a painstaking process of which he
is conscious thruout. The speaker tries
out his phrases until he strikes the happy
one — thru a process of plotting. The
preacher carefully keys his conclusion to his
peroration. The jokesmith is not a marvel
of perpetual spontaneity, but a hard-work-
ing laborer forging words with as much
honest sweat as other smiths.
The viewpoint of the reader, listener or
observer of a given literary or dramatic
product lies with the artistic perceptions
33
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
only. He must not become conscious of the
scientific process at all. The energy of the
labor, thought and science must be assimi-
lated in the work, leaving no evidence of the
creaking machinery of the process. The
product must have become an instrument
of pure entertainment. The participator in
a literary product must not be called upon
to expend any of that straining efifort that
the author exerted in its preparation.
34
The child who eats what he likes least
first and saves what he likes most to the
last, might be said to shoiv a natural
aptitude for good plotting.
CHAPTER IV
Common Sources of Plot Material
plot matter also fiction material; the
five senses and life; the dramatic
ear and eye ; the fictitious mood and its
stimulants; what constitutes CONFI-
DENCES; STEALING PLOTS OR STIMULAT-
ING ideas; books, newspapers and
POETRY; phrases, EXCERPTS, PICTURES
AND NOTES.
NEITHEPv life nor the human mind can
be called, properly, a storehouse of
fiction or plot material. On the one hand,
life is full of all sorts of things — an infinites-
imal part of which is naturally dramatic. On
the other hand, the human mind is more of
a sieve than it is a storehouse.
Fiction and drama are creative arts,
which fact implies absolute originality. We
35
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
create beauty, atmosphere, charm and the
dramatic story itself, but we do not create
material — any more than the sculptor creates
the plaster and the stone and the bronze —
which is merely the medium thru which the
idea is interpreted.
/' The imagination of the true artist is a
caldron of ideas. His first stage of training
should consist in learning how to interpret
ideas into such form that they readily will
be recognized, appreciated and acclaimed
as v/orthy examples. His second stage of
training should be in learning hov/ to stim-
ulate the wealth of his genius toward un-
limited production.
First of all, then, we must have imagi-
nation. Imagination needs but a drop of
color to suggest an entire picture; it needs
but a spark to start a conflagration; it
needs but a sigh to bring a tear; it needs but
a deed to suggest a life; it needs but a plot
germ to suggest a plot and a plot to build a
story.
The first injunction in the garnering of
plot material is, Do not seek plots, but plot
material. One might as well seek complete
36
COMMON SOURCES OF PLOT MATERIAL
stories as complete plots. Both are the
completed work of another. The test of
your artistic ability will rest on your crea-
tive talent. That which someone else has
brought to fruition is forever the property
of that someone else. Rarely we find an
actual series of happenings in life that fol-
lows the laws of the fiction plot. To use
such a sequence — as thousands alv/ays do —
makes of the user a mere historian, journal-
ist or recorder of facts. The author is a
recorder, too, but he sets down the real
emotions, not the actual events of his
day and generation. He who reads the
famous authors' records may feel the mo-
tives, the m.oods, the real life of those past
generations that m.oulded the heritage for
future generations. The mere facts or
actual happenings of other days have become
curiosities, interesting because of their un-
reality in the light of Progress. We must
seek those plot elements that are eternal and
universal to all men of all time, and not
merely the chit-chat and flotsam and jetsam
that are ephemeral and local with a genera-
tion or a nation.
37
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Any item of material that spontaneously
starts fictive creation or dramatic conse-
quence is valuable. Any item, note or
excerpt that preserves an emotional im-
pression at, or near, the white heat of its
original conception is precious. Any item
that generates elevating sentiments, that
reproduces a beautiful mental picture or
that inspires sublim.e thoughts is a treasure.
{EXAMPLE 13.) I. {An article) "Woman and the
Fading Maternal Instinct.'" 2. {An advertisement)
"The Story that Lives in Deathless Melody." 3. {A
humorous picture) "Bringing Up Father." 4. {An
editorial) " Repetition is Reputation." 5. {A sociological
report) "Big Brothering Boys Who are in the Law's
Grip." 6. {On seeing a moito of Napoleon stuck up
in an office) " The more I study the world the more am
I convinced of the inability oj brute force to create any-
thing durable." 7. {On seeing the colored picture of
a girl listening at the nwulh of the Sphinx.) 8. {A
photograph of a war-ruined church with the image of
Christ left intact.) 9. {A piece of music containing a
hauntifig strain.) 10. {A cartoon of the hideous giant,
Wealth, dangling humanity like puppets on a string.)
It is the business of the builder of literary
and dramatic works to go thru life with his
five senses sensitized. Above all things,
38
COMMON SOURCES OF PLOT MATERIAL
he must cultivate the dramatic ear and eye
that thresh out the real deeds from the
actual events of daily life. This does not
demand that he be eternally on the qui vive
with a pair of clipping shears in one hand
and a pencil and note-book in the other.
There should be a regular study and work
period that includes a review of events
which would no doubt disclose impressions
of fiction value.
{EXAMPLE 13.) I. Almost daily iJie prolific writer
will see "characters'' that are worthy of record. 2. In
some of Its music awakens a glorious fictitious pictorial
strain. 3. It is to be hoped that some sister Art is
stimulative of original creation — Painting, Architecture,
Drama, Music, Sculpture. 4. A good sermon itivari-
ahly starts new ideas. 5. An original thought dropped
by someone in the course of formal or informal speech has
often been the ftucleus of an e.xrelleni story or play.
Beware of the "true story." Almost in-
variably it is a recital of local nature that
has deeply aftected a few individuals, or a
community, which would prove tame to a
larger circle of humanity already weighted
or entertained by parallel experiences of
their own. More significant is the fact that
39
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
the public airing of a "true story" usually
constitutes a serious breach of confidence.
The selfish author might bare a pitiful
"skeleton," or disclose an annoying hoax
on the other fellow.
Books and poetry are prolific sources of
fiction material. That nothing should be
taken "whole cloth" is to be understood
as a perpetual maxim in the search for fic-
tion material. We garner and file material
for what it suggests of further elaboration,
not what it is in its undisturbed relations.
It is equally true of all plot material that we
base our fiction developments upon a mere
thread that is cut away from yards of con-
text matter.
{EXAMPLE 14.) On reading the works of Framis
Parkman 07ie is struck by the almost miraculous stoicism
cf the French fathers. It should suggest many stories along
parallel lines. ... On reading ''The Autobiography
of Benvenuto Cellini, " one involuntarily gets living ideas.
... To read of Napoleon is to court the most charming
of the romantic muses.
Poetry abounds in pregnant phrases.
For that matter, the true poet puts a power-
ful plot in his few lines of verse. Invariably
40
COMMON SOURCES OF PLOT MATERIAL
a verse should suggest a story, or a character,
or a situation. A single clot, made now and
again on the margins of books — particu-
larly of poetry — containing picturesque
phrases of extraordinary suggestiv^e power,
is worth while. Later the pregnant phrases
may be garnered in a note-book. They
may prove equally valuable as plot germs,
dramatic situations or attractive titles.
{EXAMPLE 15.) Here are ten iake?i at random:
J. The Anvil of God. 2. The Courage of the Dreamer.
J. The Enemy Who Signs A'O Truce. 4. A Gamble in
Futures. 5. Imaginary Maticrhorns. 6. Kingdom,
Power and Glory. 7. The Mask of Immortality.
8. Oh, For One Hour of Youth! g. The Quality of
Youth. 10. Sell All Thou Hast. {What a "wealth of
plot material!)
Plot material is invaluable — upon one
condition. It must be systematized. You
will waste your time in collecting material
in quantity, unless you go to the further
initial trouble of putting it in such uniform
shape, by filing it under specific heads, that
it may be intelligible. Title it, alphabetize
it, keep it in uniform cases on uniform sizes
of paper, group subjects together — anything,
41
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
rather than let it accumulate in an incon-
glomerate mass. Otherwise, it will be worse
than valueless, by becoming a source of
constant annoyance. Put your items only
in a loose-leaf book, if you use a book at all.
The envelope, card or case systems are pref-
erable.
You may have devised a category of your
own. Even so, it is suggested that you make
a study of the Plot Catalog that follows
later, and see if it may not contain more
advantages than anything you have yet
seen. If this be true, you should make use
of it.
42
Plot Material is the substajice of ex-
perience reduced in the crucibles of
Emotion, Circumstance and Fate to
the Essence of Life.
CHAPTER V
What the Universal Plot Catalog is
NOT A list of actual PLOTS; POTENTIAL
RATHER THAN EXISTENT; CHAOS VERSUS
system; a THESAURUS, READY REFERENCE,
PERPETUAL STIMULANT, SPONTANEOUS COL-
LECTOR AND EFFICIENT FILE; EMINENTLY
USEFUL FOR EDITORS, ORATORS, TEACHERS,
LIBRARIANS, NEWSPAPER MEN, STATISTI-
CIANS, PREACHERS — AS WELL AS V.'RITERS
OF ALL KINDS.
SOME readers of this volume may be
disappointed in finding that it does
not contain a list of actual plots — possibly
of all the plots that have been used, or even
all the plots that ever can be used.
Of what use v/ould a list of actual plots
be to makers of original literature and drama?
If they were plots conceived by me, they
A '^
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
would forever be my plots. If they were
complete plots, others could do no more than
horroiv them. And if one writer borrowed
them, might not a thousand do the same?
A list of all the plots that have ever been
used would be historically interesting and
prove instructive, without a doubt, but it
would take many large tomes to hold them
all. As for all the good, complete plots
that are possible thru combinations of plot
material, that is quite beyond our calcula-
tion, we are thankful to say. Therein lies
eternal hope and progress for the writer.
We are re-creators, rather than creators.
By means of contributive channels of in-
spiration, we "breathe in" pregnant germs
of dramatic activity that incubate in the
imagination and are re-born as full-bodied
plots. We must have some food, then, for
the creative imagination to feed upon —
some personal experience warmed over in a
delicious mood, some redolent memory re-
baked in a savory fancy, some other man's
violent deeds simm_ered down to a succulent
drama, some human whim or failure re-
hashed into a delectable morsel.
44
WHAT THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG IS
Let US suppose, to employ still another
simile, that all possible plot stimuli were
laid out in a formal park, called the Garden
of Man, wherein we might stroll at will.
Therein we would find every variety of life
that budded or bloomed within the soul
of man from seed to flower, from harvest
and back again to seed. Here we would
find the fairest flowers and the foulest fungi,
the richest harvests and the deadliest
undergrowths, rare bulbs and seedlings and
rank grubs and cankers, shade-giving trees
and poisonous vines, crystal brooks and
deadly springs — the garden of Eden and
the valley of the Shadow both within its
walls. Here is a suggestion of all the vital-
ity of man's life and all the horror of his
death.
Such a journey and sojourn is what the
Universal Plot Catalog offers to the imagi-
native plot seeker. It is a progressive cate-
gory of Man — his vicissitudes, his desires,
his relationships and his struggles — in which
all dramatic conflict and plot material in the
universe find their source, life and end.
All that vitally concerns m.an vitally con-
45
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
cerns fiction arid drama — it is fiction and
drama.
Instead of a chaotic dictionary of man's
daily experience expressed in a billion signs
of negligible action, we are offered a concise
thesaurus of eternal human life suggested
in terms of vital emotion. Here we may
not seek the exact v/ord and act, upon which
to build a paragraph or a composition, but
the suggestive thought or relationship with
which to re-create a human soul or a seg-
ment of life.
Most of us meet hundreds of our fellow
men in daily contact, yet how much do
we learn of one of them that reveals his
real inner life? But, lay bare the soul of
a single fellow creature and the fiction artist
would find material for a score of emotional
canvasses. The Plot Catalog is designed
to lay bare the soul of Everyman and reveal
the Thousand-and-One Nights Entertain-
ments that have thrilled the inner Temple.
(EXAMPLE i6.) The iruih of the foregoing is
realized, sooner or later, by the inspired creator of fiction
or drama. He comes to learn that the drabbest or shallow-
est, the most phlegmatic or the most immovable of creatures
46
WHAT THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG IS
need but a rare dominant note to rouse music in their
hearts, or a certain personal spark to strike fire in their
souls. Behind their curtains of uninteresting exteriors
there sits enthrofied tn their souls a resplendent figure
that may be Desire, Creed, Affection, Religion, or By-
gones that will rise in sublime might, or crouch in bestial
ferocity when the proper incentive is cast at its head.
According to the same principle of human perversity it
has been said that "every man has his price."
Not only is the Plot Catalog a treasury of
suggestive data but, because of the progres-
sive arrangement in organic units, it becomes
a ready reference to all relative matter.
This is made possible by means of a com-
plete alphabetical index locating every sub-
ject under as many heads as it appears, with
frequent cross-indexing. In this way a
given subject in its broadest or most infinites-
imal phase may be located instantly.
The progressive and organized synthesis
and analysis of relationships are bound to
act as constant stimuli to the mind seeking
new combinations and divisions of human
activity and to the imagination relying on
live inspiration and emotions. Simulta-
neously, it makes of itself a spontaneous
collector of new plot material, evolving it
47
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
automatically by and within itself. Thus
the inert mind, the fagged imagination and
the stagnant fancy may come to view it
as a purgative, a stimulant and a tonic.
The Universal Plot Catalog — and its
invaluable auxiliary, the Plot File and Col-
lector— is of value to others than creatqtrs
of Fiction and Drama. Editors are daily
importuned to employ facts, fiction or fancy
in some new relationship in order to keep up
the killing pace of out-doing competitors
in novelty and spicing the .satiety of the
blase public. Their positions often depend
on a perpetual succession of new ideas.
Orators will find themselves growing
"stale" unless they supply their imaginations
with new ideas drawn from man's probable
and possible experiences which they weave
into the spoken word pointed with dramatic
fire, intimate anecdotes, picturesque phrases,
interesting stories and emotional appeal. A
perusal of the Catalog should prove an in-
evitable freshener of thought.
Teachers are not even useful in the exer-
cise of their professions unless they are ca-
pable of interpreting problems, lessons and
48
WHAT THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG IS
tasks into practical solutions, living exam-
ples and familiar answers, all expressed in
terms of universal experience. Universal
experience is the basis of common under-
standing. The progressive teacher will em-
ploy the Catalog both as a stimulant for
novel presentation and as a collector and
file for interpretive material.
Librarians are always looking for liter-
ature to create or to supply every inquiry,
doubt and fancy that might or should tenant
the human mind. They would find the
Catalog valuable in suggesting new cate-
gories of subjects, articles and books. A
file used in accordance with the Catalog
would enlarge their own reference records to
cover the whole Life of humanity, as well
as the Literature of man.
Newspaper Men must constantly supply
their superiors with news, or be listed for
ultimate dismissal. News is not merely a
recital of the daily hum-drum of existence.
The reporter, editorial writer, special article
writer, editor, caption writer or special cor-
respondent must present his news in a new
way, from a new angle, with a new twist. The
49
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Catalog will not only supply these writers
with infinite subject matter for new material
but it will suggest every angle of human
relationship. A file would become a literal
gold mine.
Statisticians by profession, and those of
us who make a hobby of collecting statistical
data, informative records, literary odds and
ends, anecdotes, jokes, poems, personal
material and memoranda will find the Cat-
alog, in conjunction with the file, excellent
as a reference and container.
The Preacher is the Interpreter of God in
terms of Man. Texts are abundant, but
their relationship to man's life and expe-
rience are not so plentiful. Hence the dull
sermons that fail to divert the modern mind
seeking new thoughts or fixed upon selfish
interests. The Catalog dissects man and
sorts out his elementary construction in a
way that reveals his emotions in the making.
The opportunity' is offered on every side to
apply the argument of welfare to his soul
and trace the relationship to his Creator.
The single sub-division, The Soul of Man,
should occupy the attention of every preacher.
50
The writer of literature or drama must
become the historian of the prehistoric
man, have a finger on the pulse of the
ma?i in love; be on speaking terins
with the famous man; have a bowing
acqtiaintance with the kings of men;
understand the impulses of the man
steeped in crime; suffer with man at
his death, arid commune with 7nan
after death.
CHAPTER VI
The Scope of the Catalog
man; his vicissitudes and his desires,
his relationships and his struggles;
the plot of the plot catalog; a com-
PLETE cycle; the LINE OF PROGRESSION;
THAT WHICH IS NOT MAN; ENDING WITH
THE BEGINNING.
THE whole of the Universal Plot Catalog
is cast under a single grand division —
Man. By Man we mean mankind — all
humanity. We writers and readers being
men with understandings that are limited
51
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
by human comprehensions, it follows that
our expression must be in the terms and sym-
bols of mankind, tho we interpret the soul
of a star, the voice of an angel, the trials of
a camel, the sighs of the wind or the life of
a tree.
Our success in translating essence into
substance is measured by the quantity of
universal Man or the quality of Human
appeal our product contains. The zenith
of artistic appeal is attained when the
reader, listener or beholder may pause,
close his eyes and commune with his soul,
saying, "This is I." Then we have suc-
ceeded in realizing true Art — or artistic
Truth — by translating essence into sub-
stance that is again transmuted into es-
sence !
In seeking to discriminate between the
actual existence of man and his real life,
we find the latter divided into four vital
categories — Vicissitudes, Desires, Relation-
ships and Struggles. These are in themselves
progressive and cyclical. Man's real life
is evidenced by a vicissitude, which is soon
stirred by desires, which lead to relation-
52
THE SCOPE OF THE CATALOG
ships, which are followed by inevitable
struggles, which bring him back to a new
vicissitude to begin the cycle all over again.
Our first grand sub-division, then, is
Vicissitude. The natural beginning is that
of Origin (A). But no sooner do we find
man existent than we see him filled with
Aspiration (B). Then, with his aspirations
but half-blown we behold him. snatched up
by Destiny (C), which decides and settles
his fate. Briefly, that is the beginning and
the end of man. We have seen him lifted
into being from behind a dim veil called the
eternal Past and placed again behind a dim
veil called the eternal Future. From dust
he came and to dust he returns.
