Exposition

Exposition is the initial component of the plot, preceding the inciting incident and introducing the reader into the work's fictional world: it acquaints the reader with the place and time of the action, the main characters, and the circumstances that preceded the conflict, creating the necessary background for understanding the subsequent events. Exposition may be direct (at the beginning of the work), delayed (given later), or reverse (revealed at the end). Its task is to prepare the ground for the development of the action without yet revealing the conflict itself. For example, in Ivan Nechui-Levytsky's tale Kaidash's Family the exposition depicts the village, the Kaidash family, and their everyday life, preparing the ground for the future quarrels. A masterful exposition immediately immerses the reader in the atmosphere of the work, such as the descriptions of the Carpathian world at the beginning of Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, which prepare the perception of the tragic love story of Ivan and Marichka.