Presentation for OPS ELL/ESL 7/1/09

1. To be a person is to have a story to tell.
—Isak Dinesen

2. Teaching
For Understanding
In
Fiction
Presented by Angela Maiers
Angelamaiers.com

3. Agenda
•Understanding Fiction
• Plot/ Lit Elements
•Planning for Mini Lessons
•Fiction 2.0

11. What makes
a
Story Good?

12. • Plot
• Characterization
• Setting
• Point of View
• Climax
• Resolution
• Conclusion
• Theme

13. Fiction is…

15. All that m ankind
has
done, thought,
gained, or been,
is lying as in m ic
, ag
preservation
in the
page s of a book!
~WilliamShakespeare~

16. Story Power
•Connect
•Clarity
•Conscious
•Courage
•Collective

17. Fiction is…

30. • Plot
• Characterization
• Setting
• Point of View
• Climax
• Resolution
• Conclusion
• Theme

31. •Understanding of Plot Structure
•Variations of Plot- Circular, Parallel, etc…
• Identify Problem Resolution, Conclusion
•Elements of Plot: Characterization, Setting, Theme
•Literary Devices: Foreshadow, flashback, Satire, Irony
•Vocabulary Challenges
•Language Aspects: Synonyms, Homonyms, Antonyms
•Mood
•Tone
•Character Analysis: emotion, intentions, qualities, actions
•Feelings and Traits
•Writers Craft
•Form, Structure, Genre
•Characteristics of Language: rhyme, rhythm, repetition
•Figurative Language
•Metaphor, Simile, Hyperbole
•Identify theme and moral of text
•Authors message, purpose, intention
AND SO ON….
AND SO ON….
AND SO ON…

32.  Put the following elements of plot in order by the way they appear in a story:
Resolution, Theme, Climax, Conclusion, Falling Action, Introduction, Rising Action,
Problem, Mood
 What significant information does a reader learn in the introduction of a story, and
how does this influence their reading during the rest of the text?
 How would you define conflict to your students in a way they could identify it in a
story?
 Describe the differences between the rising and falling action?
 How does a reader identify the climax of the story so that it is not confused with other
story events?
 How is point of view defined fiction text and what is the significance of it?
7. Define theme and name two ways that writers of fiction leave clues to the theme of the
story.

33. Big Ideas
in
Fiction

34. BIG IDEA…
the part of a book, magazine, argument, film, poem, text,
etc… that articulates the authors message or
ideas about the underlying topic or theme which may or
may not be explicitly stated.

36. Inferring
Imaging
Questioning
Monitoring
Synthesizing
Using Schema
Det. Importance

37. “Book” “Life”
Story
Story
(THEME)
Fiction = Stories of Life

39. L it e r a t u r e
F ic tio n N o n - F ic tio n
T r a d it io n a l F a n ta sy R e a lis m I n fo r m a tio n a l B io g r a p h y
F o lk t a le s
C u m u la t iv e t a le s T a ll t a le s F a n ta sy R e a l is t i c F i c t i o n S c ie n c e S o c ia l S tu d ie s/ A u t o b io g r a p h y
Is s u e s
P o u r q u o i ta le s M yth s S c ie n c e F i c t i o n H is t o r ic a l F ic tio n M a t h e m a t ic s H e a lth M e m o ir
T r ic k s te r ta le s F a b le s R e c r e a t io n L an gu age
R e a lis tic t a le s L egen ds
A r ts
F a ir y T a le s E p ic s

40. Understanding
Literary Elements
•Plot
•Characterization
•Setting
•Point of View
•Climax
•Resolution
•Conclusion
•Theme

54. C C
S
C C

55. P
P

56. CON

57. R

58. *

59. Plot Structure
Plot is the literary element that describes the structure of a
story. It shows the a causal arrangement of events and actions
within a story.

60. 1 3
Plot: 2 Characters:
Introduction: 4
5 Setting:
Problem: (Issue, desire, focused interest or character flaw that impacts the main
character)
8
* (this will sometimes include elements from the rising action and the climax; when
students understand this framework well, then move them to differentiate
between rising action and climax)
7
Resolution: (this may sometimes appear on the last page with the conclusion, but
it is more common to be before; remember…this is what has transitioned with
the problem)
6
Conclusion: (remember – this is the last physical thing you visually available at
the end of the text)

61. Plot Structure: Characterization:
Type, Variations, Types, Feelings, Traits
Craft…
Introduction: Literary Devices
Chara, Setting, Set
Up…
Problem/Conflict Viewpoint/Tone
Explored Mood
Resolution/Conclusion Language Elements:
Word Choices, Style,
I think the author …
wrote this story to
show us...