But, while he lingered his brief hour within
the pale of humanity, we saw him now and
again swept aside from the grim treadmill
of life by the whimsical hand of Humor
(D), in the diversion of laughing or weeping.
Here we find man most himself, the individ-
ual, delighted or devoured by his own per-
sonality.
There remains but one possible vicissitude,
which is that of Not Being Man. For,
53
TIIE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
there are all creation and creatures to be
reckoned with in the broad fields of artistic
expression. Life would be shallow indeed
to relegate all real life within the soul of
man alone.
In Origin, we find the Vicissitudes of
Creation and Re-Creation. Aspiration is
tainted with the Vicissitudes of Passion and
Deterioration. Destiny is purged and ele-
vated again by the Vicissitudes of Inquiry
and the Infinite. Humor is swayed by the
Ridiculous and the Sublime. Not-Man may
again, in any presentment in all creation,
run the whole gamut of human vicissitudes.
We arrive at our minor sub-divisions.
The first is that of The Nature of Man (I),
under Creation. Under Re-Creation we
find The Heart of Man (II), just as it is
under the benign spirit of love that man re-
creates in his own image. Once man's
nature is established then his sentiments
begin to take root.
Aspiration immediately follows man's
heart, and under Passion we find first The
Ambition of Man (III) that aims and leads
toward The Might of Man (IV). Once might
54
THE SCOPE OF THE CATALOG
is attained, Deterioration sets in, first, in
The Character of Man (V), finally in The
Flesh of Man (VI).
Destiny manifests itself first thru Inquiry
in The Mind of Man (VII), and secondly,
reaches the ultimate, in the Infinite, thru
The Soul of Man (VIII).
Both the Ridiculous and the Sublime
are called for thru The Emotions of Man
(IX).
In detail we see the crescendo course of
man. First of all Man's actual Desire for
Existence, which naturally introduces his
Relations with Creation and a consequent
Struggle for Individuality. The moment
his individuality is vSet up he becomes con-
scious of a Desire for Happiness which leads
to his Relations with Woman and ends in
his Struggle for his Family.
Now he has settled down to the business
of life and there creeps into his being a
Desire for Position, which entails certain
Relations with Society that involve him
in the Struggle for Achievement. Achieve-
ment alone is not sufficient and there rises
the Desire for Supremacy which brings about
55
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Relations with Antagonists who are equally
ferocious in the Struggle for Power. Power
once attained, man's Desire for Luxury crops
up and involves him in Relations with
Morality and brings about a sinister Struggle
against Sin. Enter Sin and a new passion
becomes paramount — his Desire for Health,
that vice has undermined, bringing painful
Relations with Disease and the losing Strug-
gle against Death.
But there are higher gifts than the flesh of
man. He has his mind to sustain him under
trials and there is his soul which has a
destiny even beyond this v/orld. Thus we
turn to man's Desire for Knowledge and
watch his Application of Reason and follow
his Struggle against Ignorance. Thruout,
there has been his ever-present Desire for
Divinity, or his Relations with his God,
that meant a constant Struggle for his
Religion. Man has been created and re-
turned to his Creator.
All the foregoing represents man as he is
seen by his fellows; there remains that inner
life of the emotions that he feels himself
only. Those of us who have become burnt-
56
THE SCOPE OF THE CATALOG
out husks thru the buffetings of life reveal
uiiguessed vitality \vhen Impassioned by
the Domination of the Ludicrous, or by
the Stimulation of Diversion, or by Partici-
pation in Pleasure or by the Stress of Pathos.
It is the law of nature that revives spent
tissues thru diversion, relaxation and recrea-
tion. Writers, especially, will do well in
giving heed to it.
Finally, we turn to all that is not man,
and by means of imagination endow this
extra-humanity with humanness thru Per-
sonification. This includes the Humanizing
of AH Creation, Creatures and Mythology
and the Appropriation of their Phenomena
as Dramatic Material.
The sub-dividing of the minor sub-
divisions may become almost infinite in its
scope, still the progression is as simple and
effective as is that of all the other divisions.
We have endeavored to include all essential
suggestion. In each case we begin with
Origin and close with Destiny. We round
out cycles which themselves are within
cycles. Beginning, as it were, with the
infinite, deducing the finite, but closing with
57
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
the inevitable infinite. It is the course of
all things human !
Thus in sub-minor-division i. PRIMEVAL
(Prehisioric) we grope about among the dim
perceptions of the awakening of drama in
humanity and find it in the half-human,
half-divine Mythology that knits man with
God and makes earth His footstool. The
last sub-minor-division, lOO, is MYTHOL-
OGY (Not Man or Beast) , and the last trail-
ing divisions under that head arc: (w)
Primeval and (x) Prehistoric! Thus Man
has returned again to his nebulous status
that is both his remotest past and his most
advanced future.
58
Tangible Experience is the Interpreter
of Unutterable Life; it is the Lan-
guage of the Soul tra?islated hito the
Vocabulary of the Body; the Word
of the Person that reveals the Thought
of the Personality.
CHAPTER VII
How TO Use the Plot Catalog
A PRACTICAL DEVICE, NOT A THEORETICAL
contrivance; the automatic PLOT COL-
LECTOR AND FILE; HOW ONE MAY BE
MADE ; FILED ACCORDING TO THE PREDOM-
INANT PHASE ; HOW TO AVOID CONFUSION ;
ALL DIVISIONS ARE POTENTIAL; PRACTICAL
ILLUSTRATIONS.
CONSTRUCTING the Plot Catalog in-
volved the simple task of taking the
meat out of life. Creating fiction or drama
consists of the difficult process of recon-
structing a unit of life out of a piece of the
aforesaid meat.
As we have said, the Plot Catalog has tvv^o
practical uses. The first is that of a stimu-
59
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
lus of thought and imagination. The second
is that of a file — or containing record — of
resultant ideas and similar material already
in hand.
Our contention is, that an intelligent
writer may take up the Catalog with an
earnest desire to imbibe an idea and succeed
in his desire. We assume, for the moment,
that he has not an idea in his head. His
mind is blase with stray thoughts, thread-
bare ideas, trite plots and other people's
stories.
Any single word in the Catalog taken,
with no regard to context, is as meaningless
as a sentence from a book, or a line of dialog
from a play. Thus any division, or sub-
division, of the catalog is studied with due
regard to its relationships. It becomes as
it were a peep-hole thru which we view a
given group at a certain angle. The view
is never the same twice. Now we view
man thru the haze of distance, now in the
clear light of perfect focus, now in the
blurred image of close proximity. Let us
give a practical demonstration of the value
of the Catalog:
60
HOW TO USE THE PLOT CATALOG
Our writer may peruse the Catalog, be-
ginning with Man, proceed thru A and get to
the very end of I, before he feels the slightest
stimulation. "Struggle For Individuality!"
There is an idea. What does it mean?
It involves the very Nature of Man. It is
one of the Vicissitudes of Creation. It is
actually Man himself.
Our writer is interested. His sluggish
mind has awakened. He wants something
more specific. He consults the index and
finds that Individuality is further mentioned
under 1-8. He finds 8 teeming with sug-
gestive developments. The sub-division it-
self—PERSONALITY (5e//) — begins to
marshal his crowding ideas. The minor sub-
divisions bring him yet closer to his specific
plot material. Each one lights the way:
(a) Individuality, (b) Identity, (c) Name,
(d) Egotism, (e) Optimism, (f) Content-
ment, (g) Subconscious. He feels an in-
creasing potentiality, as tho with little or no
imaginative effort he could fill out a complete
picture from each one. Then he strikes the
spark that ignites the gathered sweepings
of his mind — (h) Dual Personality. That
6l
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
is the open sesame. Just why, is not yet
quite clear. His eye follows the line of pro-
gressive sub-divisions — PRIMEVAL, etc.
He pauses at 2. BIRTH {Origin) — that con-
tributes data. 5. MAN or 6. WOMAN?
He prefers that it be a man. 7. CONDI-
TION— that bears further investigation.
He runs his eye down the list: (a) Poverty,
(b) Peasant, (c) Clod, (d) Slave! He is
filled with a feeling of exultation. He has
his story. It is to be the tale of a slave —
in som.c way. Another link or two and the
plot will be com.plete. 9. RACE. There is his
man — (b) Black. One more hint is found in
10. CUSTOMS (Cotiveniions) of (b) Society.
Our next step suggests itself. It implies
the possession of a Plot Collector and File.
We see that all data we have will be found
in container 13*. There may be a quantity
of clippings: "White Babes Turn Black;"
"Negro Indorsed for Judge;" "Mob Kills
Negro in Jail;" "The Black Madonna;"
"200 Going Back to Africa," and "His
Wealth Could not Make Him White."
For reasons of our own, this last is what we
want. We have all our data. We had not
62
HOW TO USE THE PLOT CATALOG
an idea to begin with. We now set to work,
suddenly realizing that all the data in the
world will not make a story or a play with-
out the master mind behind it. We began
with the realization that the master builder
was decidedly out of a job without a plot
to build upon.
{EXAMPLE 17.) The complete resultant plot from
the above is, ifi brief: A young educated negro tries to
raise his station to the level of his mind and fails — the
white man is still the white matt, the black the black, — •
it is the nature of man bound by the unbreakable shackles
of conventioti — when he is almost on the verge of tragedy,
the very barrier, the negro blood within him, saves him
by giving him a savage enjoyment in some barbaric
melody and %vith it returns tlie devil-may-care spirit of
his race — his soaring spirit falls back to caste, bruised
and bleeding, beaten by creation itself.
Each man is a law unto himself, when it
comes to creation. Perhaps the minds or
imaginations of no two of us would have
been stimulated by Man's Struggle for In-
dividuality. Granted, that another writer
should feel the same stimulus, it is quite
unlikely that he would have pursued any-
thing like the same process of seeking, find-
ing or arranging its development.
63
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Thus we touch upon the very core of the
Catalog's universality, its flexibility, its
breadth of personal application. The Cata-
log is no deeper, broader or higher than the
student who employs it. It contains for
him nothing that is not already within him.
All it can do is to parole, unchain and set
free the vagrant impressions that have
swarmed the court of experience to be sen-
tenced for life in the prison house of his
soul, or have crowded and been left uncon-
sidered in the dungeons and cells of his
nether mind.
The Plot File and Collector is such an
important adjunct and logical sequence to
the Catalog that the serious student has
scarcely an alternative, other than providing
himself with one. With the Catalog in
hand, the File is a simple matter.
The student will find a Universal Plot
File and Collector advertised in this book.
It is recommended for several important
reasons, altho a duplicate file of the same
dimensions may be manufactured by the
student himself, if he is so inclined.
First, there is a filing case, made of strong.
64
HOW TO USE THE PLOT CATALOG
cloth-covered board, tho light in weight. The
case is designed to hold two hundred contain-
ers. The inside dimensions are: height, 4^
inches ; breadth, 9^ inches ; length, 18 inches.
Next come the containers, which are in the
form of special envelopes open at the side,
giving maximum accessibility. They are made
of extra heavy kraft paper, very tough and
durable, and with ordinary usage will last a
life time. The dimensions of the containers
are: depth, 4 inches; length, 9>j inches.
A single case has sufficient capacity to meet
the requirements of most users for an indefi-
nite period. Other cases may be added accord
ing to the needs of the collector, without dis-
organizing the system. The cases are compact
enough to be kept without trouble within the
reach of the writer — on top of a desk, book-
case or shelf. On adding the second case, it is
customary to transfer enough of the envelopes
or containers from the first case to care for
the overflow, leaving the rest of the space to be
occupied by new containers, which may be
ordered as needed. The cases have a label
holder on each, and may be marked "A,"
"B," etc., by the user. As his collection
65
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
expands the writer merely adds cases. Thus
there is no limit to the File's ultimate con-
tents. The two cases hold approximately
10,000 to 15,000 uniform items.
There are ten sections among the two hun-
dred containers, each section corresponding
with a Division (identified by Roman nu-
merals). Each section has a color of its
own so that the containers will always be
clearly defined in the cases and confusion
will be avoided. Furthermore each container
bears its individual number to correspond
with the starred (i*, 2*, etc.) numbers that
identify the groups of minor-divisions.
The containers themselves also may be
expanded indefinitely by adding containers
where necessary and amplifying the starred
numbers, as: i*-a, i*-b, etc. These are
located by the original starred numbers.
Or, those subjects contained in overflow
containers may be definitely indicated in
the index by adding the identifying number
with pen or pencil. In case of additional
envelopes, it is suggested that a list of sub-
jects contained within shall be typed on the
outside.
66
HOW TO USE THE PLOT CATALOG
The "system" of the Plot File, however,
may be applied with equal efficacy, without
the afore-mentioned outfit with its specific
dimensions. We may mention the card
filing system, which merely requires guides
bearing the starred numbers. The cards
may bear the plot material, either typed or
pasted on. Again, there are the various
loose-leaf books which have a wide range of
sizes. Each book might represent a starred
number and become equivalent to a con-
tainer. An index could otherwise be in-
serted.
There are other "home-made" devices
that can be made to serve the general pur-
pose. Ordinary envelopes, for instance,
properly numbered and kept in their original
paste-board box, make a file that will serve
for a time at least, at a cost of about twenty-
five cents.
Not infrequently, the collector may be
perplexed as to which classification a given
item of material may properly belong. In
reply to this, we will say that all plot matter
must be viewed thru its predominant phase,
or the phase that is most striking in its im-
67
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
pression or workable possibilities. The view-
point, or workability, of a clipping is paral-
leled by the larger division captions under
which it shall be filed.
(EXAMPLE i8.) We find this clipping: ''POD"
ENTERS BERLIN IN HIS NIGHTSHIRT— Popu-
lar General's Ludicrous Adventure on A Sleeping Car.
Instantly, ive feel that here is a character. That which
impresses us immediately is a good guide. We consult in-
dex and find: Character — V. — 4Q,7s,gi,Q4. This is an
exception; four-fifths of the subjects have but one refer-
ence. 4Q. discloses that xve have invaded the Vicissitude
of ASPIRATION, thence to V.—THE CHARACTER
OF MAN, narrowed down to 49. QUALITIES. Not
what we want. 7J. we find under DESTINY, THE
MIND OF MAN, DERANGEMENT. There it is,
(a) "Character," just what we want. If there is any
doubt we continue our search and find gi, HUMOR —
EMOTIONS— FARCE. No, Pod, seemed too pathetic
for farce. Again 94, under PA THOS, seemed too tragic
and we revert to DERANGEMENT, our first impression.
Some of the minor classifications may
strike the student as being far-fetched.
This comment is best answered by the fact
that in nine cases out of ten actual mate-
rial in hand suggested the classification,
rather than that classification assumed the
existence of consequent material. Every
68
HOW TO USE THE PLOT CATALOG
phase of the Catalog is practical, having
been experimentally perfected over a period
of four years thru the medium of more than
five thousand items of plot material. It
was thru this means alone that the approx-
imate bulk of each container could be cal-
culated.
{EXAMPLE IQ.) Five of the seemingly most un-
dramatic minor divisions are "materialized" thru actual
material in hand in the follovjing manner: j. TIME,
(p) Endurance — EDITORIAL, "There is great power
in Repetition;" ii. FRIENDSHIP, (a) Altruism—
SPECIAL ARTICLE— "Big Brothering Boys Who
Are In the Law's Grip;" pS- NATURE (p) Night— A
POEM— "Evenings;" i. PRIMEVAL (/) Egyptians
— A PICTURE from an advertisement of a pretty girl
listening at the closed lips of the Sphinx; 60. DISEASE,
(0) Pain — An ESS A Y zvith the same title, taken from a
popular magazine.
(EX A MPLE 20. ) A few stories by well-known authors
are classified under like "undramatic" headings: "Tim
and Nemesis," by James Adams — 2Q. (e) Nemesis;
"Three Dreams," by Hugh Black — 72. (h) Dreams;
"Van Suydan— Caveman," by Berton Braley — /. (e)
Cave Man; " The Enchanted Bluff, " by Willa Sibert
Catker — pj. (a) Mountains; "The Doodle Bug,"
by George Randolph Chester — pp. (x) Miscellatieous
(ANIMALS); "Shark," by Richard Washburn Child-
go. («) Shark; "The Father' n Motlier Tree," by Annie
69
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Hamilton Dojinell—gS. {g) Tree; "The Wind," hy
Zoe Anderson N orris — pj. (g) Winds.
In concluding, we hark back to the great
truth underlying all art: The greater virtue
lies not in the art works themselves — they
are but clay or pigment, words or gestures —
but in their power to suggest the inner
vision, that is of the soul.
70
Chaos is the forerunner of panic;
Order is the herald of power — and la
him with controlled power God denies
nothing!
CHAPTER VIII
The Universal Plot Catalog — I
A PROGRESSIVE CATEGORY OF MAN — HIS
VICISSITUDES, HIS DESIRES, HIS RELATION-
SHIPS AND HIS STRUGGLES IN WHICH ALL
DRAMATIC CONFLICT AND PLOT MATERIAL IN
THE UNIVERSE FIND THEIR SOURCE, LIFE OR
END.
MAN
(Meaning Mankind)
A. — ORIGIN. — The Vicissitudes of
Creation and Re-creation
I. The Nature of Man.
Man's Desire for Existence, his Re-
lations with Creation and his Strug-
gle for Individuality.
(Sub-Divisions i to lo.) (Filing
Containers I* to 14*.)
71
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
II. Tlie Heart of Man.
Man's Desire for Happiness, his
Relations with Woman and his
Struggle for his Family.
(Sub-Divisions II to 20.) (Filing
Containers 15* to 38*.)
B.— ASPIRATION.— The Vicissitudes
OF Passion and Deterioration
III. The Ambition of Man.
Man's Desire for Position, his Re-
lations with Society and his Strug-
gle for Achievement.
(Sub-Divisions 21 to 32.) (Fil-
ing Containers 39* to 61*.)
IV. The Might of Man.
Man's Desire for Supremacy, his
Relations with Antagonists and his
Struggle for Power.
(Sub-Divisions 33 to 46.) (Fil-
ing Containers 62* to 86*.)
