Question

Read the passage.

Answer 1

I think the main plot element is exposition, which describes the story's characters. I'm not absolutely sure, though, so don't take my word as gospel! :)

Answer 2

In this summary of a passage from "The First Seyen Years" by Bernard Malamud, the main plot element is exposition. The summary describes the story's characters.

A story has different plot elements: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. The exposition is the element of the story that introduces the basic characters and setting to the readers in order to catch their attention. Moreover, the conflict of a story is sometimes hinted at the introduction. In this summary of a passage from "The First Seven Years", the main plot element is exposition because it introduces the different characters that are part of the story: Feld, Sobel, Miriam and Max.