62. Teaching
FICTION
•Plot
•Characterization
•Conflict
•Theme

63. Plot Structure
Plot is the literary element that describes the structure of a
story. It shows the a causal arrangement of events and actions
within a story.

68. Types of Plots
Plots can be told in…
Chronological order
Flashback
In media res (in the middle of things)
when the story starts in the middle of the
action without exposition
Circular
Episodic

70. Getting To Know the Character
Character 4-Square
Facts About the Character Actions
Conversations Thoughts and Feelings

71. Book________________________________
Character_____________________________
Page # CharacterTraits Like Myself? Like a Like
Friend? someone
from another
story?

72. Name:
Live:
Friends/Family
Physical Description:
What do they want
more than anything?
( deep desires)
Fears
Character Traits

73. Story Chapter___ Chapter___ Chapter___ Chapter___ Chapter___
Development
Chart
Characters
focused on during
this chapter...
Techniques used
by the author to
clarify events or
create visual
images...
Traits and/or
feelings revealed
about main
character...
Traits or
understandings
revealed about
others...
Conflict or issues
revealed...
I believe the main
problem the
character is
dealing with is...
Purpose of this
chapter or the
main idea that
moves the story
forward...

74. Conflict
Conflict is the dramatic struggle
between two forces in a story.
Without conflict, there is no
plot.

75. Types of Conflict
Person vs Person
Person vs Nature
Person vs Society
Person vs Self
Person vs. Fate

76. 1. Below are three boxes that contain the three basic types of fiction. In each box, write anything
you know about that genre that makes it different from the other two.
Realism Fantasy Traditional Tales
2. Look in the books provided and select one title to represent each type of fiction above. Use a
post-it-note to label each book according to the type of fiction.
3. Write what you understand about the following terms.
Characters:
Setting:
Plot:
Antagonist:
Protagonist:
4. What is the difference between the author and the illustrator?
Static:
Dynamic:
©Koesel 2003 May be copied for classroom use by teachers

77. 1. Immerse yourself within the genre as an ADULT
reader
3. Read, reflect, and document the essential
elements worth pointing out to students
5. Gather a range of texts and levels for student
exploration and practice
7. Set your goals and map out a plan for the study
period

78. Instead of…

79. Fiction
2.0

80. There have been great
societies that did not use the
wheel, but there have been
no societies that did not tell
stories.
-Ursula LeGuin-

81. It seemed to Myop as she skipped lightly from hen house to pigpen to smokehouse that the days
had never been as beautiful as these. The air held a keenness that made her nose twitch. The
harvesting of the corn and cotton, peanuts and squash, made each day a golden surprise that
caused excited little tremors to run up her jaws.
Myop carried a short, knobby stick. She struck out at random at chickens she liked, and worked out
the beat of a song on the fence around the pigpen. She felt light and good in the warm sun. She
was ten, and nothing existed for her but her song, the stick clutched in her dark brown hand, and
the tat-de-ta-ta-ta of accompaniment,
Turning her back on the rusty boards of her family's sharecropper cabin, Myop walked along the
fence till it ran into the stream made by rooted. Myop watched the tiny white bubbles disrupt the thin
black scale of soil and the water that silently rose and slid away down the stream.She had explored
the woods behind the house many times. Often, in late autumn, her mother took her to gather nuts
among the fallen leaves.
Today she made her own path, bouncing this way and that way, vaguely keeping an eye out for
snakes. She found, in addition to various common but pretty ferns and leaves, an armful of strange
blue flowers with velvety ridges and a sweet suds bush full of the brown, fragrant buds.
By twelve o'clock, her arms laden with sprigs of her findings, she was a mile or more from home.
She had often been as far before, but the strangeness of the land made it not as pleasant as her
usual haunts. It seemed gloomy in the little cove in which she found
herself. The air was damp, the silence close and deep.

82. Myop began to circle back to the house, back to the peacefulness of the
morning. It was then she stepped smack into his eyes. Her
only when she saw his naked grin that she gave a little yelp of surprise.
He had been a tall man. From feet to neck covered a long space. His head lay
beside him. When she pushed back the leaves and layers of earth and debris
Myop saw that he'd had large white teeth, all of them cracked or broken, long
fingers, and very big bones. All his clothes had rotted away except some
threads of blue denim from his overalls. The buckles of the overall had turned
green.
Myop gazed around the spot with interest. Very near where she'd stepped into
the head was a wild pink rose. As she picked it to add to her bundle she noticed
a raised mound, a ring, around the rose's root. It was the rotted remains of a
noose, a bit of shredding plowline, now blending benignly into the soil. Around
an overhanging limb of a great spreading oak clung another piece. Frayed,
rotted, bleached, and frazzled--barely there--but spinning restlessly in the
breeze. Myop laid down her flowers.
And the summer was over.

