How does the narrative structure of most of Defoe's major novels differ from the tightly plotted, interconnected models later used by Henry Fielding?

Correct answer: Mostly episodic, linear, first-person narratives that mimic real life, not tight plots.

Defoe's novels generally lack a tightly engineered, symphonic plot structure. Instead, they unfold as a series of loose, episodic adventures linked together chronologically by a single first-person narrator who recounts their life story from youth to old age. This rambling, additive structural design contributes heavily to the illusion that the reader is consuming an unvarnished, authentic human memoir.