1. Read the starting promise #
Everything needed is below. This walkthrough is read-only: no account, editable document or generation session is required. (spoiler alert!) Bilbo is trapped in tunnels; his ring makes him invisible. Gollum is a dangerous pursuer blocking his way.
Source account, paraphrased: Bilbo has an opportunity to attack the creature blocking his way. He refrains and jumps past him. We record restraint and passage separately, then interpret the restraint as mercy. You can work from these paraphrases. For the full context, see Chapter 5, “Riddles in the Dark,” of The Hobbit.
The Seed states what this excerpt interpretation examines:
- Genre
- Fantasy adventure
- Tone
- compassionate courage
- Logline
- Trapped in tunnels, an invisible traveler must get past a dangerous pursuer without killing him, risking capture by leaving him alive.
- Requested storylines
- 1
What to notice: compassionate courage proposes an attitude toward danger and mercy. It does not establish that Bilbo has acted compassionately. The four emotion axes explain how tone is described.
2. Follow one intention #
A storyline develops a question under pressure. Read objective, stakes and cost:
- Storyline
- Escape with mercy
- Dramatic question
- Can Bilbo get past Gollum without killing him?
- Objective
- Pass the creature blocking the way.
- Stakes
- Bilbo’s life and his capacity for mercy.
- Cost
- He leaves a dangerous pursuer alive and risks being caught during the leap.
- Failure mode
- Bilbo is caught, or kills Gollum to pass him.
- Target states
- Bilbo is beyond Gollum’s immediate reach; Gollum remains alive.
- Audience feeling
- apprehensive hope
- Relationship feeling
- uneasy sympathy
What to notice: escaping and refusing to kill are different concerns. The choice is to spare Gollum; the cost is accepting continued exposure to a living pursuer, and the risk is capture during the leap. Cost here is a prospective sacrifice or exposure, not a claim that capture occurs. Stakes name what could be lost—life and the commitment to mercy—rather than the choice itself. The feelings describe what we want viewers to feel when this moment is brought to the screen. Bilbo’s own feelings are a separate question.
3. Examine choice and consequence #
Decision is the third dot from the left on the rail. Focus or hover it to see its name; press Enter or tap to inspect. The evidence list below remains readable without JavaScript. Read the four checkpoints from left to right.
This example is read-only. Each rail has four dots, from left to right: Mixture → Contradiction → Decision → Transformation. Decision is the third dot. Use the horizontal arrows or scrollbar to reach dots outside the view. Focus or hover a checkpoint to read its name and evidence; press Enter, right-click, or tap to inspect. Action frames opens the list; Storylines filters route colors without hiding Action frames. List all and Edit selected change the inspector display, without enabling edits. Escape dismisses a tip or panel.
Escape with mercy
Evidence and assignments (also available without JavaScript)
Read one rail from left to right: a condition, an obstacle, a choice, and its immediate consequence. The leap shows passage past Gollum, not the end of every danger. Spacing shows order, not duration. This excerpt assigns one Action frame to resolution; empty stages do not assert that earlier pressure never occurred.
Escape without killing
Escape with mercy: resolution
- mixture
- Bilbo is invisible while wearing the ring
- contradiction
- Gollum blocks the passage
- decision
- Bilbo spares Gollum
- transformation
- Bilbo leaps past Gollum
What to notice: Mixture is Bilbo’s invisibility; Contradiction is Gollum blocking passage; Decision is sparing Gollum; Transformation is the leap past him. The Action frame is assigned to resolution, one of six storyline stages, because passing Gollum answers this excerpt’s immediate escape question. It does not resolve every danger in the novel. Four checkpoints are not four storyline stages.
4. Complete your first reading #
Which evidence supports mercy and which supports escape? Decide before opening the answer.
Check your reading
One way to read it: sparing Gollum supports mercy; the leap supports immediate passage. The leap alone would not establish compassion or the end of every danger.
You have followed the story model from its starting promise to dramatic evidence (Level 2), without editing. To explore the analysis further, continue to realization and abstraction. Explore shared Action frames when ready. For your own document, choose manual authoring or inspect connections.
Optional: screenwriter continuation #
The story model’s screenplay-presentation level (Level 3) is for screenwriters. Compare two original hypothetical treatments of the same occurrence. Read their lines, shot comments and emotions before deciding whether each develops compassionate courage. These are our own teaching adaptations.