72
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — I
V. The Character of Man.
Man's Desire for Luxury, his Rela-
tions with Morality and his Strug-
gle against Sin.
(Sub-Divisions 47 to 56.) (Fil-
ing Containers 87* to 125*.)
VI . The Flesh of Man.
Man's Desire for Health, his Rela-
tions with Disease and his Struggle
against Death.
(Sub-Divisions 57 to 62.) (Fil-
ing Containers 126* to I37*-)
C— DESTINY.~The Vicissitudes of
Inquiry and the Infinite
VII. The Mind of Man.
Man's Desire for Knowledge, his
Application of Reason and his
Struggle against Ignorance.
(Sub-Divisions 63 to 75.) (Fil-
ing Containers 138* to 163*.)
73
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
VIII. The Soul of Man.
Man's Desire for Divinity, his Re-
lations with his God and his Strug-
gle for his Religion.
(Sub-Divisions 76 to 90.) (Fil-
ing Containers 139* to 180*.)
D. — HUMOR. — The Vicissitudes of the
Ridiculous and the Sublime
IX. The Emotions of Man.
Man Impassioned by the Domina-
tion of the Ludicrous, the Stimu-
lation of Diversion, Participation
in Pleasure and the Stress of Pathos.
(Sub-Divisions 91 to 94.) (Fil-
ing Containers 181* to 191*.)
E.— NOT-MAN
X. The Personification of Man.
The Humanizing of All Creation,
Creatures and Mythology and the
Appropriation of their Phenomena
as Dramatic Material.
(Sub-Divisions 95 to 100.) (Fil-
ing Containers 192 " to 200*.)
74
Writing becomes so easy, when we are
given food for thought, that gluttons
are satisfied; it is so difficult, when
we must find thought for food, that even
the most delicate sometimes starve.
CHAPTER IX
The Universal Plot Catalog — II
MAN
(Meaning Mankind)
A. — ORIGIN.— The Vicissitudes of
Creation and Re-creation
I. The Nature of Man.
Man's Desire for Existence, his Relations
with Creation and his Struggle for In-
dividuality.
I. primeval {Prehislorlc) (e) Cavi Man
I* (a) Mythological (f) Egyptians
(b) Missing Link (g) Aztecs
(c) Darwinian Theory (h) Atavism
(d) Stone Age
* Indicates number of Container when used in con-
junction with "The Phillips Automatic Plot Collector,
File and Index, " or in connection with privately de-
vised File.
75
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
2. BIRTH iPrigin)
3* (a) High
(b) Low
(c) First-bora
(d) Heritage
(e) Illegitimate
(f) Foundling
(g) Birth Mark
(h) Birth Day
3. TIME {Endurance)
3* (a) Eternity
(b) Immemorial
(c) Ancient
(d) Obsolete
(e) Time-Worn
(f) Time Honored
(g) Past
(h) Tempus Fugit
(i) The End
(j) Nevermore
(k) The Present
(I) Date
(m) Season
(n) Epoch
(0) The Times
(p) Endurance
(q) Future
(r) Forever
4. LIFE {Existence)
4* (a) Breath
(b) The Senses
(c) Motion
(d) Animation
(e) To Quicken
(f) Vitality
(g) Longevity
(h) Events
76
(i)
Experience
(J)
Delineation
(k)
Ephemeral
(I)
Eternal
(m;
1 Biography
S. MAN {Male)
S*(a)
Brute
(b)
Adolescence
(c)
Prime
(d)
Virility
(e)
Bachelor
(f)
Lady Killer
(g)
Woman Hater
6*(h)
Bread Winner
(i)
Lord and Master
(j)
Miscellaneous
6. WOMAN {Female)
7* (a)
Innocence
(b)
Weakness
(c)
Beauty
(d)
Girl
(e)
Flirt
(f)
Fashion
(g)
Masquerade
(h)
Homeliness
8*(i)
Vixen
(j)
Slattern
(k)
Termagant
(1)
Squaw
(m) With a "Past"'
(n)
Spinster
(0)
Wage Earner
9*(P)
Feminism
(q)
Suffragette
(r)
Superman
(s)
Miscellaneous
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG-
7. CONDITION (State)
10* (a) Poverty
(b) Peasant
(c) Clod
(d) Slave
(e) Freeman
(f) Citizen
(g) Luxury
(h) Social
8. PERSON.\LITY {Self)
II* (a)
Individuality
(b)
Identity
(c)
Name
(d)
Egotism
(e)
Optimism
(0
Contentment
12* (g)
Subconscious-
(h)
Dual Personality
(i)
"Doubles"
G)
Impersonation
(k)
Puppet
(1)
A Stranger
(m) Subtlety
(n)
Pessimism
(0)
Disposition
(P)
Temperament
(q)
Miscellaneous
9. RACE (Species)
13* (a) White
(b) Black
(c) Yellow
(d) Mixture
(e) Melting Pot
(f) Survival of the Fit-
test
(g) Jew
(h) Russian
(i) Moor
(j) Indian
(k) Nomad
(1) Gypsy _
(m) Barbaric
(n) C'vilized
(0) Race Suicide
10. CUSTOMS (Convention)
14* (a) Sociulogy
(b) Society
(c) Obsolete
(d) National
(e) I-Iabit
(f) Taste
(g) Breeding
(h) Chivalry
(i) Fitness
(j) Deference
(k) Imitation
(1) Civility
(m) Politeness
(n) "Women First"
(0) Mrs. Grundy
(p) Chaperon
(q) Bohemian
(r) Hermit
77
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
II. The Heart of Man.
Man's Desire for Happiness, his Rela-
tions with Woman and his Struggle for
his Family.
II. "^"^
15
16
17'
18^
FRIENDSHIP {A7niiy)
19* (I)
Affinity
* (a) Altruism
(m) Sentiment
(b) Charity
(n)
Clandestine
(c) Benefaction
(0)
Elopement
(d) Philanthropy
(P)
Romance
(e) Neighbors
(f) Congeniality
20* (q)
Lover
(g) Comrades
(r)
Sweetheart
(s)
Courtship
* (h) Partners
(t)
Lothario
(i) Trust
(u)
Worship
(j) Friend in Need
(v)
AfEanced
(k) Solace
(w)
Love-Loru
(1) Sacrifice
(X)
Eternal Lover
(m) Forgiveness
(n) Auld Lang Syne
(0) Souvenirs
(p) Miscellaneous
21* (y)
(z)
(A)
(B)
Love Letters
Old Flame
Rivals
Miscellaneous
LOVE {Afection)
13. MARRIAGE {Wedlocl;)
'• (a) Hungry Heart
22* (a)
Wedding
(b) Infatuation
(b)
Secret
(c) Trysts
(c^
Gifts
(d) Moonshine
(d)
Remarriage
(e) The Kiss
(e)
Runaway-
({) Mother
(f)
Mock-
(g)
Morganatic
■ (g) Father
(h)
Intermarriage
(h) Filial
(i)
Miscegenation
(i) Platonic
(j) Free Love
23* (j)
For Name
(L) Illicit
(k)
For Aloney
78
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — II
24
25
14.
26'
(1)
For Beauty
(m:
) Honeymoon
(n)
Husband
(0)
Wife
MP)
Happy
(q)
Blunder
(r)
Mesalliance
(s)
Deception
(t)
Polygamy
(u)
Harem
Mv)
Obedience
(w) Fidelity
(x)
Childless
(y)
Cruelty
(z)
Martyr
(A) Annulment
(B) Miscellaneous
PARENTHOOD {Fo.
bears)
'(a)
Ancestor Worship
(b)
Patriarch
(c)
Grand Parent
(d)
Parental Instinct
(e)
Eugenics
(f)
Father
(g)
Maternity
(h)
Mother
(i)
Step-Mother
(J)
Sacrifice
(k)
Loneliness
(1)
Forsaken
(ra) Age
(n)
Miscellaneous
15. CHILDREN (and
Life)
28* (a)
Baby
(b)
Nurse
(c)
Innocence
(d)
Heir
(e)
Twins
(f)
Son
(g)
Daughter
29* (h)
Only Child
(i)
Spoiled
(J)
Incorrigible
(k)
Escapade
(1)
Runaway
(m)
Stowaway
(n)
Mischief
(0)
Favorite
30* (p)
Orphan
(q)
Adoption
(r)
Step-Child
(s)
Loneliness
(t)
Martyr
(u)
Lost
(v)
Urchin
(w) Cripple
(x)
Precocity
(y)
Defective
(z)
Ugly Duckling
(A) Peacemaker
(B)
Hero
(C)
Santa Claus
(D) Child Labor
(E) Miscellaneous
16. FAMILY (Kin)
31* (a)
Ancestry
(b)
Heirlooms
Child
79
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
(c) Name
18. SEPARATION (and Port-
(d) Traditions
ing)
(e) Children
35* (a)
Wanderlust
(f) Brothers
(b)
Runaway
(g) Sisters
(c)
Fugitive
(h) -in-Laws
(d)
Exile
(i) Likeness
(e)
Immigrant
(j) Tics
(f)
Lost
(k) Customs
(g)
Rejection
(h)
Expulsion
32* (1) Felicity
(i)
Jilt
(m) Sacrifice
(j)
Exclusion
(n) Posterity
(0) -Secrets
(p) "Skeletons
36* (k)
(1)
(m)
Infelicity
Estrangement
Alienation
(q) Black Sheep
(n)
Unfaithfulness
(r) Squabbles
(s) Intrigue
(t) Feud
(0)
(p)
(q)
Betrayal
Desertion
Irrevocable
(u) Miscellaneous
(r)
Co-Respondent
(s)
Divorce
17. HOME {Hahitation)
(t)
Widowhood
33* (a) Home Seekers
(u)
Miscellaneous
(b) Home-Making
\**/
(c) Home-Body
19. COMMUNICATION (01
(d) Home Town
Reminder)
(e) Fireside
37* (a)
Message
(f) Refuge
(b)
News
(g) No place like —
(c)
Letters
(d)
Telescope
34* (h) Nostalgia
(e)
Heliograph
(i) Back Home
(f)
Pigeon
(j) Efifect of Suffrage
(g)
Telepathy
(k) Mortgage
(h)
Signals
(1) Eviction
(i)
Code
(m) Auction
(j)
Matchmaker
(n) Fire
(k)
Memory
(0) Homeless
(1)
Music
(p) Miscellaneous
(m) Relics
80
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — II
20. RE-UNION (Rejoining)
38* (a) Remorse
(b) Forgiveness
(c) Passer-By
(d) Return
(e) Back to the Farm
(f) Re-Union
(g) Rejuvenation
(h) Explanations
B.— ASPIRATION.— The Vicissitudes of
Passion and Deterioration
III. The Ambition of Man.
Man's Desire for Position, his Rela-
tions with Society and his Struggle for
Achievement.
21. ADVENTURE {Exploil)
39* (a) Adventurer
(b) Adventuress
(c) Heroine
(d) Incognito
(e) Speculation
(f) Mystery
40* (g) Warning
(h) Pitfalls
(i) Hazard
(j) Foolhardy
(k) Peril
0) Tribulation
(m) Rescue
(n) Escape
41* (0) Exploration
(p) Savages
(q) Cannibals
(r) Quicksands
(s) Pioneer
81
(t)
Colonist
(u)
Wild West
(V)
Hunter
(w)
Mountain Climber
(X)
Miscellaneous
22. FAILURE ilmpotcncy)
42* (a)
Inefficient
(b)
Blunder
(c)
Mishap
(d)
Indolence
(e)
Plodder
(f)
In the Rut
43* (g)
Mollycoddle
(h)
Ne'er-do-Well
(i)
Scape Goat
G)
Debt
(k)
Bankruptcy
(1)
Disgrace
(m) Broken Heart
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
44* (n) Poverty
(o) Pawnbroker
(p) Bread Line
(q) Derelict
(r) Saloon
(s) Crime
(t) Salvation Array
(u) Relapse
(v) Ruin
(w) Miscellaneous
23. AVOCATION {Occupa-
tion)
45* (a) Profession
(b) Business
(c) Politics
(d) Labor
(e) Crook
(f) Do-Nothing
(g) Beggar
(h) Mountebank
(i) Sinecure
(j) Executioner
(k) Servant
24. VOCATION {Call)
46* (a) Religious
(b) Artist
(c) Warrior
(d) Actor
(e) Service
(f) Propagandist
(g) Suffragist
(h) Agitator
(i) Crusade
25. COMPETITION
ry)
47* (a) Professional
{Rival
82
(b) In Business
(c) In Politics
(d) In Sport
(c) Oratory
(f) Advantage
(g) Handicap
(h) Discrimination
(i) Corpwration
(j) Monopoly
s5. OPPORTUNITY {Crisis)
48* (a) "Knocks but Once"
(b) Opening
(c) Crisis
(d) Now
(e) In Season
(f) Critical
(g) Propitious
(h) Coincidence
(i) Opportunist
(j) Man of the Hour
49* (k) V/asted-
(1) Tempus Fu^t
(m) Too Late
(n) Yesterday
(o) Persistence
(p) Abide
(q) Providential
(r) Luck
(s) Progress
(t) Tomorrow
(u) Future
(v) Miscellaneous
27. SUCCESS {Achievement)
50* (a) Potcndahty
(b) Luck
(c) Meiit
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — II
(d)
Thrift
(e)
Honesty
(0
The Cost
(g)
Artistic
(h)
Material
51* (i)
Uplifting
(J)
Degrading
(k)
Credit
(1)
Reward
(m) Diploma
(n)
Medal
(o)
Champion
(P)
Miscellaneous
28. NOTORIETY (Pub
52* (a)
Plaudits
(b)
In Print
(c)
The Press
(d)
Editorial
(c)
Reportorial
(0
Advertisement
(g)
"Personal"
(h)
Anecdote
53* (i)
Conceit
(J)
Unsavory
(k)
TellTale
(1)
Gossip
(m) Scandal
(n)
False Report
(o)
A Babble
(P)
Tragical
(q)
Miscellaneous
(9. AMBITION (or A.
tion)
54* (a)
Lure
(b)
Selfish-
Aspira-
83
(c)
Praise
(d)
Career
(e)
Nemesis
(f)
Fame
55* (g)
Land
(h)
Wealth
(i)
Clothes
(j)
Society
(k)
Family
0)
Title
(m) Leadership
(n)
Throne
(o)
Miscellaneous
30. SOCIETY (Positioi
56* (a)
The Pillars
(b)
The Bonds
(c)
Caste
(d)
400
(e)
Peer
(f)
Beau
(g)
Belle
57* (h)
Hollowness
(i)
Iconoclast
(j)
Parasite
(k)
Climber
(1)
Snob
(m) Cad
(n)
Pariah
(0)
The Masses
(P)
The Dregs
(q)
Vassal
(r)
Peon
(s)
Slave
(t)
Miscellaneous
31. STATION (Rank)
58* (a)
Royalty
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
(b)
Hierarchy
(c)
Aristocracy
(d)
Nobility
(e)
Ruler
(f)
President
(g)
Prince
59* (h)
Statesman
(i)
Official
(J)
Pedigree
(k)
Pride
(1)
Pomp
(m) Homage
(n)
Satellite
(o)
Lese Majeste
(P)
Miscellaneous
32. FAME (Renown)
60* (a)
In Government
61*
(b)
In Art
(c)
In Letters
(d)
War
(e)
Science
(f)
Exploration
(g)
Commerce
(h)
Church
(i)
Contemporaneous
(J)
— over Night
(k)
Glory
(1)
Honor
(m) Masterpiece
(n)
Parnassus
(0)
Wi!l-o'-the-Wisp
(P)
Suppressed
(q)
Posthumous
(r)
Miscellaneous
IV. The Might of Man.
Man's Desire for Supremacy, his Rela-
tions with Antagonists and his Struggle
for Power.
