Final answer:
The dénouement is a French term that serves as the resolution of a story, unraveling the plot and resolving the central conflict. It can also leave secondary conflicts unsettled and sometimes leave doubt about the resolution of the main conflict. The dénouement can also leave the story and characters in the same state they were in before the story began.
Step-by-step explanation:
Dénouement: The word dénouement comes from the French "to untie" and the Latin "knot," which gives us an indication of its purpose. It serves as the unraveling of a plot - a resolution to a story. In the dénouement, the central conflict is resolved. However, conflicts aren't always resolved. Some stories leave secondary conflicts unsettled, and a rare few even leave doubt about the resolution of the main conflict.
The dénouement can also leave the story and characters in the same state they were in before the story began. This often occurs when an epilogue tells the reader that all the conflicts in the story have been resolved. Thus, we can see the dénouement as a kind of mirror to the exposition, showing us the same situation at both the beginning and end of a story.