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)
Teen Mom
Meridian has a rough childhood. Although she's an exceptional student, she's forced out of school after getting pregnant as a teenager. Her husband, Eddie, is not too great either. Eventually, Eddie leaves her and she turns the Civil Rights Movement. Soon after, she's offered a scholarship to Saxon College and jumps at the opportunity.
Rising Action (Conflict, Complication)
I Love College
Things are better at Saxon. Meridian gets more involved in the Movement. She makes a new best friend named Anne-Marion. She even gets up-close-and-personal with her crush, Truman. Despite this, things within the Movement are getting tense. The police are responding with more and more brutality and their struggle is tougher than ever. Sound familiar? Funny how history has a way of repeating itself.
Climax (Crisis, Turning Point)
A Movement Moving Backwards
After sleeping with Meridian (and getting her pregnant), Truman breaks things off and starts dating (and eventually marrying) a white Northerner named Lynne. Meanwhile, the Movement is falling apart. This finally culminates when Anne-Marion tells Meridian that they can't be friends anymore after Meridian falls deathly ill for several days, which is some pretty bad timing on Anne-Marion's part, if you ask us.
Falling Action
Back on the Road Again
After floating around the Movement for a few years, Meridian decides to head South and start actually living with the people she's supposed to be helping. Meanwhile, Lynne and Truman have moved to Mississippi, their marriage deteriorating in the process. Truman keeps visiting Meridian, desperate to get her back, but she refuses. It isn't until the death of Camara—Truman and Lynne's daughter—that we start to notice a change inside him.
Resolution (Denouement)
Eureka!
Meridian's health has been declining for a while, but that doesn't stop her. Eventually, she manages to open Truman's eyes to the realities of the world and his role in helping make it a better place. Then, one day, we find Meridian seemingly cured and Truman ready to take her place. We also get the implication that Anne-Marion might end up doing the same someday.