33- POWER [Dominion)
(I) Dictator
6a* (a) Monarchy
(m) Usurper
(b) Hierarchy
(n) Potentate
(c) Oligarchy
(0) Mogul
(d) Plutocracy
(p) Chief
(e) Democracy
(f) Emperor
64* (q) Aristocrat
(g) King
(r) Political-
(h) Pope
(s) Demagog
(i) Doge
(t) Padrone
(u) Master
63* G) Tyrant
(v) Slave Driver
(k) Despot
(w) Miscellaneous
84
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — U
34. PARTY {Faction)
65* (a) Side
(b) Alliance
(c) League
(d) Fraternity
(e) Brotherhood
(f) Committee
(g) Cabal
(h) Clique
66* (i) Club
(j) Crew
(k) Posse
(1) Band
(m) Clan
(n) Tribe
(0) Canaille
(p) Horde
(q) Miscellaneous
35. DISCORD {Dissension)
67* (a) Labor
(b) Unemployed
(c) Agitator
(d) Socialism
(e) Boycott
(f) Sabotage'
(g) Malcontent
(h) Discontent
68* (i) Instigation
(j) Public Opinion
(k) Unrest
(1) Quarrels
(m) Insult
(n) Enemies
(o) Division
(p) Vox Populi
(q) License
(r) Miscellaneous
36. COMBAT {Fight)
69* (a) Hand-to-Hand
(b) Drunken
(c) Gang
(d) Fray
(e) Duel
(f) Tourney
(g) Feud
(h) — of Tongues
(i) Pugilist
0) Gladiator
37. REVOLT {Rising)
70* (a) Strike
(b) Mob
(c) Violence
(d) Riot
(e) Bombs
(0 Dynamite
(g) Assassination
71* (h) Suffrage-
(i) Race-
0) Mutiny
(k) Vendetta
(1) Pretender
(m) Anarchy
(n) Call to Arms
(o) Militia
(p) Miscellaneous
85
38. PATRIOTISM
Patrice)
72* (a) The Flag
(b) Anthem
(c) Loyalty
(d) Defiance
(e) Fanatic
(f) Sacrifice
{Atnor
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
(g)
Woman's-
(h)
Hero
(i)
Martyr
G)
Alarms
(k)
Traitor
39. SOLDIER {Combatant)
73* (a)
Recruit
(b)
Officer
(c)
Countersign
(d)
Sentinel
(e)
Scout
(f)
Amazon
(g)
Courage
(h)
Heroism
(i)
Veteran
74* (J)
Conscript
(k)
Sharpshooter
(1)
Wire-tapper
(m)
Spy
(n)
Mercenary
(0)
Renegade
(P)
White Feather
(q)
Coward
(r)
Miscellaneous
40. WAR {Hostilities)
75* (a)
International
(b)
Internecine
(c)
Rebellion
(d)
Revolution
(e)
Invasion
(f)
Expcditioa
(g)
Intervention
(h)
Tribal
(i)
Religious
0)
Red Cross
86
76* (k) Ultimatum
(1) Mobilizatioa
(m) Internment
(n) Passport
(o) Defence
(p) Aid
(q) Campaign
(r) War Dance
(s) Miscellaneous
41. BATTLE {Conflict)
77* (a) Army
(b) Land
(c) Naval
(d) Aerial
(e) Challenge
(f) Skirmish
(g) Battle-Cry
(h) Charge
(i) Raid
78* (j) Attack
(k) Ambush
(1) Strategy
(m) Trenches
(n) Under Fire
(o) Siege
(p) Mine
(q) Gas
(r) Blunder
(s) At Bay
(t) Miscellaneous
42. VICTORY {Conquest)
79* (a) Armageddon
(b) Triumph
(c) Conqueror
(d) Remedy
(e) Reformation
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG H
(f) Liberty
(g) Uaioa
80* (h) Rescue
(i) Reward
0') Territory
(k) Avenger
(1) Plunder
(m) Hostage
(n) Miscellaneous
43. SUBJUGATION (.Defeat)
81* (a) Defeat
(b) Surrender
(c) The Bitterness
(d) Abdication
(e) Dispersion
(f) Taxation
(g) Loot
(h) Retribution
83* (i) Captive
(j) Prison
(k) Dungeon
(1) Ransom
(m) Exchange
(n) Parole
(o) Escape
(p) Fugitive
(q) Exile
(r) Miscellaneous
44. CALAMITY Affliction)
83* (a) Revenge
(b) "Qui SauvePeut"
(c) Wounds
(d) Pillage
(e) Devastation
(i) Famin*
(g) Cruelty
(h) Slavery
(i) Rape
(j) Horror
84* (k) Destroyer
(1) Doom
(m) Scalps
(n) Massacre
(0) Execution
(p) Death
(q) Extermination
(r) Ghouls
(s) Miscellaneous
45. PEACE {Concord)
85* (a) Diplomacy
(b) Arbitration
(c) Mediation
(d) Neutrality
(e) Truce
(f) Treaty
(g) Pacification
(h) Peace-Maker
(i) Peace Offering
(j) Forgiveness
(k) Reconstruction
(1) Industries
(m) Rebuilding
(n) Prosperity
(o) Education
(p) Recreation
(q) Art
46. HISTORY {Record)
86* (a) Myth
(b) Legend
(c) Antiquarian
(d) Research
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
(e) Discovery
(f) — Repeats Itself
(g) Anniversary
(h) Reminiscence
(i) Chronology
(j) Statistics
V. The Character of Man.
Man's Desire for Luxury, his Relations
with Morality and his Struggle against
Sin.
47- MONEY {Wealth)
(z)
Pauper
87* (a)
Gold
(A)
Alms
(b)
Property
(B) Beggary
(c)
Fortune
(C)
Miscellaneous
(d)
Jewels
(e)
Thrift
48.
TEMPTATION {Entice-
(f)
Luck
metil)
(g)
Heir
90
*(a)
Money
(h)
Plutocrat
(b)
Luxury
(i)
Idle Rich
(0
Glory
(J)
Parvenu
(d)
(e)
Graft
Forgery
88* (k)
Buried Treasure
(f)
Fraud
(1)
Ransom
(g)
Bribe
(m) Munificent
(h)
Speculation
(n)
Speculation
(i)
Gems
(0)
Spendthrift
(P)
Misfortune
91
*a)
Woman
(q)
Lost Fortune
(k)
Glitter
(r)
Land- Poor
(1)
Pleasure
(m) Empty Promises
89* (s)
Debt
(n)
Snare
(t)
Miser
(0)
The City
(u)
Stingy
(P)
Starvation
(v)
Money Lender
(q)
Miscellaneous
(w)
Loan Shark
(X)
Stranded
49-
CHARACTER (Qualities)
(y)
Hireling
92
•(a)
Psychology of —
88
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG H
(b) Endowment
(c) Principles
(d) "Blood Will Tell"
(e) Noblesse Oblige
{£) Thorobrcd
(g) Quality
(h) Backbone
(i) Environment
0) Type
93* (k) Strong
(i) Honor
(m) Loyalty
(n) Generosity
(o) Good Name
(p) Compassion
(q) Gentleness
(r) Deeds
(s) Hard
(t) Meanness
(u) Weak
(v) Ingrate
(w) Loafer
(x) Degenerate
(y) Miscellaneous
50. ERROR (Foible)
94* (a) Gossip
(b) Eavesdropper
(c) Tell-Tale
(d) Liar
(e) Scandal
({) Sharp Tongue
(g) Temper
(h) Profanity
95» (i) Vanity
(j) Greed
(k) Covetousness
(1)
Envy
(m) Jealousy
(n)
Prejudice
(0)
Hatred
(P)
Hard Heart
(q)
Misanthrope
96* (r)
Deceit
(s)
Perversity
(t)
Grafter
(u)
Wanderlust
(v)
Clothes
(w)
Gourmand
(x)
Tobacco
(y)
Miscellaneous
SI. PASSION {Lusi)
97* (a)
Evil-
(b)
Taint
(c)
Degenerate
(d)
— for Combat
(e)
Brute
(f)
Revenge
98* (g)
For Money
(h)
Kleptomania
(i)
Gambler
(J)
Pyromaniac
99* (k)
Habit
(1)
Drink
(m
) Drugs
100* (n)
1 Sex
(0)
Vampire
(p;
1 "Needle"
(q;
1 "Wildcats"
(r)
Orgy
(s)
Wliite Slave
89
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
(t)
Prostitute
(B)
"Fsnce"
(«)
Miscellaneous
(C) Loot
(D) Victim
52. CRIME {Felony)
(E)
Mystery
ioi*(a)
Psychology of —
(F)
Miscellaneous
(b)
The Underworld
(c)
Unregenerate
53- DETECTION {Discovery)
no* (a)
Police
102* (d)
Thief
(b)
Pedigree
(e)
Burglar
(c)
Third Degree
(f)
Shop-Lifter
(d)
Frame-Up
103* (g)
Blackmailer
iii*(e)
Detective
(h)
Black Hand
(f)
Clue
(i)
Kidnapper
(g)
Disguise
G)
Dynamiter
(h)
Dictograph
(i)
Deduction
104* (k)
Hold-Up
(J)
Induction
(1)
Bandit
(m) Outlaw
112* (k)
Confession
(1)
Squealer
I05* (n)
Murderer
(m) State's Evidence
(0)
Assassin
(n)
Betrayal
(o)
Decoy
io6* (p)
Wliite Slaver
(P)
Accusation
(q)
Fire Bug
(r)
Bunco Steerer
113* (q)
Double Life
(s)
Counterfeiter
(r)
Conscience
(t)
Gangster
(s)
Guilt
(t)
Innocence
107* (u)
Rustler
(v)
Moonshiner
114* (u)
Pawnbroker
(w)
Poacher
(v)
Raid
(w) Fugitive
io8* (x)
Pirate
(X)
Reward
(y)
Smuggler
(y)
Finger-Priat
109* (z)
Plot
IIS*U)
Scar
(A) Confederate
(A) IdsQtificatiea
90
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — U
(B) Capture
(C) Exposure
(D) Miscellaneous
54. THE LAW {Restraint)
Il6*(a) Technicalities
(b) Evasion
(c) Within the —
(d) Man-Made-
(e) The Unwritten-
(f) Justice
(g) Injustice
(h) Errors
117* (i) Law Suit
(j) Trial
(k) Defence
(1) The Bench
(m) Judge
(n) Recall
118* (o) District Attorney
(p) Lawyer
(q) Cross Examination
(r) Witness
(s) Evidence
(t) Death Sign
(u) Bribery
(v) Perjury
Ji9*(w) Children's Court
(x) Arrest
(y) Prisoner
(z) OldOfTender
(A) Bail
(B) Jury
(C) Acquittal
(D) Conviction
(E) Miscellaneous
5S. PUNISHMENT {Correc-
tion)
120* (a) Vigilantes
(b) Vengeance
(c) Lyncliing
(d) Innocent
(e) Vicarious
121* (f) Protectory
(g) Reformatory
(h) Workhouse
(i) Prison
(j) Prison Reform
(k) Dungeon
(1) The Hulks
(m) Galleys
(n) Warden
(0) Keeper
122* (p) Discipline
(q) Chastisement
(r) Pillory
(s) Execution
(t) Guillotine
(u) Garotte
(v) The Ax
(w) Gibbet
(x) The Chair
123* iy) Convict
(z) First Offense
(A) Serf
(B) Escape
(C) Fugitive
(D) For Life
(E) Miscellaneous
56. REGENERATION
hahilitation)
124* (a) Operation
{Re-
91
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
125* (h)
(b)
Conscience
(i) Reformation
(c)
Repentance
0') Ex-Convict
(d)
Remorse
(k) A "Past"
(e)
Trusty
(1) Branded
(f)
Parole
(m) Shame
(g)
Pardon
(n) Retribution
(o) Miscellaneous
VI. The Flesh of Man.
Man's Desire for Health, his Relations
with Disease and his Struggle against
Death.
57. HEALTH (.Soundness)
59-
128^
I2(
>*(a) Bill of —
(b) Eugenics
(c) Cleanliness
(d) Sanitation
(e) Salubrity
(f) Youth
(g) Bloom
(h) Beauty
(i) joy
S8.
VIOLATION (Abuse)
127
'* (a) Uncleanness
(b) Sloven
(c) Slattern
(d) Contamination
(e) Pollution
(f) Habits
(g) Dissipation
(h) Worry
(i) Inanition
(j) Decline
(k) Impurity
(1)
Crime
(m) Blight
REJ
(a)
^EDY (Alleviat
Prohibition
(b)
Safety First
(c)
First Aid
(d)
Doctor
(e)
Medicine
(f)
Nurse
(g)
Hospital
(h)
X-Ray
(i)
Operation
(J)
Anesthetic
(k)
Radium
(1)
Convalescence
(m) Recreation
(n)
Suggestion
(0)
Shock
(P)
Love
(q)
Panacea
(r)
Quacks
92
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG JI
60. DISEASE (Pe»a//:y)
(0)
By Fire
129* (a)
Microbes
(P)
By Water
(b)
Infection
(q)
In Battle
(c)
Contagion
(r)
Foul Play
(d)
Heredity
(s)
Cruelty
(e)
Sins of the Fattier
(t)
Frightened to —
(f)
Venereal
(u)
Execution
(g)
Plague
(v)
Miscellaneous
(h)
White Plague
(i)
Leprosy
62. POST MORTEM {After
(J)
Pest House
Death)
133* (a)
Corpse
130* (k)
Dwarf
(b)
Mummy
(1)
Hunchback
(c)
Skeleton
(m) Cripple
(n)
Blindness
134* (d)
Lying in State
(0)
Pain
(e)
Death Watch
(P)
Stoic
(f)
Wake
(q)
Age
(g)
Undertaker
(r)
Relapse
(h)
Coffin
(s)
Incurable
(i)
Funeral
(t)
Miscellaneous
G)
Mourners
(k)
Hearse
61. DEATH (Extinction)
131* (a)
Mortality
135* (I)
Morgue
(b)
Natural
(m) Charnel House
(c)
Death Bed
(n)
Tomb
(d)
Resuscitation
(0)
Vault
(e)
Death House
(P)
Catacombs
(f)
Broken Heart
(q)
Cemetery
(S)
Martyr
(r)
Potter's Field
(h)
Vicarious
(s)
Burial
(i)
Error
(t)
Cremation
(J)
Starvation
(u)
Burning Ghat
(v)
Ashes
132* (k)
Violence
(1)
Suicide
136* (w)
Ghouls
(m) Poison
(x)
Exhumation
(n)
Accident
(y)
Cadaver
93
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
(z) Dissection
(A) Epitaphs
(B) Posthumous
(C) LegaUy Dead
137* (D) Obituary
(E) Will
(F) Insurance
(G) Estate
(H) Heirs
(I) Heirlooms
(J) Intestate
(K) Destitution
(L) Widows
(M) Orphans
(N) Miscellaneous
C. — DESTINY. — The Vicissitudes of
Inquiry and the Infinite
VII. The Mind of Man.
Man's Desire for KnoAvledge, his
Application of Reason and his Strug-
gle against Ignorance.
63. PROBLEMS {Questions)
(c)
Dreams
138* (a)
Cause and Effect
(d)
Meteors
(b)
Enigma
(e)
Talisman
(c)
Cui Bono
(f)
Luck
(d)
Free WiU
(g)
Hoodoo
(e)
Religion
(h)
"13"
(f)
Science
(g)
Ethics
140
*(i)
Myths
(h)
Law
(J)
Haunted
(i)
Social
(k)
Ghosts
G)
Race
(1)
Banshee
(k)
Economic
(m) Witches
(1)
Labor
(n)
Enchanted
(m)
— of the Day
(0)
(P)
Cursed
Miscellaneous
64. superstition {Cred:i-
lity)
6S.
CHARLATANISM {De
139* (a)
Omens
cepti-cn)
(b)
Evil Portents
141
*(a)
Magic
94
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — H
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
(i)
(J)
(k)
0)
(m)
(a)
Necromancy
Black Art
Astrology
Crystal Gazing
Palmistry
Fortune Telling
Voodoo
Fraud
Oracle
Divining Rod
Luckstone
Cults
Sophistry
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
(i)
G)
(k)
(1)
Discovery
Chemistry
Astronomy
Physics
Electricity
Radium *
Phonograph
Sacrifice
66. INQUIRY (Edi'xatwn)
142* (a) Ignoranct
(b) Instinct
(c) Curiosity
(d) Incredulity
(e) Expression
({) Renascenee
(g) CoUege
(i) Book!
143* (T) Teacher
(j) Student
(k) Co-Ed
0) Scholar
(m) School Days
(n) Pedant
(o) Over-Education
(p) Alumni
(q) Ikliscellaneous
«7. SCIENCE {Knowledge)
144* (a) Scientist
(b) Inventor
(c) Experirae«t
(d) TwJt
(m) Rewards
68. REASON {Intellect)
145* (a) Intuition
(b) Thought
(c) Theory
(d) Credulity
(e) Conviction
(f) Wisdom
(g) Reason
(h) Sagacity
(i) Genius
(j) Profundity
(k) Opinion
(I) Propaganda
(m) Argument
(n) Debate
(o) mt
(p) Stupidity
69. LITERATURE
lional History)
146* (a) Literati
(b) Author
(c) Hack
(d) Editor
(e) Struggles
(f) Inspiration
(g) Masterpiece
(h) Plagiarism
{Emo-
^S
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
147* (i) Grammar
iSi*(h) Idealism
(j) Rhetoric
(i) Arcadia
(k) Phrase
(j) Utopia
(1) Style
(k) Golden Age
(m) Expression
(1) Poetry
(n) Power
(m) Dark Ages
(0) Description
(n) Middle Ages
(p) Belles Let tres
(0) Chivalry
(q) Journalism
(p) Knights
(q) Troubadours
148* (r) Manuscript
(r) Cavalier
(s) Letters
(s) Adventure
(t) Diary
(u) Copy
153* (t) Juvenile
(v) Publication
(u) Fairies
(w) Fiction
(v) Youth
(x) Poetry
(w) The Dreamer
(y) Drama
(x) Love
(z) Essay
(y) Love Potion
(A) Learning
(z) Witching Hour
149* (B) Books
(A) Old Age
(C) Tracts
(B) By-Gones
(D) Magazines
(C) Miscellaneous
(E) Novel
(F) Short Story
71. SUGGESTION iFascina
(G) Melodrama
Hon)
(H) Reading
153* (a) Auto-
(1) Book-Worm
(b) Hypnotism
(J) Library
(c) Domination
(K) Miscellaneous
(d) Fear
(e) Men are like Sheep
70. ROMANCE {Day Dreams)
(f) Panic
150* (a) Fancy
(g) Guilt
(b) Reveries
(h) A Curse
(c) Castles in Spain
(i) The Senses
(d) Make-Believe
(e) Supposition
1 54* (j) Sentiment
(f) Expectation
(k) Reminiscence
(g) Exaggeration
(1) Memories
96
THE UNI\^RSAL PLOT CATALOG — II
(m) Music
(0)
Despair
(n)
A Song
(P)
Memories
(o)
Springtime
(q)
Aphasia
(P)
Solitude
(q)
Allegory
158
*(r)
Obsession
(r)
Miscellaneous
(s)
(t)
Brain Storm
Hysteria
12. PSYCHIC {Metaphysics)
(u)
Delirium
155 ' (a)
Occult
(v)
Idiot
(b)
Supernatural
(w)
Alienist
(c)
Mystery
(d)
Psychology
159
*w
Insanity
(e)
"Gifts"
(y)
Asylum
(0
Prophecy
(z)
Mistake
(g)
Premonition
(A)
Maniac
(h)
(i)
Dreams
Telepathy
(B)
Miscellaneous
G)
Fate
74-
TRUTH {Enlighlenment)
(k)
Zodiac
160
*(a)
Authentic
(1)
Miracles
(b)
Certainty
(m) Sleep
(c)
Exactitude
(d)
Positiveness
73- DERANGEMENT {Dis-
(e)
Definite
order)
(f)
Infallible
iS6*(a)
"Character"
(g)
Inviolable
(b)
Visionary
(h)
Genuine
(c)
Freak
(i)
Orthodox
(d)
Fanatic
(J)
Absolute
(e)
Crank
(k)
Ultimate
(f)
Defective
(g)
Age
161
*(1)
Knowledge
(m) Mathematics
157* (h)
Insomnia
(n)
Deduction
(i)
Somnambulism
(0)
Disclosure
(J)
Voices
(P)
Realism
(k)
Nostalgia
(q)
Veracity
(1)
Melancholia
(r)
Bona Fide
(m) Moodiness
(s)
Literal
(n)
Fear
(t)
Plain Dealing
97
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
(u) Outspoken
(h) Consequenc*
(v) Unvarnished
(i) Harvest
(w) Sincerity
(x) Miscellaneous
163* (j) Fatalism
(k) Hazard
75- FATE (Destiny)
(1) Accident
162* (a) Predestination
(m) Lot
(b) Will of God
(n) Nemesis
(c) Chance
(0) Irrevocable
(d) Luck
(p) Inexorable
(e) Necessity
(q) Doom
(f) Inevitable
(r) End
(g) Efifect
(s) Miscellaneous
VIII. The Soul of Man.
Man's Desire for Divinity, his Re-
lations with his God and his Struq:g:le
for his Religion.