83. Fairy Tale
• Characters, which may have magical abilities,
often are distinguished as good or evil.
• Plot often leads to the defeat of evil.
• Setting may take place “long, long ago.”
• Theme is often a lesson learned about good
and evil.

84. Realistic Fiction
• Characters are fictional, yet could be real.
• Plot of the story is fictional, but could happen
in real life.
• Problems often present modern-day issues.
• Settings present real-life times and places.

85. Historical Fiction
• Characters are fictional, but may be based on
real people.
• Real, famous characters may enter the story.
• Plot often includes real events or the past
mixed with fictional events.
• Setting may be in a known historical place.
• An accurate historical time period is
portrayed.

86. Mystery
• Characters are all involved with the mystery
in some way.
• Problem centers on a mystery or a puzzle
that needs a solution.
• Plot contains clues to lead and mislead the
reader.
• Setting is realistic and recognizable to
readers.

87. Fantasy
• Fictional characters may have magical or
supernatural powers.
• Plot stretches the reader’s imagination and is
not scientifically possible.
• Setting is modern and realistic in many ways,
although at times it takes a fantastical turn.

88. Science Fiction
• Characters often solve problems through
their knowledge and use of science and
technology.
• Plots revolve around events that may actually
happen based on scientific facts, although it is
fantasy.
• Setting often takes place in the future in a
world of modern science and technology.

89. Fable
• Characters are fictional and may be
portrayed as animals with human traits.
• Plot builds a short tale.
• The setting may not be important in order to
make the story universal.
• Theme presents a moral lesson.

90. Plot
A definition of plot in secondary institutions is more detailed than that of elementary
texts. It is much more concrete not only for students, but also for teachers. Plot includes
specific elements from beginning of a story to the end – but are labeled more specifically
than sequence of events. Below you will find a brief definition of each part of the plot
structure.
Introduction: Specific things we want readers to notice about the introduction include:
who is introduced in the beginning and what the setting is during the opening of this
story. Things we can have students reflect on after the reading of the text include
analysis of these characters to determine their roles and significance as well as the
importance of any other characters introduced later in the text. We can have them also
consider the importance of the setting and any changes that occur.
Problem: The problem in a text is a conflict or struggle that the main character(s) is(are)
facing. It can stem from something that the character desperately wants or could reflect
character flaws. The problem in a text usually comes within the first few pages of a
picture book or the first chapter of a novel. It is this problem that throws the
progression of the rising action into full force.
Rising Action: The major events that move the story forward are the events. This is the
part of the story in which tension is built. Understanding problem and resolution help a
reader determine importance of these events. We must be careful about having students
find “three major events”. Putting an exact number on this can give students a false
understanding about what they are to identify. They focus on “three” instead of sifting
through the information and justifying for themselves what seems to be critical.

91. Climax: The climax is the “Aha!” or turning point of a story. For students, however,
this definition by itself is still intangible. It is the place in the story where they can find
the most critical event that creates the environment for the resolution.
Resolution: Commonly called the “solution”, although the definition is really a bit
deeper than the character’s problem being solved or going away. When we as readers
can understand this element of plot on a deeper level, we begin to get a strong sense of
the author’s message. Sometimes a problem is solved on a very simplistic scale. This
is reflective of some early reader texts. However, more often than not, resolution is
about coming to terms with a particular conflict or achieving something that was
strongly desired. Stories with good plot structure include characters who walk away
from the story changed in some manner. They become more aware of themselves and
the relationships they encounter throughout the journey of the text.
Conclusion: The conclusion of a story is the last scene within the story. It is the final
picture we have before the curtain falls at the end of the performance. There are three
basic types of conclusions: closed, open and cliffhanger.
Closed Endings: These are the endings that give us the warm fuzzy at the end of a
story. There is a definite closure that allows us to leave the book feeling satisfied with
the outcome.
Open Endings: A story may end without a clear feeling of closure. The reader has to
infer the outcomes based on the information given in the book.?
Cliffhangers: We find these endings at the end of chapters or novels that will have a
sequel. They abruptly end at a very intense part of the plot, possibly without a clear
resolution to entice the reader to want to read more.

