The Help

Exposition

100

employer of Aibileen, best friends with Hilly and Skeeter and is easily lead by Hilly.

Who is Elizabeth Leefolt

200

Newest resident of Jackson, Mississippi, winds up hiring Minny because she cannot cook and initially tries to hide Minny’s involvement with the house cleaning and cooking from her husband, Johnny Foote and has also been unsucessful at carrying a fetus to term.

Who is Celia Foote

300

Skeeter’s demanding , overbearing mother. She’s also stricken with cancer, but tells Skeeter she has “refused to die.” Skeeter has never been able to live up to her mother’s ideal of how she should look and behave.

Who is Charlotte Phelan

400

Hilly sets Skeeter up on a blind date with Stuart, a senator’s son.

Who is Stuart Whitworth

500

Toddler watched daily by Aibileen and one of Elizabeth Leefolt’s two children. Because Mae’s mother is unable and unwilling to devote time and attention to her, the child turns to Aibileen, who treats her with tenderness and love.

Who is Mae Mobley Leefolt

Rising Action

100

These people recruit help on the book project, while also navigating the difficulties of life in Jackson.

what is rising action 1

200

This person was killed in a freak accident; he had wanted to write a book about what it was like for a man growing up in Mississippi.

What is rising action 2

300

This idea plants the seed in Skeeter's mind to write a book about the experiences of black maids working for white women in Jackson, Mississippi. We learn that Aibileen lives alone, works hard for Miss Elizabeth and lives alone.

What is rising action 3

400

When Skeeter first asks Aibileen to help her write the book, the maid refuses. Becoming too bitter to remain silent, Aibileen agrees to help, suggesting that her close friend Minny may also help. When Yule May, fired for stealing from Hilly is sent to jail, the maids in the town are so angry at Hilly, that ten or more women agree to help Skeeter write her book. Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter work very hard to collect the stories and prepare them to be printed.

What is rising action 4

500

Skeeter starts seeing Stuart, a senator's son. Minny is working for Miss Celia, who Minny thinks is crazy. Celia, being "poor white trash," is not accepted into the well-to-do social circle of Jackson, but mostly because her husban once dated Hilly, who thought they would marry. Eventually, when Skeeter tells Stuart of the book, he cannot handle it and he leaves.

what is rising action 4

Climax

100

When the maids agree to help Skeeter

What is the First climax

200

when the women learn that Harper and Row will publish the book.

What is the second climax

300

When Hilly confronts Aibileen about the book. It is here that Aibileen, always so respectful, calls Hilly's bluff when Hilly threatens to accuse her of stealing and have her arrested.

What is the third climax

400

I am inclined to think that this is the turning point, for the tension of that moment is almost unbearable, and Aibileen is finally able to put Hilly in her place, which the reader have been waiting for.

What is the fourth Climax

500

The overall turning point/climax is when all of the Maids decided to help Skeeter write the novel, which was finally prompted by Hilly's new maid being imprisoned for theft and Martin Luther King's assassination. The resolution was the publication of the novel and the subsequent consequences to it.

What is the fifth climax

Falling Action

100

when Aibileen has to say good-bye to Mae Mobley

What is Falling action 1

300

she tells the child that she is retiring and she repeats that Mae Mobley is kind, smart and important.

What is falling action 3

400

It is at this point that Aibileen knows that she is finally free.

What is falling action 4

500

The money from the newspaper writing and the book won't be enough, but Aibileen has hope she can start over—with a new life, even at her age.

What is falling action 5

Resolution

100

By the end of Kathryn Stockett's novel, The Help, Skeeter's book about "the help" has been published. Aibileen stands up to Hilly when Hilly threatens to accuse Aibileen of stealing.

This is part of the resolution

200

Aibileen speaks her mind: she tells Hilly that she can write, and knows a great deal about Hilly: information that she would be willing to share with others in town. Hilly backs off. Elizabeth does not interfere as Hilly pushes her to fire the black woman, so Aibileen walks away from her job caring for Mae Mobley.

This is the second part of the resolution

300

Skeeter receives a job offer in New York and has spent the end of the novel getting ready and saying good-bye. She knows that Constantie is dead. Minnie is still working for Celia, and has been promised a job there as long as she wishes. She leaves her abusive husband and takes the children with her.

This is the third part of the resolution

400

The story ends on a hopeful note: Aibileen will take over Skeeter's job at the newspaper which will provide her with some money, and the book will also produce some income as well.

This is the fourth part of the resolution

500

While one might think that losing her job would be the worst thing someone in Aibileen's position could face, she begins to see her new "independence" as a time when she can discover who she is, do some writing and see what she can make of her life. She feels that it may not be too late to start over again, regardless of her age.

THis is the fifth and final part of the of the resolution