'&o'
76. REVELATION {The
(b) Christian
Word)
(c) Mohammedan
164* (a) Nature
(d) Buddhist
(b) The Bible
(e) Confucianism
(c) Talmud
(f) Shintoism
(d) Koran
(g) Sun Worshippers
(e) Creator
(h) Pantheism
(f) Prophets
(i) Theology
(g) The Messiah
(j) Doctrine
(h) Commandments
(k) Orthodox
(i) Beatitudes ,
(j) Visions
78. ORGANIZATION
(k) Oracle
(Church)
(1) Providence
166* (a) Synagogue
(b) Temple
77. INTERPRETATION
(c) Mosque
(Creed)
(d) Catholic
165* (a) Jew
(e) Greek
98
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — II
(f) Anglican
(g) Protestant
(h) Non-Conformist
(i) Huguenot
G) Quaker
(k) Christian Science
(1) Mormon
(m) Salvation Army
(n) Edifice
79. CONSECRATION
(Priest)
167* (a) Patriarch
(b) "Call"
(c) Renunciation
(d) Seminary
(e) Consecration
(f) The Cloth
(g) Deacon
(h) Minister
(i) Preacher
(j) Parish
(k) Flock
(1) Woman
(m) Unfrock
(n) Rabbi
168* (o) Priest
(p) Early Fathers
(q) Monk
(r) Jesuit
(s) Trappist
(t) Cure
(u) Nun
(v) Celibacy
(w) Vows
(x) Bishop
(y) Cardinal
(z) Pope
(A) Miscellaneous
80. INSPIRATION (Compre-
hension)
169* (a) The Bible
(b) Revelation
(c) Christ
(d) The Cross
(e) Mohammed
(f) Evangelists
(g) Sermon
(h) Propaganda
(i) Works
81. RECOLLECTION (Con-
science)
1 70* (a) Conscience
(b) Temptation
(c) — Ignored
(d) Backslider
(e) Pariah
(f) Remorse
(g) Revivals
(h) Regeneration
(i) Atonement
82. CONVICTION (Faith)
171* (a) Miracles
(b) Lourdes
(c) Healing
(d) Conversion
(e) Proselyte
(f) Disciple
(g) Confession
(h) Absolution
(i) Hope
(j) Blind
(k) —that WiU Move
Mountains
(I) Martyrs
99
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
83. REUGION (Works)
172* (a) Godliness
(b) Duty
(c) Penance
(d) Sacrifice
(e) Purity
(f) Humility
(g) Forgiveness
(h) Mercy
(i) Charity
(j) Alms
(k) Missionaries
173* G) Brotherhood
(m) Christmas
(n) Peace
(o) Miscellaneous
84. DEVOTION (Worship)
174* (a) Worship
(b) Adoration
(c) Prayer
(d) Intercession
(e) Virgin Mary
(f) Shrines
(g) Mass
(h) Sacraments
(i) Ritual
(j) Service
(k) Praise
0) Incense
(m) Holy Days
(n) Last Rites
85. VISION (Romance)
175* (a) Prophets
(b) Visions
(c) Saints
(d) Martyrs
(e) Relics
(f) Miracles
(g) Legends
(h) Transcendentalism
(i) Templars
(j) Holy Grail
(k) Santa Claus
86. FANATICISM (Bigotry']
176* (a) Moor
(b) Dervishes
(c) Wild Sects
(d) Holy War
(e) Crusaders
(0 Asceticism
(g) Inquisition
(h) Persecution
(i) Sanctuary
0) Excommunicatioa
(k) Zealot
(1) Unbeliever
(m) Martyr
(n) Reformer
(o) Puritan
(p) Ranter
87. DECEPTION (Delusion)
177* (a) Disillusionment
(b) Myth
(c) Schism
(d) Apostate
(e) Heretic
(f) Pharisee
(g) Sanctimonious
(h) Spiritualists
(i) Trance
(j) Medicine Man
(k) Sorcerer
G) Healer
100
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — U
(m) Amulets
(n) Cults
88. DAMNATION {Powers of
Evil)
178* (a) Satan
(b) Sin
(c) Anti-Christ
(d) Temptation
(e) Hypocrite
(f) Blasphemy
(g) Sacrilege
(h) Desecration
(i) Mockery
(j) Witch
(k) Demons
(1) Exorcism
(m) Human Sacrifice
(n) Atheist
(o) Heathen
(p) Idolatry
(q) Purgatory
(r) Hell
89. DESTINATION (Goo/)
179* (a) Grace
(b) Perfection
(c) Blessedness
(d) Savior
(e) Salvation
(0 Redemption
(g) Resurrection
(h) Transmigration
(i) Eternity
(j) Future State
(k) Immortality
(!) Spirit
(m) y^x>theosi3
(n) Sainthood
(o) Translation
(p) Angels
(q) Paradise
(r) Elysian Fields
(s) Valhalla
(t) Happy Hunting
Ground
(u) Olympus
(v) Heaven
90. REALIZATION {God)
180* (a) Divinity
(b) Mohammed
(c) Christ
(d) Jove
(e) Brahma
(f) Buddha
(g) Allah
(h) Trinity
(i) GOD
lOI
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
D.— HUMOR.— The Vicissitudes of the
Ridiculous and the Sublime
IX. The Emotions of Man.
Man Impassioned by the Domination
of the Ludicrous, the Stimulation of
Diversion, Participation in Pleasure
and the Stress of Pathos.
91. FARCE {Broad Comedy)
(y) Situation
181* (a) Farce
(z) Courtship
(b) Burlesque
(A) Contrast
(c) Travesty
(B) Fashions
(d) Comedy
(C) Family Jars
(e) Buffoonery
(f) Tomfoolery
184* (D) Clown
(g) Pranks
(E) Character
(h) Practical Jokes
(F) Darkey
(G) Old Maid
182* (i) Mistaken Identity
(H) Hired Girl
(j) Superstition
(I) Suffragette
(k) Misunderstanding
Q) Monstrosity
(1) Absent-Mindedness
(K) Butt
(m) Wrong House
(L) Miscellaneous
(n) Nationality
(0) Dialect
92. AMUSEJvIENT (Ew/fr/a/K-
(p) Hen-Pecked
inent)
(q) Stupidity
18s* (a) Pastime
(r) Mked Babies
(b) Recreation
(c) Frolic
183* (s) College-
(d) Antics
(t) Skit
(e) Lark
(u) Hoax
(f) Madcap
(v) Accident
(g) Games
(w) Fraud
(h) Sport
(x) Intoxication
(i) HoUday
102
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — II
0)
Camping
(k)
Picnic
G)
Feast
(m) Festival
(n)
Carnival
(0)
The Dance
(P)
Regatta
l86*(q)
Humorist
(r)
^^'it
(s)
Epigram
(t)
Pun
(u)
Drollery
(v)
The Play
(w) Comedy
(X)
Caricature
(y)
Pantomime
(z)
Cartoons
(A) Puppet Show
(B) Jester
(C) Cap and Bells
(D) Mountebank
(E)
Circus
(F)
Clown
(G) Toys
(H) Miscellaneous
13. PLEASURE (/try)
.87* (a)
Fancy
(b)
Whims
(c)
Sociability
(d)
GeniaUty
(e)
Optimism
(0
HonejTnooii
(g)
Beatitude
(h)
Palmy Days
(i)
Jubilee
G)
Voluptuous
(k) Laughter
188
94-
189^
0)
Merriment
(m:
) Song
(n)
Fun
*(o) Thankfuhess
(P)
Gratilkation
(q)
Contentment
(r)
Relaxation
(s)
Cheerfuhiess
(t)
Luxury
(u)
Fruition
(v)
Rapture
(w) Enchantment
(x)
Love
(y)
Happiness
(z)
Miscellaneous
PATUOS {Tragic EiP.
■(a)
Failure
(b)
Disappointment
(c)
Too Late
(d)
Sacrifice
(e)
Endurance
(f)
Hopelessness
(g)
Poverty
(h)
Melancholia
(i)
Doomed
U)
Tragedy
(k)
Sorrow
(1)
Suffering
(m) Emotion
(n)
Tears
(0)
Anxiety
(P)
Pining
(q)
Loneliness
(r)
Harrowing
(s)
Crushed
103
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
191'
(t) Contrast
(A) Broken Heart
(u) Masquerade
(B) Regret
(v) Character
(C) Remorse
(w) Care
(D) Sympathy
(x) Shock
(E) Pity
(y) Ordeal
(F) Miscellaneous
(z) Desolation
E.— NOT-MAN
X. The Personification of Man.
The Humanizing of All Creation, Crea-
tures and Mythology and the Appropri-
ation of their Phenomena as Dramatic
Material.
95.
192''
MATURE {The Elements)
(t) Polar Regions
(a) Mountains
(u) Glacier
(b) Valleys
(c) Plains
193* (v) Fire
(d) Oasis
(w) Heat
(e) Streams
(x) Volcano
(f) Forests
(y) Earthquake
(g) Equator
(z) Lightning
(h) Islands
(A) Meteor
(i) Seasons
(B) Cold
(j) Springtime
(C) Ice
(k) Cultivation
(D) Crevasse
0) Irrigation
(E) Snow
(m) Conservation
(F) Storm
(n) Harvest
(G) Wind
(0) Mines
(H) Cyclone
(p) Night
(I) Typhoon
(q) Caves
G) Flood
(r) Desert
(K) Falls
(s) Waste Places
(L) Bog
104
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG — II
(M) Quicksand
(N) LandsUde
(O) Miscellaneous
96. THE SEA (Phenoinena)
Jg4* (a) Mariner
(b) Tides
(c) Cruise
(d) Compass
(e) Log
(f) Wireless
(g) Pilot
(h) Haven
(i) Light-Ship
(j) Lighthouse
(k) Beacon
(!) Fisherman
(m) Lifesaving
195* (n) Stowaway
(o) Submarine
(p) Iceberg
(q) Reefs
(r) Wreck
(s) Raft
(t) Adrift
(u) Derelict
(v) Flotsam and Jetsam
(w) Phantom
(x) Marooned
(y) Rescue
(z) Miscellaneous
97. THE AIR (The Conquest)
196* (a) Kite
(b) Balloon
(c) Dirigible
(d) Aeroplane
(e) Hydroaeroplane
(f) Lost
(g) Collision
(h) Battle
(i) Rescue
98. PERSONIFICATION
ilhimanizalion)
197* (a) City
(b) Village
(c) Crowd
(d) House
(e) Furniture
(f) River
(g) Tree
(h) Engine
(i) Automobile
99. ANIMALS {Creatures)
198* (a) Tame-
(b) Pets
(c) Horse
(d) Dog
(e) Cat
(f) Birds
(g) Fable
(h) Vivisection
I39*(i) Wild-
(j) Bull
(k) Stampede
(1) Rats
(m) Bats
(n) Ants
(o) Bear
(p) Wolves
(q) Lion
(r) Ape
(s) Snakes
(t) Scorpions
(u) Shark
105
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
lOO.
200
(v) WTiale
(j) Dragon
(w) Dinosaur
(k) Grimn
(x) Miscellaneous
(1) Unicom
(m) Fairj'land
MYTHOLOGY {Not Man
(n) Witches
or Beast)
(0) Giants
*(a) AUegoty
(p) Ogres
(b) Half-Gods
(q) Salamander
(c) Satyr
(r) The Star World
(d) Siren
(s) Star Maiden
(e) Fauji
(t) Martians
(f) Myth
(u) Legends
(g) Mermaid
(v) Valkyries
(h) SeaSerper.t
(w) Primeval
(i) Fable
(x) Preliistoric
106
A Scheme that merely gratifies its in-
ventor is at best but a speculative Theory;
while a System that satisfies the student
is at the very least a practical Science.
CHAPTER X
A Fiction Example Illustrating the
Value of the Catalog
"a weaver of dreams;" its classification
and analysis.
FROM the foregoing chapters, it is not to
be assumed that the writer of this
volume has devised a scheme with the magical
mechanical properties of grinding out well-
rounded plots from misshapen particles of
"material."
All said and done, the Catalog is only a
re-creator, stimulator and tonic for those
gifted with fictional imagination. It takes
for granted that the student is potentially a
creator of convincing fiction or moving drama,
eloquent prose or emotional poetry. It not
only holds the mirror up to the innermost
depths of the writer's soul, but it also moti-
107
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
vates it with trains of thought and action that
carry it on its way with renewed hope and
spirit. The Universal Plot Catalog is a
Hand-book of Re-creation. If it gives a
single original thought that might have been
lost to the student without its aid, it has not
been devised in vain.
"A Weaver of Dreams" has been chosen
as an exam_ple because of the fact that it
had its inception from a newspaper clipping
contained in the author's collection of plot
material. The construction of the plot of
this story will illustrate the purely stimulative
and suggestive value of the Catalog as op-
posed to the wooden method of appropriating
material "just as it stands."
{EX A MPLE 21.) GIRL FINDS A S UITOR THR U
AN EGG. — An Egg Packer Writes Her Name 07i One
thai Proved to be Good and Receives Her Reward. ... //
was filed under Qi. FARCE {Broad Comedy), (z) Court-
ship.
Obviously here is a comedy idea. Also it
suggests a variation of the trite story of a
girl finding a lover by means of a message
conveyed thru the anonymity of her daily
employment. Thus the clipping would have
1 08
A FICTION EXAMPLE
been filed for "future reference" had it not
stimulated an idea. The basic idea seems
never to pall on readers, therefore why not
devise one that is serious and yet unique in
development. The clipping was thereupon
filed and forgotten, overshadowed by the
more important train of thought that it had
brought into existence.
2T,. AVOCATION {Occupation) was con-
sulted, pausing at (d) Labor. Immediately
container 45* was emptied. There were
many items dealing with interesting phases
of almost every variety of Labor. THE
SILK WEAVERS OF FRANCE
THREATEN TO STRIKE. Weavers— here
was an attractive occupation. Our heroine
could weave her name into her product!
A French weaving girl was appealing too.
There was the objection, however, to foreign
stories. Americans must be introduced to
remove the stigma. Artists studying in Paris
would lit into the fabric most naturally.
24. VOCATION {Call), (b) Artist, container
46* is consulted with refreshing results. All
the artists are dreamers, if the data be true.
Our plays and stories likewise emphasize this
109
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
fact. Why not make our heroine the dreamer
instead, and vary the monotony?
Dreamer, 70, is located in the index which
directs to ROMANCE {Day Dreams). Con-
tainers 150* and 152'^ are sparkling with
gems of ideas. Nothing can stop the flow
of ideas now. The Catalog has bountifully
fulfilled its mission. It is replaced on the
shelf and forgotten in the welter of work.
{EXAMPLE 22.) The following brief synopsis was
made as the basis for t lie future Complete Plot: A WE A V-
ER OF (SILKEN) DREAMS. . . . A fanciful tale
of a girl in a silk mill — a girl of rare fancies and prone
to dreams atid flights to the stars and an aptitude for sub-
lime romance — 7ueai'es her wishes and dreams into the
fabric she works upon and then thru some strange power
her dreams work themselves out upon the wearer of the
woven garment — who perhaps traces the garment back
to the weaver by means of some sign-manual — thus she
meets him of her dreains.
The story itself shows that man}- of these
fancies were never employed, while many
that are not mentioned were created in the
building of the plot.
IIO
A Vv^EAVER OF DREAMS
By
HENRY ALBERT PHILLIPS
(Published in The National Sunday Magazine,
October 29, 191 1.)
E stumble, sometimes, into our graves
on the street; Curie, the renowned
inventor of radium, did. Our fates hang on
a toss of the penny of circumstance. As
for ours — Gerard's and mine — I went out one
day and fell, all unknowingly, into the pit of
Romance. Still, they say Romance is no
more !
It was the second year that Gerard and I
had been together in Paris, living in one of
those typical ateliers of the Quarter * A large,
bare room, up four flights of rickety stairs,
cheek by jowl with an unsightly company of
chimney pots. We had had a hard winter
of it with the wolf literally at the door, in
the form of a snarling, rapacious landlord.
* Italics are employed thruout the story, not for
emphasis, but to distinguish the particular matter
discussed in the notes.
Ill
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Strange as it may seem, it was I who earned
most of the meager funds that kept our
bodies and souls together and a leaky roof
to cover them. Poor Gerard fretted and
fussed over trivial daubs in imitation of mine;
but the inevitable genius would creep out
like a jealous mistress and make a botch of
them.
(The progressive writer will clip descriptive matter of
scenes that seem to lend themselves especially to his pur-
poses. These are filed under their respective heads.)
He, like so many misguided artists, thought
that damp, smelly Paris, somewhere within
sound of Montmartre's hoarse cries and
rumble, would bring out the best that was
in him. But I knew better. God's open
country was the true place for all good and
beautiful things to fructify in. The seed
of genius and greatness was not wanting;
rather the soil and some fortuitous circum-
stance which was yet to be discovered. I
was looking fpr that circumstance.
With the approach of Spring, a riot of
desire broke loose in me to get up and leave
Paris and to carry Gerard, willy nilly, with
me.