92. Theme: Universal understandings that authors write about in their
stories.
growing up jealousy making friends success
fear siblings romance trickery
failure change overcoming injustice
power arrogance death superficial
love courage acceptance selfishness
being ordinary moving on family
relationships (beginning, ending, trials within) wealth

93. Alliteration- repetition of identical consonant sounds. Usually at the
beginnings of words - such as “The infamous killer fought for his freedom,
wanting not flesh but retreat.”
Analogy- a comparison between two things to show their similarities by
comparing something unfamiliar to something familiar
Anecdote- short account of a true event in a person’s life used to raise
points, explain ideas or describe personalities.
Antagonist- person or force that opposes the protagonist
Autobiography- story of a person’s life written by that person. A diary is a
from that gives day by day events.
Character- person in a literary work
static- remains the same through out the work
dynamic- changes due to the influence of events or other people
flat - reveals one personality trait
round- shows a variety of complex and sometimes contradictory traits.
foil- a character that exhibits traits completely opposite of the main
character

94. Characterization- personality of character and the method the
author uses to create this personality.
direct- writer states facts about the character
indirect-character revealed through physical appearance, the
way they move, the way they talk, what they say and what
other characters say about them.
Climax- point of highest tension and excitement in a narrative - the
turning point of the story
Colloquial language- everyday language used in conversation
Conflict- struggle between two opposing forces, center of plot
Internal - within a person –person vs. self
External- character struggles with an outside force, such as
nature, a person, society, and fate
Connotation- all suggested meanings and associations a word brings to
mind beyond its denotation or literal meaning

95. Connotation- all suggested meanings and associations a word brings to
mind beyond its denotation or literal meaning
Description- writing that creates an impression of a person, place or
thing to enhance poems, stories, and nonfiction
Dialect- type of speech that differs from the standard form of language,
occurring in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar
Dialogue- conversation between characters in drama, fiction, non-
fiction, epic, or dramatic poem—reveals characters’ thoughts nd
opinions and allows for interplay of ideas
Diary- individual’s personal day-by-day account of impressions of
events, may be chronicled in a journal-less intimate than a diary
Diction- choice of words to fit a character, theme, setting, or subject of
a poem, story, essay, or play—used to express what is intended
Figurative Language- language not meant to be interpreted literally, but
used in a special way to create a special effect: analogy, hyperbole,
metaphor, onomatopoeia, simile, idioms

96. Flashback- interruption to relate events that occurred earlier, used in
stream of consciousness and conventional narratives
Foreshadowing- use of clues by the author to prepare reader for
events to come
Genre- is the French word for the type of literature
biography fables fairy tales
fantasy folk tales historical
non-fiction realistic fiction science fiction
fiction legends/myths
Imagery- words or phrases that evoke sensory images in the reader’s
mind, Visual is most common, but others occur.
Interior Monologue- internal speech by a single speaker provided by
the narrator to explain a characters’ personalities or to reveal
their thoughts.
Journal- daily record of events kept by an individual who is a
participant or witness in the events - used toe learn about people
and history

97. Lead- opening sentences that introduce a piece of writing and gain the
reader’s attention: the “hook”
Legend- traditional tale, handed down, that is based on history: King
Arthur
Mood- emotional feeling and atmosphere in a work of literature, created
by description, actions of characters, and setting
eerie playful tense mysterious
serious exciting sad tumultuous
Narrative- writing that tells a story in chronological order, has evolved
into the novel
Narrator- storyteller
stated - announced explicitly
implied- revealed indirectly
Tone- the attitude the writer expresses towards the subject ad reader.
May be casual, angry, amused or indifferent.

98. Narrative Hook- point in the story, novel or play where the author
catches the reader’s attention by presenting an interesting problem
or situation that begins the conflict
Onomatopoeia- words with sounds that imitate or suggest their meanings:
thump, crack
Personification-figure of speech where human traits are given to
inanimate objects, animals or ideas
Plot– structure in which fiction is framed around; relates to the struggles
the main character goes through ; begins with introduction, then
narrative hook (problem is announced), rising action, climax, falling
action and resolution, conclusion
Point of View- relationship of the narrator to the story
1st person - story told by one of the characters
3rd person - story told by someone outside of the story
omniscient - told as if the writer is able to read the minds of
all of the characters

99. Protagonist- central character of the story who usually receives the
reader’s sympathies
Style- author’s choice and arrangement of words in any kind of writing
to convey individuality, theme and purpose
Theme- main idea of story, usually expressed as a statement about
life

101. Topic (theme): Friendship