need help again: Is it possible for a story to be preented in a non-linear method?

Question

We had a discussion in my World Literature class about Elements of Fiction or parts of a story, basically. It contains: Exposition (intro.), Insighting moment or force (beginning of the conflict), rising action-series of events that follows afther the intro of the conflict, climax/turning point (reversal of fortune, rev. of misfortune & reversal of epiphany-"realization"), resolution-series of events that follow after climax and the conclusion of the story.

Now, my question: Is it possible for a stosy to be presented in a non-linear method?

I need an answer right now, for my class. Thanks!

Answer 1

Of course. One common method is to give the conclusion first - start a story off with a strange ending, then explain how it got there (by flashbacks, for example). Some stories move back and forth in time, but the more you do it, the easier it is for the reader to get confused about the order that events occur.

Catch-22 is a good example of a story following no particular linear order - it moves back and forth in time without even warning you what order the chapters are being presented. Chapters are about events or people, and follow that specific event or person up to a point in time - other chapters may then tell the same point of time from a different perspective, or go backwards to explain what happened before that event, etc.