112
A WEAVER OF DREAMS
With this in mind — one afternoon when his
blue mood had become too infectious — I fled,
resolving not to return without some plan of
immediate action. And yet it was so char-
acteristic of my reckless nature of those days
to come back to the studio, not v/ith a definite
plan of procedure, but instead with a little,
rich-hued tapestry for which I had paid the
last franc v/e had in the world ! Simply
because I knew it would delight Gerard's
rare passion for color, and dissipate his fit of
melancholy!
{A filed excerpt on the effect of color on the emotions of
certain artistic people, stirs a thought of its possible
employment in the construction of a plot.)
"It is beautiful and has raised my spirits
beyond the need of supper; but what now —
a pauper's plot in Pere la Chaise?" he ob-
served, fondling every inch of the tapestry.
"No; have you forgotten our inevitable
pot-boilers?" I had three almost finished.
"Do you believe in fairies?" he exclaimed;
and when I looked toward him_ in alarm — for
jocular remarks were not in his line — I found
him examining a little strip of silk v/hich had
been sewn to the edge of the tapestry.
113
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
He handed it to me, and I read the following:
Jacques —
If you believe in Romance, come to Anconville.
Ghisleine awaits you.
Give the normal youth Romance or promise
of adventure, and he will move mountains.
Gerard proved to be a whole range of them;
but I moved him to Ancoiiville, in just two
weeks from the day I bought the little tapestry.
{Favorite fiction localities — like Paris — might be
ilhiminated with maps of their envirotis torn from maga-
zines or books.)
"Don't be so scrupulous," I protested to
his eternal objections. "To me it's not
Romance, but adventure. I'm an adventurer
pure and simple. If she throws her heart
at my feet it is likely to be trampled on. She
shall give us entree to her yokel class, which
I shall convert into pot-boilers, and from
which you shall draw types and perhaps
find a suggestion for your great picture."
"But, if she should think of nothing but
Romance? You would break her heart!"
"Don't worry, Bobbs-boy; if love making
is necessary, she shall have it for the afore-
114
A WEAVER OF DREAMS
said value received. Personally, I haven't
much pity for a woman who deliberately baits
a trap for a man, as this one has done. I'm
simply going to perpetrate a little fraud at
her invitation — and expense."
(A n excellejil detail is to put slips of paper in tlie proper
places 171 the File, bearing notations where superb descrip-
tions have been read and may be found at length.)
"It must at least make a pitiable fool of
the girl," he persisted. His heart was a
moat of tenderness that could not permit a
straw of cruelty to float on its surface.
And as fools rush In, so did I, conscience-
less, laughing and singing.
Well, I found her!
And what am I to say of all the shame and
horror that pierced my heart when I entered
that immaculate room all fragrant with
fresh-picked roses, and saw there on a snow-
white pillow the most exquisite head in all
the world! Inside the aureole of golden
tresses was a face more delicate than Botti-
celli's Simonetta, and eyes that dreamed
beautiful — holy things.
(Small lithographic reproductions of great art subjects
that have especial stimulative qualities are valuable.)
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
So this was the weaving girl — Ghisleine!
She was the very antithesis of everything my
pitiless mind had conceived. A fragile young
creature hovering on the edge of the grave !
In a corner stood the loom, on which it had
been her strange fancy to weave the dream of
her life and send it out into the world, that it
might reach the pure heart of some worthy
man. A rom^ance as pure and holy as a legend
of the saints.
{The legends of the saints teem with suggestive matter
for fictive parallels or occasional incidents that are strong
dramatic motives in themselves.)
"Jacques!" Her soft, sweet voice struck
like fire into my guilty heart. I had gained
admission by that name. Involuntarily I
advanced. "Ah, Jacques, you have come!"
"I am not Jacques!" I cried in anger that
anyone should think that I was worthy.
"Not Jacques? " she said softly, in bewilder-
ment. Then it was that I began truly to
realize what a cruel thing I had done, and
what difficulty I should have in setting matters
straight again.
"No," I said. But no alternative came to
my mind; helpless pity paralyzed my tongue.
Il6
A WEAVER OF DREAMS
"And yet how can that be? Madame
Giraflam said Jacques. And in this, decep-
tion were impossible. I have dreamed of
him too long — and you are he!" She shook
her head and smiled with a confidence not
to be refuted.
I had gone out to hunt a fawn with a cud-
gel, and now Vv^as caught in a trap of steel.
"I am an impostor!" I cried in agonized
perplexity, and then a way to let me out of
her life occurred to me. "I came, yes; but
why? To make use of you, to make a fool
of you — you."
"Ah, you would try to deceive me, Jacques!
That is not possible. " All that I said had
not made the slightest impression.
"Listen, girl, you do not understand" —
I almost groaned. "It vv^as not I who first
found your message."
"But what matters that since you are
here?"
What was I to say?
"Tomorrov/ he who first received your mes-
sage— Monsieur Robert — he will visit you."
"Leave me if you think it well; send
another if you choose. He is not my Jacques,
117
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
that I know. But I shall be glad to see him
and will try to like him. "
"If you would like it, he will paint your
portrait." It was all I could think to say
at the time.
"How lovely! And you will always stand
near? My expression shall be pleasant then. "
"No, no, no!" I cried, with a sudden over-
whelming sense of my unfitness to remain
and to listen to more of her hallucinations.
"1 am going to leave Anconville!"
(/« medical reports, and magazine articles by doctors
are to be found interesting mention of the phenomena of
hallucinations. These contain ifiany plot germs.)
At this she seized my hand, and the next
instant her cool lips had pressed it!
I could endure the torture no longer;
drawing my hand roughly away I rushed from
the house.
I hurried back to the Inn. Dear old
Gerard stood at the door to meet me.
"Jaimie, what has happened.''" he cried
anxiously.
I told him.
"This is a sad business, boy," he said
solemnly.
Il8
A WEAVER OF DREAMS
"Don't misunderstand me, she isn't crazy.
Here are the hallucinations of the born
dreamer, who has worn the barriers to the
grave so thin that she sees thru them Beyond.
She hasn't a year to live, poor child, I'll
swear to it. That idea of Jacques has become
part of her life, and she seized on me like a
last straw. Just what it is she thinks of me,
God knows. Knowing my own insincerity,
I can't go back again and keep up the tragedy.
You go, Bobbs; you're more fit. Amuse her;
paint her portrait, the idea seemed to please
her. I must stay away. I'd only succeed
in making her last hours miserable."
"I'll go. There's nothing in all the wide
world I would'nt do for you, you know that.
But I don't like it," he protested.
After ten days of it, one would have thouglit
that Gerard and I had deliberately exchanged
natures. He had become happy and buoyant,
and I morose. How that weird little experience
with Ghisleine had wrought such a change in
me was beyond my comprehension. By nature,
I was neither sentimental nor thin skinned.
I was five miles from Anconville, moping
along the river bank one afternoon six weeks
119
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
later, when the revelation dawned on me. I
had loved Ghisleine from the moment of
meeting her!
The cruelty and selfishness of my conduct
brought me to the verge of tears. My place
was there by her side — filling her room with
roses, gladdening those precious hours with
smiles, cheering her with every breath.
I think I ran all the v/ay back to the Inn.
"Bobbs, " I cried, out of breath when I
found him; "Bobbs, I'm the biggest fool in
the world."
" I've come to the same conclusion, Jaimie."
"Why — v/hat do you mean?" I asked, in
my surprise postponing my confession.
"Simply, that the girl you said was dying
is not dying at all — now."
"Ghisleine?" I asked in amazement, as tho
there must be some mistake.
"Ghisleine," he assured me. "Why, she
has improved by leaps and bounds ever since
that fortunate hour I went to see her. Brace
up now, isn't that splendid!"
{Here is an interesting case of therapeutics that might
have been suggested or based upon a clipping from an
article discussing the Jiealing value of Suggestion.)
120
A WEAVER OF DREAMS
"Thank God!" I murmured. "It seems
too good to be true! And — and does she
ever ask for me, Bobbs?"
"Yes, often; and when I tell her you are
here, she just smiles and says: 'Oh, he will
come; Jacques wnll come!' If I were you,
I'd go round and see her. I'll wager you'll
scarcely recognize her."
"Oh, I see," I said; but my enthusiasm
had lost its fire. "And have you attempted
to paint her portrait?"
"A portrait — and something greater, Jaimie.
I've found myself in this picture, boy. The
little silk tapestry suggested the motif: A
frail, exquisite girl sitting at a loom, her eyes
half turned upward as her delicate hands
weave the figures of her dream into a gor-
geous-hued fabric before her!" He paused,
breathless, his eyes alight with tenderness.
"A weaver of dreams!" I murmured.
"Excellent! We shall call it that."
"But can she really sit for you — the long
hours?" It seemed incredible to me.
"Only once have I had her sit at the loom
— for a rough sketch. Now I paint her
sitting all propped up in a wonderful, shaded
121
THE UNIVERSAX PLOT CATALOG
bower in the garden. You see, the soul of
the picture will lie in that wonderful expres-
sion that never leaves her face — that of a
dreamer who waits with serene confidence for
her hour of awakening!"
"For her hour of awakening!" I echoed
with a sudden access of rapture. The time
had come to tell him.
"And what message do you suppose will
awaken Ghislcine?" he asked; taking the
words, as it were, out of my mouth.
"Love," I said simply; and before he
could speak I added : ' ' And do you know who
— what man — has that message?"
"I can guess," he returned, smiling.
Now was I all ready to overwhelm him with
the story of my joy, when his manner sud-
denly changed to one of trembling solemnity
and, before I could speak, he was telling me:
"Why, haven't you noticed it in me,
Jaimie-boy? It's changed my nature, awak-
ened my power for big things, and made me
the happiest of men! Jaimie, I love her!"
The piercing spasm of emotion that shot
thru me brought me sharply to my feet,
tvhich fortunately thrust my face into the
122
A WEAVER OF DREAMS
shadow that the waning sun was casting
over the tiny room.
"Well, Jaimie — have you nothing to say?"
"Congratulations!" I muttered, and he
seized my listless hand.
"Why, your hand is like ice," he remarked
solicitously; but in the next breath he was
singing his anthem again: "Jairnie, Jaimie, I
at last know what happiness is. And I owe
it all — all — to you. You promised you'd
bring it to me — and you have."
"I should be happy," I insisted.
"And you are, of course. I know you too
well, Jaimie."
"Yes," I lied bravely, trying to recall the
sweet face that I could never hope to see again.
" I know she loves me, " Gerard was saying,
his voice sweeping painfully across the dark-
ness of my future thru which my thoughts
were groping. "Why, she began to improve
the very moment I went to her! And now —
tonight at eight — we shall be the happiest
pair in Anconville."
These last words gave my tired, aching
brain an idea. I had nearly an hour before
eight. When Gerard returned from his tryst,
123
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
I should be gone from Anconville — and them
— forever.
"And our bridal flowers shall be roses!"
he exclaimed suddenly, echoing my latest
thought, and all unconscious of the jagged
wound he made. For this word "roses"
must ever be the saddest in all the human
language to me. It was the last I ever heard
from the lips of him, my dearest friend.
Thus I left him, seated dreaming of his
first-known happiness and shrouded in the
soft twilight shadows. I passed out un-
noticed. A sudden cowardice had sprung
up in my heart in which I shrank away from
that brutal word, "good-bye."
Renunciation was the only way. I loved
them both too much.
It was early candle-light when I arrived
before Ghisleine's home. Quickly I slipped
to the small garden beyond the house.
As I entered the little bower, my heart beat
painfully at the thought that I must rest
content with leaving a few kissed flowers —
unguessed and unappreciated — to deck the
altar upon which I was being sacrificed! As
124
A WEAVER OF DREAMS
I placed them on the rustic table I could
not forebear saying softly, "Ghisleine!"
"Yes," answered a voice, and at the same
instant — to my mingled dismay and joy —
Ghisleine stepped into the bower beside
me!
"I am always watching and waiting,
Jacques; and from the window I saw you
come. Scarcely believing, I came out to see.
And, oh, how thoughtful of you to bring me
the flowers I most love." She stooped and
pressed her face deep into the blossoms.
All the while I stood, thinking of nothing
but things I dared not utter.
"You see, Jacques, how I have changed?
I put my every breath and thought into a
desire for health and strength — and like my
knight, they too have come. Look, Jacques!"
She stepped from the bower and stood out
bewitchingly against the fading light of the
western sky, the fairest vision I ever saw.
"You are beautiful — wonderful!" I sighed.
"I am glad," she said simply; "Monsieur
Robert tells me that many times a day."
Monsieur Robert! In the rapture of her
presence I had forgotten Gerard, the sinister
125
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
reason for my being there. And now?
What was I to do — to say?
"Ghisleine, I did not expect to meet you
when I came here tonight." . I must say
something to those dear hungering eyes.
"No?" she asked, in what seemed hurt sur-
prise. "Yet you bring me flov/ers, Jacques?"
I bit my Hp with vexation, and then came
out with it: "Yes, they were to have been
my message of farewell. "
"Farewell?" she murmured in bewilder-
ment, and then: "I don't think I under-
stand, Jacques, my mind has become so
tired."
" I am leaving Anconville tonight, Ghisleine
— forever. ' '
"Jacques!" It was a tiny, birdlike cry,
more from deep hurt than alarm. Already
two small hands fluttered on my sleeve. I
saw that I must end it now all at once.
"Good-bye, Ghisleine."
I began slowly to gather enough super-
human power to move away. I made one
more efl'ort to break thru — possibly to crush —
her maddening simplicity.
"Ghisleine, I must go away. If I stay, I
126
A WEAVER OF DREAMS
shall spoil your happiness — and Robert's
— and ruin the lives of all of us!"
"Jacques, if you go away I shall die!"
"Ghisleine! Ghisleine!" I cried in anguish,
looking into her upturned, pleading eyes.
There was something in them that arrested
my breath, something to which my strength
of purpose must have been blinded till now.
Even then, with the specter of Robert's
hopeless love staring me in the face, it was
never my intention to take her in my arms
and smother her glad cry on my breast.
"Ah, Jacques!" she sighed softly, as I
drew her close and kissed her again and again,
heedless of the passing time.
Then there came a moment when I fancied
that a shadow fell across the entrance of the
bower and with it a sigh, freighted with a
pain, that must have come from other lips
than ours. It took me a moment to shake
off the glamor of it all.
"Someone was there," she said shyly.
With a sinking heart I pulled out my watch,
the face of which I could just discern. It was
five minutes past eight!
Robert Gerard had come with a singing
127
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
heart at eight, to find the woman — in whom
lay all his new-found happiness — in the arms
of his best friend!
"Poor Bobbsi" I muttered; "Poor old
Bobbs!" Something choked further utter-
ance. True, I had given him happiness, and
then had stolen it from him. Yet, I knew
that he understood all, and would do just as
I had intended to do.
"Monsieur Robert will be here soon — at
eight," she was saying happily. "I thought
it was he then. "
"Ghisleine, Robert v/ill not come tonight — ■
nor tomorrov/."
"Not coming?" she pouted, keenly dis-
appointed. "And I had so wanted to tell
him — this. For weeks I have wanted to tell
him what was gladdening and saddening my
heart. And now you say that you expect
him, and now that he is gone! Ah, Jacques,
I fear that of all the things that have hap-
pened I was able to understand but one —
that you would come to me!"
128
Valuable Plot Material mislaid be-
comes an obstacle — instead of an alli-
ance— in plot buiMing.
CHAPTER XI
Index of Plot Subjects
alphabetized with cross references.
