The Five People You Meet in Heaven Summary

Activity Overview

A common use for Storyboard That is to help students create a plot diagram of the events from a story. Not only is this a great way to teach the parts of the plot, but it reinforces major events and help students develop greater understanding of literary structures.

Students can create a storyboard capturing the narrative arc in a work with a six-cell storyboard containing the major parts of the plot diagram. For each cell, have students create a scene that follows the story in sequence using: Exposition, Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.

Example The Five People You Meet in Heaven Plot Diagram

Exposition

Eddie is an elderly maintenance man at Ruby Pier. He is a widower who keeps to himself, and doesn’t really like to be bothered. He will make little animals out of pipe cleaners for children, like little Amy or Annie.

Conflict

A few months prior, a young man named Nicky had ridden on Freddy’s Free-Fall, and had lost his car key into the mechanism of the ride. The key jammed a pulley, which stripped the cable of the ride and caused a malfunction of the ride. As they get the people off of the ride to safety, Eddie sees little Amy or Annie at the base of the ride. She will be crushed, so he runs to save her

Rising Action

Eddie finds himself in Heaven, and he must learn several important lessons before he can move on to the next step. From the Blue Man, he discovers that all stories are connected. From his Captain, he learns the importance of sacrifice. From Ruby, he learns to forgive his father. From Marguerite, he learns that love never dies.

Climax

Eddie meets Tala, and she tells him that he burned her. Eddie is devastated to learn that he had helped set fire to a hut that she was hiding in, and she died as a result. He learns that she hadn’t been a figment of his imagination, and he was responsible for her death.

Falling Action

Tala has Eddie wash her with a rock, which cleanses her from her burns. He is still sad though, because he feels like he wasted his life. She tells him that his purpose on earth had been to keep children safe, and that while he had saved Amy or Annie, Tala had pulled Eddie to Heaven to keep him safe.

Resolution

Eddie and Marguerite are reunited with each other, and Eddie waits in line for Amy or Annie to arrive in Heaven. He is going to teach her the first lesson: that everyone is connected, and all stories are one.