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Arrange the following statements in the order of their appearance in Aristotle's Poetics:

  1. A. The plot is 'the end at which tragedy aims'.
  2. B. Regarding the plot, 'a whole is what has a beginning, middle and end'.
  3. C. The plot should have unity: 'the component incidents must be so arranged that if one of them be transposed or removed, the unity of the whole is dislocated and destroyed'.
  4. D. The tragic character must be a man 'who is not pre-eminently virtuous and just... but falls through some flaw in him'.
  5. E. The function of the poet is to narrate 'events such as might occur... according to the laws of probability or necessity'.

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Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D. A, B, C, E, D

Explanation

Ch. 6 (plot as the end of tragedy) → ch. 7 (beginning, middle, end) → ch. 8 (unity of action) → ch. 9 (poet narrates the probable, not what happened) → ch. 13 (the hero's hamartia). Hence A, B, C, E, D.

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