What is plot? And how does it apply to Luke-Acts?

Try to define 'plot', it's quite illusive. I've been working on understanding this literary concept for chapter two of my dissertation on Luke and Acts, read together as one narrative (hence 'Luke-Acts'). It's a challenge, and a good one. I'm making progress, but at times it seems very slow indeed.

Did you know Aristotle was one of the first to work on describing what plot is and what makes a good one? In the domain of drama, he said that a poet is a maker of plots. He is still referred to by literary theorists and narratologists. Now, I understand Luke-Acts as nonfictional, but I still see a plot, a careful arrangement and design of the main narrative elements to create that narrative tension that keeps the reader interested and to achieve the purpose of the writing (see Lk 1.4).

Plot is "story-as-discoursed" (the what and the how), wrote Seymour Chatman. Luke certainly had a story to tell and used a great variety of literary techniques to tell it. See if you can discern what the central plot is from the beginning of Luke to the end of Acts.

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[A couple of years later, I wrote an article on plot theory and analysis, see other post So, what is it plot anyway? Here's my go at it...]