advice on using literary theory in an essay?

Hey all,

I'm writing an essay at the moment and I'm looking for a theory that examines the effectiveness of positioning narrative events in certain places in a novel.

For instance, say the author places two events side by side in order to show how one caused the other... Would there be a term for that?

If anybody has any recommendations for where I can look into this further, please let me know.

This is kind of urgent, so I'd appreciate any responses as soon as possible

Thanks all!