Story Elements & Structure
This part of a story introduces the readers to the main characters and the setting. What is it called?
What is the exposition?
A group of students wants to perform a story for their class. Name two things a good storyteller does with their body and eyes to keep the audience excited.
What are using movement to show action and making eye contact with listeners?
Match these three vocabulary words to their correct meaning:
Traits
Motivation
Reputation
A. What others think about a character.
B. What describes a character’s personality.
C. What a character wants or needs.
What is 1-B (Traits = personality), 2-C (Motivation = wants/needs), and 3-A (Reputation = what others think)?
"The desert sun was scorching, and carrying the heavy water jugs up the steep hill was arduous work." What does the word arduous mean in this sentence?
What is difficult or hard?
"The wizard used a sieve to catch the big chunks of dragon scales while letting the fine purple powder fall through into the bowl." What is a sieve?
What is a tool with small holes used for separating big and small pieces?
Instead of wrapping everything up perfectly, this type of ending leaves things a bit mysterious and lets the reader decide or think more about how the story continues. What is it?
What is an open-ended (or ambiguous) ending?
This is a short statement that gives just the main points of a story, without including all the tiny details. What is it?
What is a summary?
"Maya was a total night owl. She stayed up late reading under her blankets every single night." What does the metaphor "a night owl" tell you about Maya?
What is Maya likes to stay awake late at night?
"Lila dreads gym class on Tuesdays because she is worried about playing dodgeball." Which of the following is true?
A. Lila loves gym class.
B. Lila is afraid of or does not look forward to gym class.
C. Lila thinks gym class is funny.
What is B?
Choose the correct word to fill in the blank: "The gardener noticed a tiny, eight-legged ______ crawling across the rose petal." (Options: pestle, eucalyptus, mite)
What is a mite?
To find this hidden message or big lesson in a story, a reader shouldn't just list the plot events. Instead, they should look closely at ideas that are repeated in the characters' actions and dialogue. What is it?
What is the theme?
If a student gives a retelling of a fairy tale and another student gives a summary of the same fairy tale, what is the main difference between the two?
What is a retelling includes more details (while a summary only gives the main ideas)?
Dialogue and plot are two elements of a narrative story. What is the definition of dialogue?
What is the words that characters speak out loud to each other?
"Because it rained all summer, we seldom had the chance to go to the pool." What does the word seldom mean in this sentence?
What is rarely or not often?
"Jaxon spread a malicious rumor about his teammate because he wanted to start an argument." What word means the opposite of malicious?
A. Cruel
B. Kind
C. Boring
What is B (Kind)? (Malicious means mean/cruel, so kind is the opposite).
In a traditional tale, a character might stop to tell a legend around a campfire, creating a "story within another main story." What is this called?
What is a nested story?
When an author wants to create suspense or excitement during the most exciting part of the story (the climax), they might use descriptive language and words that sound like actions (like BOOM! or CRASH!). What is the vocabulary term for these sound words?
What is onomatopoeia?
If a character's motivation is to protect their family from a dragon, how does that motivation affect the plot of the story?
What is it drives the character's actions and choices, creating the events that happen in the story?
Which sentence uses the word strenuously correctly?
A. Toby strenuously slept on the soft couch all afternoon.
B. The weightlifter strenuously lifted the massive barbell above his head.
C. I strenuously looked at the pretty painting without any effort.
What is B?
Choose the best words to connect these two thoughts: "Alana wants to go down the giant water slide, ________ her brother Marcus feels ________ the long ladder."
What is but and nervous about? (Full sentence: Alana wants to go down the giant water slide, but her brother Marcus feels nervous about the long ladder).
"Spending time in nature can greatly benefit your mental health, ______ it can reduce your stress levels."
First, determine if benefit is used as a noun, verb, or adjective in this sentence. Second, choose the correct coordinating conjunction (so, but, or or) to fill in the blank.
What is a verb (it is an action) and the conjunction is so? (Full sentence: Spending time in nature can greatly benefit your mental health, so it can reduce your stress levels).
Imagine you are writing a story about a character escaping a collapsing cave. Name two distinct author tools you could use to build intense suspense or excitement during this narrative climax.
What are onomatopoeia (sound words like CRACK or RUMBLE) and descriptive language (sensory details about the darkness and shaking walls)?
Read the scenario: "No matter how busy he was, Julian always stopped to feed the stray animals in the alley, earning him a reputation as a neighborhood protector."
Identify the character trait this action reveals, and explain the character's motivation.
What is the trait of kindness/compassion, and what is his motivation to help or care for animals in need?
"The angry goblin spoke malicious words that left the young prince feeling completely discouraged."
First, define the word malicious. Second, if the prince responded strenuously to defend himself, how did he act?
What is mean, cruel, or intending to cause harm? (If he responded strenuously, it means he defended himself with great effort, energy, or force).
"I finished my reading log. My teacher gave me a gold star."
Combine these two sentences into one correct sentence using the coordinating conjunction so.
What is "I finished my reading log, so my teacher gave me a gold star."? (Bonus points if they remembered the comma before 'so'!)