On Dénouement:
If we start with a basic definition, nouement literally means knotting. This is the building of causality which creates a chain of events (plot). Often in crime fiction, a doubling up of crime and investigation causes a more complex knotting and therefore a more intricate relationship between cause and effect in the plot. When we reach the dénouement, the unknotting or untangling of the web occurs. At this point Aristotle in his Poetics presents us with two alternatives which bring the narrative to a unifying conclusion: peripeteia (ironic reversal) or anagnorisis (recognition/discovery). These terms describe the moment when the hero (or anti-hero) passes from ignorance to knowledge.
As we can start to see, this moment is crucial to crime fiction, when the detective solves the case and in doing so restores order from disorder. All the fragmentary pieces of evidence and clues thrown the reader's way throughout the plot add up to a reassuring and meaningful picture.
Now dénouement can be particularly emphasised as a generic element of crime fiction. There is not a more meaningul point in a crime fiction plot than the uknotting. This is where the responder can (as tending to do with cf) relate cause with effect and solve for themselves, through the narrative centre's (protagonist) point of view, the investigation. The enduring popularity of crime fiction rests on the premise that, through examining our own repressed instincts of human nature, combined with the allure of mystery, we can personally restore our internal order from disorder. In other words, passing from ignorance to knowledge and recognising the value of attaining wisdom. Dénouement then, marks the point at which this occurs and as such remains inextrocable as an element or convention of the genre.
For historical links, look to revenge tragedy and Seneca's 5 act model as well as Gamini Salgado. Keeping the above in mind, use that broad structure to analyse the cf texts you have been covering in class, which must include related texts of your own choosing. How has the text used the dénouement in crime fiction? and/or how have they modified or subverted the traditional use of the dénouement? Applying this notion to any cf text will guarantee you a host of examples to work with in your treatment of the topic.
All the best ^+)