Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Exposition (Initial Situation)
In Medias Res
What the heck is "in medias res"?
That's a fancy-shmancy Latin phrase meaning "into the middle of a narrative." It's a phrase used when a story starts right in the middle of action. And this, in fact, is how Code Talker starts: the "Exposition" actually throws us right into the heat of battle. Chester and his code-talking buddies are about to land on the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific for their first battle against the Japanese.
So Code Talker doesn't have a conventional exposition that explains to us the hero's background, or where he's coming from and where's going. It just throws us right in there into the middle of the story… and then backs up.
Rising Action (Conflict, Complication)
Our Country Needs Us
Uh-oh. The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. This is bad bad news. It means World War II has come to America's backyard. Chester and his buddies, who are in high school in Tuba City, Arizona, have to decide whether they will join the Marines and defend their country or not.
This part of the book is the rising action because our hero faces a conflict and has to make a choice: risk his life for his country or stay in high school?
Climax (Crisis, Turning Point)
Punishment on Peleliu
The battle for the island of Peleliu is the climactic battle in the book. It's the toughest battle. The Marines are outnumbered by the Japanese. The Japanese have built tunnels and caves all over the island, and they're camped out on mountains from which they can pick off the landing Americans.
Even though the Americans eventually win, many men die. The battle for Peleliu can be considered the climax of the book because it's the toughest and most dangerous battle—even though it's one battle out of many. It's the one where Chester's courage is really tested.
Falling Action
Return Home
Phew! Finally, in 1945, our hero gets to return home to America. He's done his duty in the Pacific, and he's discharged. This can be considered the falling action of the book because Chester's done his served his tour and has made it through alive. With his return home, his life is no longer in danger.
Resolution (Denouement)
Gold Medal and Celebrity
Chester Nez and the "original twenty-nine" code talkers are awarded a gold medal by President George W. Bush in 2001. More than fifty years after their heroism in the Pacific, the code talkers finally get their dues.
The awarding of the gold medals to the code talkers and the celebrity that follows (everyone wants a piece of Chester after the award), is the resolution of the story. Our hero is rewarded for his courageous efforts… finally.