Story Line
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Every story every told or written follows a basic plot development. This begins with exposition or the setting and characters. Next is a trigger event. This is an event where suddenly the conflict takes off; the trigger event is followed by the rising action. This is going to be a varied number of items that make you as the reader, or viewer get more and more anxious for what is going to happen. Then the climax! This is the pinnacle moment of the book and where a decided factor is made. The story could go two ways at this point, based on the way the story goes, or resolves your theme will emerge!
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Theme
Every story has a theme. A theme is a message that the author wants the viewer to learn. These themes emerge from the story based on how the story resolves. The image next to this an example of some common themes in stories or books.
Throughout a book, the author uses many different parts of the story to make their theme known. They can use figurative language, dialogue, characterization, rising action and resolution to show the readers what the author's message is. It's important to do close reading so we can pick up these things! |
Proving Your Point
The fun thing about analyzing literature is there is no wrong or right answer; there is only an unproven answer and a proven answer. As you read through stories your idea of theme may be different from your neighbors idea, or even my idea. THAT'S GREAT! The key here is that you need to prove your reason, or support your claim. Just like in science or debate when you have to find evidence to support your findings, you have to find evidence in a story to support your claim.
A claim is your argument.
Example: The Lorax teaches readers that the time to stop climate change is now. |
Evidence is your proof that your claim is true.
Example: By 20:03 in The Lorax, all of the native animals have fled to another, cleaner land; the once-ler kept ignoring the advice and waiting for just "one more day" until it was too late. |
Make a claim about what happened to this man.
What evidence supports your claim?
The Necklance
Using Evidence!
Once you have found your evidence to support your claim of evidence, you need to write it out! It's important that you don't just throw your quote into a paragraph. Quotes should never be at the beginning or the end of the paragraph. We have to use a QUOTE SANDWICH! dun dun DUN.
Theme: In (title of the story) by (author), ___________________________________. Evidence: __________________________________ Paragraph: |
Example -
In Lamb to Slaughter by Roald Dahl, betrayal changes the lives of all the character's involved. The story begins with Mary Maloney waiting anxiously for her beloved to return home after work. It isn't much long after his return to his wife, unborn child and home, when betrayal leaves it's first mark. "'This is going to be a big shock to you, I'm afraid,' he said. "But I've thought about it a good deal and I've decided that the only thing to do is to tell you immediately." And he told her" (Dahl). Patrick gives his wife some news; Dahl leaves this ambiguous, but it's fairly safe to assume he is leaving her. Whether he is leaving her for another woman, or just leaving her is unknown, but also unimportant. He has promised to love, and cherish her and has begun a family with her. She surely has a pretty picture of happily ever after in her head when he betrays her and his unborn child. Their lives are altered; everything will be different for Mary Maloney now.
In Lamb to Slaughter by Roald Dahl, betrayal changes the lives of all the character's involved. The story begins with Mary Maloney waiting anxiously for her beloved to return home after work. It isn't much long after his return to his wife, unborn child and home, when betrayal leaves it's first mark. "'This is going to be a big shock to you, I'm afraid,' he said. "But I've thought about it a good deal and I've decided that the only thing to do is to tell you immediately." And he told her" (Dahl). Patrick gives his wife some news; Dahl leaves this ambiguous, but it's fairly safe to assume he is leaving her. Whether he is leaving her for another woman, or just leaving her is unknown, but also unimportant. He has promised to love, and cherish her and has begun a family with her. She surely has a pretty picture of happily ever after in her head when he betrays her and his unborn child. Their lives are altered; everything will be different for Mary Maloney now.
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