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Two Kinds of Plot - Simple and Complex
Aristotle distinguishes between two kinds of plot. Firstly there is the simple plot. In a simple plot, events move forward continuously towards the catastrophe. There is no change of direction; there is no Reversal (Peripety) or Discovery (Anagnorisis.) The hero's fortunes pass from misfortune to happiness, or from happiness to misery, in a direct manner.
Complex Plot involves a change of direction. The hero's fortunes rise to a certain point and at that point there is a change. This is the turning point, the climax, one might say, at which some sort of discovery leads directly to the change in fortune. Complex plot involves Peripety, or Discovery, or both. Peripety and Discovery should arise from the structure of the plot itself, so as to be the consequence, necessary or probable, of the antecedent. Aristotle prefers complex plots.