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Twelve-Panel Story Arc Map

Run the Story Arc Map Fullscreen

About This MicroSim

A four-by-three grid showing the 12-panel story arc structure used in graphic novel narratives. Panels are color-coded by arc stage: Setup (blue, panels 1-4), Rising Action (amber, panels 5-8), Climax (red, panels 9-10), and Resolution (green, panels 11-12). Each panel has a named job in the story structure.

Explore Mode: Hover over any panel to see its number, arc stage, the job it does in the story, and a concrete example from Ada Lovelace's Note G story.

Quiz Mode: A panel job description appears. Click the panel position where it belongs in the arc.

Learning Objective (Bloom level: Apply): Given a beat description from a historical-figure story, identify the panel number where it belongs in the twelve-panel arc.