Abdication - 43
Abide - 26
Absent- Mindedness - 91
Absolute - 74
Absolution - 82
Abuse - 58
Accident - 61, 75, 91
Accusation - 53
Achievement - III - 27
Acquittal - 54
Actor - 24
Adolescence - 5
Adoption- 15
Adoration - 84
Adrift - 96
Advantage - 25
Adventure - 21, 70
Adventurer- 21
Adventuress -21
Advertisement - 28
Aerial - 41
Aeroplane - 97
Affection - 12
Affianced - 1 2
Affinity- 12
Affliction - 44
After Death - 62
Age -I, 14, 60, 70, 73
Agitator - 24, 35
Aid - 40, 59
Air - 97
Alarms - 38
Alienation- 18
Alienist - 73
Allah - 90
Allegory -71, 100
Alleviation - 59
Alliance - 34
Alms - 47, 83
Altruism- II
139
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Alumni - 66
Amazon - 39
Ambition- III -29
Ambush - 41
Amity- 11
Amor Patriae - 38
Amulet - 87
Amusement - 92
Anarchy - 37
Anesthetic - 59
Ancestor- Worship - 14
Ancestry- 16
Ancient - 3
Anecdote - 28
Angel - 89
Anglican - 78
Animals - 99
Animation - 4
Anniversary - 46
Annulment- 13
Antagonists - IV
Anthem - 38
Anti-Christ - 88
Antics - 92
Antiquarian - 46
Ants - 99
Anxiety - 94
Ape - 99
Aphasia - 73
Apostate - 87
Apotheosis - 89
Application- VII
Appropriation - X
Arbitration - 45
Arcadia - 70
Argument - 68
Aristocracy - 31
Aristocrat - 33
Armageddon - 42
Arms - 37
Army - 22, 41
Arrest - 54
Art -32, 45
Artist - 24
Artistic - 27
Asceticism - 86
Ashes - 62
Aspiration - B - 29
Assassin - 52
Assassination - 37
Astrology - 65
Astronomy - 67
Asylum - 73
Atavism - i
At Bay - 41
Atheist - 88
Atonement - 81
Attack - 41
Auction - 1 7
Auld Lang Syne- 1 1
Authentic - 74
Author - 69
130
INDE3<: OF PLOT SUBJECTS
Automobile - 98
Auto-Suggestion - 71
Avenger - 42
Avocation - 23
Ax -55
Aztec - I
Baby- 15, 91
Bachelor - 5
Backbone - 49
Back Home- 17
Backslider - 81
Back to the Farm - 20
Bail - 54
Balloon - 97
Band - 34
Bandit - 52
Bankruptcy - 22
Banshee - 64
Battle -41, 61, 97
Barbaric - 9
Battle Cry - 41
Bats - 99
Beacon - 96
Bear - 99
Beast - 99, 100
Beatitudes - 76, 93
Beau - 30
Beauty -6, 13, 57
Beggar - 23
Beggary - 47
Believe (Make) - 70
Belles - 30
Belles-Lettres - 69
Bench (The) - 54
Benefaction - il
Betrayal- 18, 53
Bible (The) - 76, 80
Bigotry - 86
Bill of Health - 57
Biography - 4
Birds - 99
Birth - 2
Birth Day - 2
Birth Mark - 2
Bishop - 79
Bitterness - 43
Black - 9
Black Art - 65
Black Hand - 52
Blackmail - 52
Black Sheep - 16
Blasphemy - 88
Blessedness - 89
Blind Faith - 82
Blindness - 60
Blight - 58
" Blood Will Tell" - 49
Bloom - 57
Blunder- 13, 22, 41
Body (Home) - 17
Bog - 95
131
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Bohemian - lo
Bombs - 37
Bona Fide - 74, 82
Bonds (The) - 30
Book- Worm - 69
Books - 66, 69
Boycott - 35
Brahma - 90
Brain-Storm - 73
Branded - 56
Bread Line - 22
Bread-Winner - 5
Breath - 4
Breeding- 10
Bribe - 48
Bribery - 54
Broad Comedy - 91
Broken Heart - 22, 61,
Brotherhood - 34, 83
Brothers- 16
Brute -5, 51
Bubble - 28
Buddha - 90
Buddhist - 77
Buffoonery - 91
Bunco Steerer - 52
Bull - 99
Burglar - 52
Buried Treasure - 47
Burial - 62
Burlesque - 91
Burning Ghat - 62
Business - 23, 25
Butt - 91
By-Gones - 70
Cabal - 34
Cad - 30
Cadaver - 62
Calamity - 44
Call - 24, 79
Call to Arms - 37
Campaign - 40
Camping - 92
Canaille - 34
Cannibals- 21
Cap and Bells - 92
Captive - 43
94 Capture - 53
Cardinal - 79
Care - 94
Career - 29
Caricature - 92
Carnival - 92
Cartoons - 92
Caste - 30
Castles in Spain - 70
Catacombs - 62
Catholic - 78
Cat - 99
Cause and Effect - 63
Cavalier - 70
INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS
Caves - 95
Cave-Man - i
Celibacy - 79
Cemetery - 62
Certainty - 74
Challenge - 41
Chair - 55
Champion - 27
Chance - 75
Chaperon - 10
Character - V - 49, 73,
94
Charge - 41
Charity - 1 1 , 83
Charlatanism - 65
Charnel House - 62
Chastisement - 55
Cheerfulness - 93
Chemistry - 67
Chief - 33
Child Labor- 15
Childless- 13
Child Life- 15
Children- 15, 16
Children's Court - 54
Chivalry - 10, 70
Christ - 80, 90
Christian - 77
Christian Science - 78
Christmas - 83
Chronology - 46
Church - 32, 78, 84
Circus - 92
Citizen - 7
City - 48, 98
Civility - 10
Civilized - 9
Clan - 34
Clandestine - 12
Cleanliness - 57
Climber - 30
91, Clique -34
Clod -7
Cloth (The) - 79
Clothes - 29, 50
Clown - 91, 92
Club - 34
Clue - 53
Code - 19
Co- Ed - 66
Coffin - 62
Coincidence - 26
Cold - 95
College- 66, 91
Collision - 97
Colonist- 21
Combat- 36, 51
Combatant - 59
Comedy -91, 92
Commandments - 76
Commerce - 32
Committee - 34
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Communication- 19
Compass - 96
Compassion - 49
Competition - 25
Comprehension - 80
Comrades -11
Conceit - 28
Concord - 45
Condition - 7
Confederate - 52
Confession - 53, 82
Conflict - 41
Confucianism - 77
Congeniality - 1 1
Conqueror - 42
Conquest - 42, 97
Conscience - 53, 56, 8x
Conscript - 39
Consecration - 79
Consequence - 75
Conservation - 95
Contagion - 60
Contamination - 58
Contemporaneous - 32
Contentment - 8, 93
Contrast -91, 94
Convalescence - 59
Convention - 10
Conversion - 82
Convict - 55
Conviction - 54, 68, 82
Copy - 69
Co-Respondent - 18
Corporation - 25
Corpse - 62
Correction - 55
Cost (The) - 27
Counterfeiter - 52
Countersign - 39
Courage - 39
Court - 54
Courtship - 12, 91
Covetousness - 50
Coward - 39
Crank - 73
Creation - A - I, X
Creator - 76
Creatures - X - 99
Credit - 27
Credulity - 64, 68
Creed - 77
Cremation - 62
Crevasse - 95
Crew - 34
Crime - 22, 52, 58
Cripple - 15, 60
Crisis - 26
Critical - 26
Crook - 23
Cross -40, 80
Cross Examination, 54
Crowd - 98
134
INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS
Cruelty- 13, 44, 61
Cruise - 96
Crusade - 24
Crusaders - 86
Crushed - 94
Cry (Battle) - 41
Crystal Gazing - 65
Cui Bono - 63
Cultivation - 95
Cults -65, 87
Cure - 79
Curiosity - 66
Curse- 71
Cursed - 64
Customs- ID, 16
Cyclone - 95
Damnation - 88
Dance - 40, 92
Dark Ages - 70
Darkey -91
Darwinian Theory - i
Date - 3
Daughter- 15
Day - 2, 26, 66, 84, 92, 93
Day (Problems of the) -
63
Day Dreams - 70
Deacon - 79
Death -44, VI -61, 62
Death Bed - 61
Death-House - 61
Death Sign - 54
Death-Watch - 62
Debate - 68
Debt - 22, 47
Deceit - 50
Deception- 13, 65, 87
Decline - 58
Decoy - 53
Deduction - 53, 74
Deeds - 49
Defeat - 43
Defectives- 15, 73
Defence - 40, 54
Deference - 10
Defiance - 38
Definite - 74
Degenerate - 49, 51
Degrading - 27
Delineation - 4
Delirium - 73
Delusion - 87
Demagog - 33
Democracy - 33
Demons - 68
Derangement - 73
Derelict- 22, 96
Dervishes - 86
Description - 69
Desecration - 88
Desert - 95
135
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATAXOG
Desertion - 18
Desire -I, II, III, IV,
VI, VII, VIII
Desolation - 94
Despair - 73
Despot - 33
Destination - 89
Destiny - C - 75
Destitution - 62
Destroyer - 44
Detection - 53
Detective - 53
Deterioration - B
Devastation - 44
Devotion - 84
Dialect - 91
Diary - 69
Dictator - 33
Dictograph - 53
Dinosaur - 99
Diploma - 27
Diplomacy - 45
Dirigible - 97
Disappointment - 94
Disclosure - 74
Disciple - 82
Discipline - 55
Discontent - 35
Discord - 35
Discovery - 46, 53, 67
Discrimination - 25
Disease - VI - 60
V, Disgrace - 22
Disguise - 53
Disillusionment - 87
Disorder - 73
Dispersion - 43
Disposition - 8
Dissection - 62
Dissension - 35
Dissipation - 58
District Attorney - 54
Diversion - IX
Divining Rod - 65
Divinity- VIII -90
Division - 35
Divorce- 1 8
Doctor - 59
Doctrine - 77
Dog - 99
Doge - 33
Domination- 71, IX
Dominion - 33
Do-Nothing - 25
Doom - 44, 75
Doomed - 94
Double Life - 53
Doubles - 8
Dragon- 100
Dram.a - 69
Dram.atic Material - X
Dreamer - 70
136
INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS
Dreams - 64, 70, 72
Dregs - 30
Drink -51
Drollery - 92
Drunken (Fight) - 36
Drugs- 51
Dual Personality - 8
Duel - 56
Dungeon - 43, 55
Duty - 83
Dwarf - 60
Dynamite - 57
Dynamiter - 53
Early Fathers - 79
Earner (Wage) - 6
E^arthquake - 93
Eavesdropper - 50
Economic - 63
Exlitor - 69
Editorial - 28
Education - 45, 66
Effect - 67, 75
Effect of Suffrage -17
Egotism - 8
Egyptians - i
Electricity - 67
Elements - 95
Elopement- 12
Elysian Fields - 89
Emotional History - 69
Emotions - IX - 94
Emperor - 33
Empty Promises - 48
Enchanted - 64
Enchantment - 93
End - 3, 75
Endowment - 49
Endurance - 3, 94
Enemies - 35
Engine - 98
Enigma - 63
Enlightenment - 74
Entertainment - 92
Enticement - 48
Environment - 49
Envy - 50
Ephemeral - 4
Epigram - 92
Epitaphs - 62
Epoch- 3
Equator - 95
Error(s) - 50, 54, 6r
Escapade- 15
Escape -21, 43, 55
Essay- 69
Estate - 62
Estrangement- 18
Eternal - 4
Eternal Lover- 12
Eternity - 3. 89
Ethics - 63
137
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Eugenics - 14, 57
Evangelists - 80
Evasion - 54
Events - 4
Eviction- 17
Evidence - 53, 54
Evil - 88
Evil Passion- 51
Evil Portents - 64
Exactitude - 74
Exaggeration - 70
Examination - 54
Exchange - 43
Exclusion- 18
Excommunication - 86
Ex-Convict - 56
Execution - 44, 55, 61
Executioner - 23
Exhumation - 62
Exile- 18, 43
Existence - I - 4
Exorcism - 88
Expectation - 70
Expedition - 40
Experience - 4
Experiment - 67
Explanations - 20
Exploit - 21
Exploration - 21, 32
Exposure - 53
Expression - 66, 69
Expulsion- 18
Extermination - 44
Extinction- 61
Fable - 99, 100
Faction - 34
Failure - 22, 94
Fairies - 70
Fair>-land- 100
Faith - 82
Fails - 95
False Report - 28
Fame - 29, 32
Fame Over Night - 32
Family - II - 16, 29
Family jars-91
Famine - 44
Fanatic - 38
Fanaticism - 86
Fancy - 70, 93
Farce -91
Farm - 20
Fascination - 71
Fashion - 6, 91
Fatalism - 73
Fate -72, 75
Father- 12, 14, 60, 79
Faun - 100
Favorite- 15
Fear -71, 73
Feast - 92
138
INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS
Felicity - l6
Felony - 52
Female - 6
Feminism - 6
"Fence "-52
Festi\'al - 92
Feud - 16, 36
Fiction - 69
Fidelity - 13
Fight - 36
Filial - 12
Finger Print - 53
Fire- 17, 41, 61, 95
Fire-Bug - 52
Fireside - 17
First Aid - 59
First-Born - 2
First Offence - 55
Fisherman - 96
Fitness - 10
Flag -38
Flesh - VI
Flirt - 6
Flock - 79
Flood - 95
Flotsam and Jetsam
Foible - 50
Foolhardy - 21
Forebear - 14
Forests - 95
Forever - 3
-96
Forgery - 48
Forgiveness- 11, 20, 45, 83
For Life - 55
Forsaken - 14
Fortune - 47
Fortune Telling - 65
Foul Play - 61
Foundling - 2
"Four Hundred" -30
Frame-Up - 53
Fraternity' - 34
Fraud -48, 65, 91
Fray - 36
Freak - 73
Free Love -12
Freeman - 7
Free Will - 63
Friend in Need -11
Friendship -11
Frightened - 61
Frolic - 92
Fruition - 93
Fugitive- 18, 43, 53, 55
Fun - 93
Funeral - 62
Furniture - 98
Future -3, 26
Future State - 89
Galleys - 55
Gambler - 51
139
THE UNRrERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Games - 92
Gang - 36
Gangster - 52
Garotte - 55
Gas - 41
Gems - 47, 48
Generosity - 49
Geniality - 93
Genius - 68
Gentleness - 49
Genuine - 74
Ghosts - 64
Ghouls -44, 62
Giants - 100
Gibbet - 55
Gifts - 13, "jZ
Girl - 6, 91
Glacier - 95
Gladiator - 36
Glitter - 48
Glory - 32, 48
Goal - 89
God - VIII - 90, 75, 100
Godliness - 83
Gold - 47
Golden Age - 70
Good Name -49
Gossip - 28, 50
Gourmand - 50
Government - 32
Grace - 89
Graft - 48
Grafter - 50
Grammar - 69
Grand Parent - 14
Gratification - 93
Greed - 50
Greek (Church) - 78
Griffin - 100
Guillotine - 55
Guilt -53, 71
Gypsy - 9
Habit- 10, 51, 58
Habitation - 17
Hack - 69
Half-Gods - 100
Handicap - 25
Hand-to-Hand Combat -
36
Happiness- II, 93
Happy Hunting Ground
89
Happy Marriage - 13
Hard (Character) - 49
Hard Heart - 50
Harem- 13
Harrowing - 94
Harvest - 75, 95
Hatred - 5, 50
Haunted - 64
Haven - 96
140
INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS
Hazard -21, 75
Healer - 87
Healing -82
Health -VI -57
Hearse - 62
Heart- H -22, 50, 61,
Heat - 95
Heathen - 88
Heaven - 89
Heir -15, 47, 62
Heirlooms- 16, 62
Heliograph - 19
Hell - 88
Hen-Pecked-91
Heredity - 60
Heritage - 2
Heretic - 87
Hero -15, 38
Heroine -21
Heroism - 39
Hermit- 10
Hierarchy -31, 33
High (Birth) - 2
Hired Girl -91
Hireling- 47
History - 46, 69
Hoax -91
Hold-Up - 52
Holiday - 92
HoUowness (Society) -
Holy Days - 84
Holy Grail - 85
Holy War - 86
Homage- 31
Home- 17
Home Body- 17
94 Homeless -6, 17
Homeliness - 6
Home-Making- 17
Home Seekers- 17
Home Town - 17
Honesty - 27
Honeymoon - 13, 93
Honor - 32, 49
Hoodoo - 64
Hope - 82
Hopelessness - 94
Horde - 34
Horror - 44
Horse - 99
Hospital - 59
Hostages - 42
Hostilities - 40
House -55, 58, 61, 62, 91,
96,98
Huguenot - 78
Hulks -55
Humanization - 98
Humanizing- X
Human Sacrifice - 88
30 Humility - 83
Humor - D
141
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Humorist - 92
Hunchback - 60
Hungry Heart - 12
Hunter -21, 89
Husband - 13
Hydro- Aeroplane - 97
Hypnotism - 71
Hypocrite - 88
Hysteria - 73
Ice - 95
Iceberg - 96
Iconoclast - 30
Idealism - 70
Identification - 53
Identity- 8, 91
Idiot - 73
Idle Rich - 47
Idolatry - 88
Ignorance - VII - 66
Illegitimate - 2
Illicit (Love) - 12
Imitation- 10
Immemorial - 3
Immigrant - 18
Immortality - 89
Impassioned - IX
Impersonation - 8
Impotency - 22
Impurity - 58
Inanition - 48, 58
Incense - 84
Incognito -21
Incorrigible- 15
Incredulity - 66
Incurable - 60
Indian -9
Individuality - I - 8
Indolence - 22
Induction - 53
Industries - 45
Inefficient - 22
Inevitable - 75
Inexorable - 75
Infallible - 74
Infatuation- 12
Infection - 60
Infelicity- 18
Infinite- C
Ingrate - 49
Injustice - 54
-In-Laws (Family) - 16
Innocence - 6, 15, 53
Innocent - 55
Inquiry - C - 66
Inquisition - 86
In Print - 28
Insanity - 73
In Season - 26
Insomnia - 73
Inspiration - 69, 80
Instigation - 35
142
INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS
Instinct - 14, 66
Insult - 35
Insurance- 62
Intellect - 68
Intercession - 84
Inter-Marriage- 13
International (War)
Internecine- 40
Interment - 40
Interpretation -77
Intervention -40
Intestate -62
In the Rut -22
Intoxication -91
Intrigue - 16
Intuition- 68
Invasion - 40
Inventor - 67
Inviolable - 74
Irrevocable- 18, 75
Irrigation - 95
Islands - 95
Jealousy - 50
Jester - 92
Jesuit - 79
Jetsam - 96
Jew - 9, 77
Jewels - 47, 48
Jilt -18
Jokes - 91
Journalism - 69
Jove - 90
Joy -57. 93
Jubilee -93
Judge -54
Jury -54
40 Justice -54
Juvenile -70
Keeper -'55
Kidnapper - 52
Kin -16
King - 33
Kiss- 12
Kite - 97
Kleptomania - 51
Knights - 70
Knocks but Once (Oppor-
tunity) - 26
Knowledge- VII -67, 74
Koran - 76
Labor- 15, 23, 35, 63
Lady Killer - 5 '
Land -29, 41, 100
Land-Poor - 47
Landslide - 95
Lark - 92
Last-Rites of the Church
-84
Laughter - 93
Law - 52, 54, 63
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Law Suit - 54
Lawyer - 54
Leadership - 29
League - 34
Learning - 69
Legally Dead - 62
Legends - 46, 85, 100
Leprosy - 60
Lese Majeste- 41
Letters- 12, 19, 32, 69
Liar - 50
Liberty - 42
Library - 69
License - 35
Life -4, 15, 55
Life Saving- 96
Lighthouse - 96
Lightning - 95
Light-Ship - 96
Likeness- 1 6
Lion - 99
Literal - 74
Literati - 69
Literature - 69
Loafer - 49
Loan Shark - 47
Loneliness - 14, 15, 94
Longevity - 4
Log - 96
Loot - 43, 52
Lord and Master - 5
Lost- 15, 18, 97
Lost Fortune - 47
Lot - 75
Lothario- 12
Lourdes - 82
Love- 12, 59, 70, 93
Love Letters- 12
Lovelorn- 12
Love Potion - 70
Lover- 12
Low (Birth) - 2
Loyalty - 38, 49
Luck - 26, 27, 47, 64, 75
Luckstone - 65
Ludicrous - IX
Lure - 29
Lust- 18, 51
Luxury -7, V-48, 93
Lying in State - 62
Lynching - 55
Madcap - 92
Magazines - 69
Magic - 65
Make-Believe - 70
Malcontent - 35
Male - 5
Man- 1 -5, n. in, IV, V,
VL viL vin, IX, X
Maniac - 73
Man-Made-Law - 54
144
INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS
Man of the Hour - 26
Manuscript - 69
Mariner - 96
Mark - 2
Marooned - 96
Marriage - 13
Martians- 100
Martyr -13, 15, 38, 6
82, 85, 86
Masquerade - 6, 94
Mass- 84
Massacre - 44
Masses (The) - 30, 33
Master - 5
Masterpiece - 32, 69
Matchmaker - 19
Material - 27, X
Maternity - 14
Mathematics - 74
Meanness - 49
Medal - 27
Mediation- 45
Medicine - 59
Medicine Man - 87
Melancholia - 73, 94
Melodrama - 69
Melting Pot - 9
Memories- 71
Memory - 19, 73
Men are like Sheep - 71
Mercenary - 39
Mercy - 83
Merit - 27
Mermaid - 1 00
Merriment - 93
Mesalliance - 13
Messiah - 76
Message - 19
I, Metaphysics - 72
Meteor - 64, 95
Microbes - 60
Middle Ages - 70
Might - IV
Militia - 37
Mind-Vn-91
Mines- 41, 95
Minister - 79
Miracles - 72, 82, 84, 85
Misanthrope - 50
Miscegenation - 13
Mischief- 15
Miser - 47
Misfortune - 47
Mishap - 22
Missing Link - i
Missionaries - 83
Mistake - 73
Mistaken Identity -91
Misunderstanding - 91
Mixed Babies -91
Mixture - 9
Mob - 37
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Mobilization - 40
Mockery - 88
Mock Marriage - 13
Mogul - 33
Mohammed - 80, 90
Mohammedan - 77
Molly Coddle -22
Monarchy - 33
Money- 13, 47- 48. 5i
Money-Lender - 47
Monk - 79
Monopoly - 25
Monstrosity -91
Moodiness- 73
Moonshine - 12
Moonshiner - 52
Moor - 9, 86
Morality - V
Morganatic- 13
Morgue - 62
Mormon - 78
Mortality -61
Mortgage- 17
Mosque - 78
Mother- 12, 14
Motion - 4
Mourners - 62
Mountains - 95
Mountain Climber - 21
Mountebank -23, 92
Mrs. Grundy - 10
Mummy- 62
Munificent - 47
Murderer- 52
Music- 19, 71
Mutiny - 37
Mystery -21, 52, 72
Myths - 46, 64, 87, 100
Mythological - i
Mi'thology-X- 100
Name -8, 13, 16, 49
National - 10, 40
Nationality - 91
Natural (Death) - 61
Nature- I, 76, 95
Naval - 41
Necessity - 75
Necromancy - 63
Need - 1 1
Needle -51
Ne'er- Do-Well - 32
Neighbors - 1 1
Nemesis - 29, 75
Neutrality - 45
Nevermore - 3
News- 19
Night - 32, 95
Nobility - 31
Noblesse Oblige - 49
Nomad - 9
Nonconformist - 78
146
INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS
No Place Like Home
Nostalgia- 17, 73
Not-Man - E
Not Man or Beast -
Notoriety - 28
Novel - 69
Now - 26
Nun - 79
Nurse- 15, 59
Oasis - 95
Obedience - 13
Obituary - 62
Obsession - 73
Obsolete -3, 10
Occult - 72
Occupation - 23
Offender - 54, 55
Officer - 39
Official - 31
Ogres - 100
Old Age - 70
Old Flame - 12
Old Maid -91
Old Offender - 54
Oligarchy - 33
Olympus- 89
Omens - 64
Only Child -15
Opening - 26
Operation - 56, 59
-17 Opinion - 35, 68
Opportunist - 26
Opportunity - 26
100 Optimism - 8, 93
Oracle - 65, 76
Oratory - 25
Organization (Church)
78
Orgy -51
Ordeal - 94
Origin - A - 2
Orphans - 15, 62
Orthodox - 74, 77
Outlaw - 52
Outspoken - 74
Over-Education - 66
Over Night (Fame) - 32
Pacification - 45
Padrone - 33
Pain - 60
Palmistry - 65
Palmy Da\'s - 93
Panacea - 59
Panic- 71
Pantheism - 77
Pantomime - 92
Paradise - 89
Parasite - 30
Pardon - 56
Parenthood - 14
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Parental Instinct- 14
Pariah - 30
Parish - 79, 81
Parnassus - 32
Parole - 43, 56
Participation - IX
Parting - 18
Partners - 1 1
Party - 34
Parvenu - 47
Passer- By - 20
Passion - B, 51
Passport - 40
Past - 3, 6, 56
Pastime - 92
Pathos- IX -94
Patriarch - 14, 79
Patriotism - 38
Pauper - 47
Pawnbroker - 22, 53
Peace - 45, 83
Peace-Maker- 15, 45
Peace Offering - 45
Peasant - 7
Pedant - 66
Pedigree -31, 53
Peer - 30
Penance - 83
Penalty - 60
Peon - 30
Perfection - 89
Peril -21
Perjury -54
Persecution - 86
Persistence - 26
"Personal" -28
Personality - 8
Personification - X - 98
Perversity - 50
Pessimism - 8
Pest House - 58
Pets - 99
Phantom - 96
Pharisee - 87
Phenomena - X - 96
Philanthropy- II
Phonograph - 67
Phrase - 69
Physics - 67
Picnic - 92
Pigeon- 19
Pillage - 44
Pillars (of Society) - 30
Pillory - 55
Pilot - 96
Pining - 94
Pioneer- 21
Pirate - 52
Pitfalls- 21
Pity - 94
Plagiarism - 69
Plague - 60
148
INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS
Plain Dealing - 74
Plains - 95
Platonic- 12
Plaudits - 28
Play - 92
Pleasure -48, IX -93
Plodder - 22
Plot - 52
Plunder - 42
P! utocracy - 33
Plutocrat - 47
Poacher - 52
Poetry - 69, 70
Poison- 61
Polar Regions - 95
Police - 53
Politeness - 10
Political - 33
Politics - 23, 25
Polution - 58
Polj'gamy - 13
Pomp - 3 1
Pope - 33, 79
Position - III - 30
Positiveness - 74
Posse - 34
Posterity - 16
Posthumous - 32, 62
Post Mortem - 62
Potentate - 33
Potentiality - 27
Potter's Field - 62
Poverty - 7, 22, 47, 94
Power -IV -33, 69
Powers of Evil - 88
Practical Jokes - 91
Praise - 29, 84
Pranks -91
Prayer - 84
Preacher - 79
Precocity- 15
Predestination - 75
Prehistoric - I, lOO
Prejudice - 50
Premonition - 72
Present - 3
President - 31
Press (The) - 28
Pretender - 37
Pride -31
Priest - 79
Prime - 5
Primeval - I, 100
Prince - 31
Principles - 49
Print (In) - 28, 53
Prison - 43, 55
Prisoner - 54
Prison Reform - 55
Problems - 63
Profanity - 50
Profession - 23
149
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Professional - 25
Profundity - 68
Progress - 26
Prohibition - 59
Propaganda - 68, 80
Propagandist - 24
Property - 47
Prophec}' - 72
Prophets - 76, 85
Propitious - 26
Proselyte - 82
Prosperity - 45
Prostitute -51
Protectory - 55
Protestant - 78
Providence - 76
Providential - 26
Psychic - 72
Psychology - 49, 52, 7:
Publication - 69
Publicity - 28
Public Opinion - 35
Pugilist - 36
Pun -92
Punishment - 55
Puppet - 8
Puppet Show - 92
Purgatory - 88
Puritan - 86
Purity - 83
Pyromaniac - 51
Quacks - 59
Quaker - 78
Qualities - 49
Quarrels - 35
Questions - 63
Quicken (To) - 4
Quicksand - 21, 95
"Qui Sauve Peut"-44
Rabbi - 79
Race - 9, 37. 63
Race Suicide - 9
Radium - 59, 67
Raft - 96
Raid -41, 53
Rank -31
Ransom - 43, 47
Ranter - 86
Rape - 44
Rapture - 93
Rats - 99
Reading - 69
Realism - 74
Realization - 90
Reason -VII -68
Rebellion - 40
Rebuilding - 45
Recall - 54
Recollection- 81
Record - 46
Reconstruction - 45
150
INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS
Re-Creation - A
Recreation - 45, 59, 92
Recruit - 39
Red Cross - ^o
Redemption - 89
Reefs - 96
Reform - 55
Reformation - 42, 56
Reformatory - 55
Reform.er - 86
Refuge - 17
Regatta - 92
Regeneration - 5^:, 81
Regret - 94
Rehabilitation - 56
Rejection- 18
Rejoining - 20
Rejuvenation - 20
Relapse - 22, 60
Relations -I, II, III, IV,
V, VI, VIII
Relaxation - 93
Release - 56
Relics - 19, 85
Religion -63, VIII -83
Religious - 24, 40
Remarriage - 1 3
Remedy - 42, 59
Reminder- 19
Reminiscence - 46, 71
Remorse -20, 56, 81, 94
Renascence - 66
Renegade - 39
Renown - 32
Renunciation - 79
Repentance - 56
Reportorial - 28
Rescue - 21, 42, 96, 97
Research - 46
Restraint - 54
Resurrection - 89
Resuscitation - 61
Retribution - 43, 56
Return - 20
Re-Union - 20
Revelation - 76, 80
Revenge -44, 51
Reveries - 70
Revivals - 81
Revolt - 37
Revolution - 40
Reward - 27, 42, 53, 67
Rhetoric - 69
Rich - 47
Ridiculous - D
Riot - 37
Rising - 37
Ritual - 84
Rivalry - 25
Rivals- 12
River - 98
Romance- 12, 70, 85
151
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Royalty -31
Ruin - 22
Ruler -31
Runav/ay- 13, 15, 18
Russian - 9
Rustler - 52
Rut - 22
Sabotage - 35
Sacraments - 84
Sacrifice- II, 14, 16, 38,
67, 83, 88, 94
Sacrilege - 88
Safety First - 59
Sagacity - 68
Sainthood - 89
Saints - 85
Salamander - 100
Saloon - 22
Salvation - 89
Salvation Army - 22, 78
Salubrity -57
Sanctimonious - 87
Sanctuary - 86
Sanitation - 57
Santa Claus - 15, 85
Satan - 88
Satellite - 31
Satyr- 100
Savages -21
Savior - 89
Scalps - 44
Scandal - 28, 50
Scape-Goat - 22
Scar - 53
Schism - 87
Scholar - 66
School Days - 66
Science - 32, 63, 67, 78
Scientist - 67
Scorpions - 99
Scout - 39
Sea - 96
Sea Serpent - 100
Season (s) - 3, 26, 95
Secret Marriage- 13
Secrets (Family) - 16
Seekers (Home) - 17
Self - 8
Selfish - 29
Seminary - 79
Senses - 4, 71
Sentiment - 12, 71
Sentinel - 39
Separation - 18
Serf - 55
Sermon - 80
Servant - 23
Service - 24
Sex -51
Shame - 56
Shark - 47, 99
152
INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS
Sharpshooter - 39
Sharp Tongue - 50
Shintoism - 77
Shock - 59, 94
Shophiter - 52
Short Story - 69
Show - 92
Shrines - 84
Side - 34
Siege - 41
Signals - 19
Sin - Y - 88
Sincerity - 74
Sinecure - 23
Sins of the Father - 60
Siren - 100
Sisters - 16
Situation - 91
Skeleton - 16, 62
Skirmish - 41
Skit -91
Slattern - 6, 58
Slave -7, 30, 51
Slave Driver - 33
Slavery - 44
Sleep - 72
Sloven - 58
Smuggler - 52
Snakes - 99, lOO
Snare - 48
Snob - 30
Snow - 95
Sociability - 93
Social - 7, 63
Socialism - 35
Society - 10, III - 29, 30
Sociology - 10
Sophistry - 65
Solace - 1 1
Soldier - 39
Solitude- 71
Son - 15
Somnambulism - 73
Song -71, 93
Sorcerer - 87
Sorrow - 94
Soul -VIII
Soundness - 57
Souvenirs - 11
Species - 9
Speculation - 21, 47, 48
Spendthrift - 47
Spinster - 6
Spirit - 89
Spiritualists - 87
Spoiled (Child)- 15
Sport - 25, 92
Springtime -71, 95
Spy - 39
Squabbles - 16
Squaw - 6
Squealer - 53
Stampede - 99
Star Maiden - 100
153
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Starvation - 48, 58, 61
Star World - 100
State - 7, 62, 89
State's Evidence - 53
Statesman - 31
Station - 31
Statistics - 46
Step-Child- 15
Step-Mother - 14
Stimulation - IX
Stingy - 47
Stoic - 60
Stone Age - i
Storm - 73. 95
Story - 69
Stowaway- 15, 96
Stranded - 47
Stranger - 8
Strategy' - 41
Streams - 95
Stress - IX
Strike - 37
Strong (Character) - 49
Struggle -I, II, III, IV,
V, VI, VII, VIII, 69
Student - 66
Stupidity - 68, 91
Style - 69
Subconscious - 8
Subjugation- 43
Sublime - D
Submarine - 96
Subtlety - 8
Success - 27
Suffering - 94
Suffrage- 17-37
Suffragette - 6, 91
Suffragist - 24
Suggestion - 59, 71
Suicide - 9, 61
Sun Worshipper - 77
Superman - 6
Supernatural - 72
Superstition - 64, 91
Supposition - 70
Suppressed (Fame) - 32
Supremacy - IV
Surrender - 43
Survival of the Fittest-
9
Sweetheart - 12
Sym.pathy - 94
Synagog - 78
Taint -51
Talisman - 64
Talmud - 76
Tame (Animals) - 99
Taste- 10
Taxation - 43
Teacher - 66
Tears - 94
Technicalities - 54
Telepathy - 19, 72
154
INDEX OF PLOT SUBJECTS
Telescope - 19
Tell-Tale - 28, 50
Temper - 50
Temperament - 8
Templars - 85
Temple - 78
Temptation - 48, 81, 88
Tempus Fugit - 3, 26
Termagant - 6
Territory - 42
Test - 67
Thankfulness - 93
Theology - 77
Theory- i, 68
Third Degree - 53
Thief - 52
Thirteen - 64
Thorobred - 49
Thought - 68
Thrift - 27, 47
Throne - 29
Tides - 96
Ties- 16
Time -3, 71
Time-Honored - 3
Times - 3
Time- Worn - 3
Title - 29
Tobacco - 50
Tomb - 62
Tomfoolery - 91
Tomorrow - 26
Tongues (Combat of)- 36,
50
Too Late - 26, 94
Tourney - 36
Town (Home) - 17
Toys - 92
Tracts - 69
Traditions- 16
Tragedy - 94
Tragical - 28
Tragic Emotion - 94
Traitor - 38
Trance - 87
Transcendentalism - 85
Translation - 89
Transmigration - 89
Trappist - 79
Travesty- 91
Treasure - 47
Treaty - 45
Tree - 98
Trenches -41
Trial - 54
Tribal - 40
Tribe - 34
Tribulation - 21
Trinity - 90
Triumph - 42
Troubadors - 70
Truce - 45
Trust - 1 1
Trusty - 56
THE UNIVERSAL PLOT CATALOG
Truth - 74
Trysts - 12
Twins- 15
Type - 49
Typhoon - 95
Tyrant - 33
Ugly Duckling- 15
Ultimate - 74
Ultimatum - 40
Unbeliever - 86
Uncleanness - 57
Under Fire -41
Undertaker - 62
Underworld - 52
Unemployed - 35
Unfaithfulness- 18
Unfrock - 79
Unicorn - 100
Union - 20, 42
Unregenerate - 52
Unrest - 35
Unsavory (Notoriety)
28
Unvarnished - 74
Unwritten Law - 54
Uplifting (Success) - 27
Urchin- 15
Usurper - 33
Utopia - 70
Valhalla - 89
Valkyries - 100
Valleys - 95
Vampire - 51
Vanity - 50
Vassal - 30
Vault - 62
Vendetta - 37
Venereal - 60
Vengeance - 55
Veracity - 74
Veteran - 39
Vicarious - 55, 61
Vicissitudes - A, B, C, D
Victim - 52
Victory - 42
Vigilantes - 55
Village - 98
Violation - 58
Violence - 37, 61
Virgin Mary - 84
Virility - 5
Visions - 76, 85
Visionary - 73
Vitality - 4
Vivisection - 99
Vixen - 6
Vocation - 24
Voices - 73
Volcano - 95
Voluptuous -93
Voodoo - 65
Vows - 79
Vox Populi - 35
INDEX OF PLOT -SUBJECTS
Wage Earner - 6
Wake - 62
Wanderlust- 18, 50
War -32, 40
War Dance - 40
Warden - 55
Warning- 21
Warrior - 24
Wasted Opportunity -
Waste Places - 95
Water (Death) - 61
Weakness - 6
Wealth - 29, 4-7
Wedding- 13
Wedlock - 13
Whale - 99
Whims - 93
White (Race) - 9
White Feather - 39
White Plague - 60
White Slave -51
White Slaver - 52
Widowhood - 1 8
Widows - 62
Wife - 13
Wild Animals - 99
Wild Oats -51
Wild Sects - 86
Wild West -21
Will - 62, 63
Will of God - 75
Will-o'-the-Wisp - 32
26
Wind - 95
Winner - 5
Wireless - 96
Wire-Tapper - 39
Wisdom - 68
Wit - 68, 92
Witches - 64, 88, lOO
Witching-Hour - 70
Within the Law - 54
Witness - 54
Wolves - 99
Woman- II, 6, 38, 48, 79
Woman-Hater - 5
Women First - 10
Word (The) - 76
Workhouse - 55
Works - 80, 83
Worry - 58
Worship- 12, 77, 84
Wounds - 44
Wreck - 96
Wrong House - 91
X-Ray - 59
Yellow (Race) - 9
Yesterday - 26
Youth - 57, 70
Zealot - 86
Zodiac - 72
157
The Mctt Notevorthy Aunharv That the iy'rxter't Workshop
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