Genre
Name three different genres.
Many possible correct answers here.
Ex: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Fill-in-the-blank:
Determining a character's __________ will clue you in on what the character wants.
motivation
What are the two different types of conflict?
Internal and external
Define 'theme'
The central idea or message of a story
What does the 'exposition' part of the story tell?
The beginning often introduces at least one main character and the setting.
What is one difference between a true account and a fictional story?
Many possible answers here.
True accounts are based on facts and fictional stories include narrative.
Fill-in-the-blank:
Characters' motivations and ________ drive a story's plot.
conflicts
What is one example of a category of an external conflict?
Self vs society
Why is 'theme' important in literature?
It connects to the character's motivation and ties us all together (themes are universal)
What is the purpose of the 'rising action' in the plot of a story?
Building suspense or tension toward a climax
Define 'fable' and give an example of one.
About a moral lesson; with people as characters in parables and animals as characters in fables
Example: "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"
True or false:
Some character traits can be directly related to the setting of the story.
True.
Example: A character who grew up as a Duke in France in 1790 will have some different character traits from a character who grew up in poverty in 2023 in Detroit, Michigan. Different personality traits will be cultivated depending on which traits are beneficial in order to adapt to your environment.
How can you determine the type of conflict a character is experiencing?
Determine the character's motivation(s) first
Give three general examples of themes
Friendship, adventure, love
When does the falling action happen in a story?
After the climax and before the conclusion
Define 'medium' and identify one way in which the medium may affect the genre.
Many possible answers here.
Example: A story which is told through theater as a play would include a script with dialogue and stage directions.
Give at least one example of an 'unreliable narrator'.
Many possible correct answers.
In the case of the unreliable narrator, readers know that they can't fully trust that what the narrator is telling them is true or accurate. The narrator is unreliable.
The reasons that a narrator might be unreliable are varied. They may show themselves to be mean, hurtful, and willing to lie to anyone to get what they want. They may instead be suffering from dementia as they tell the reader a story from their past. Or perhaps they're too young to really understand what's happening, or they are shown to have extreme biases against others. Regardless of how, or how quickly, the reader at some point comes to understand that not everything they are going to be told in the story is the objective truth.
Give a specific example of one instance of an internal conflict that a character may experience.
Many possible answers here.
Character vs self: Deciding whether or not to go to a social event or study for a big test tomorrow
What is the difference between 'plot' and 'theme'?
They are both closely related to each other; however, the subject matter is the topic that is overtly addressed and presented by the writer whereas the theme is the meaning or underlying message that is imparted through the writing.
The theme of a literary work reflects why it was written and what the author hopes to convey on a deeper level to the reader without direct statements.
What is the difference between a 'resolution' and a 'conclusion'?
A conclusion is an end, but a resolution is the solving of a problem
Identify one similarity and one difference between 'genre' and 'medium'.
Many possible answers.
Genres and medium both set rules and conventions that storytellers have to follow. They also place limits on the ways people can tell stories and the elements storytellers can include. However, genre usually describes the content of a story, while medium usually describes the way it's communicated.
What is the difference between 'perspective' and 'point-of-view'?
Perspective is the thoughts, feelings, and outlook of a character.
Point-of-view is a position from which the narrator of the story sees
A character may experience both internal and external conflicts at the same time: true or false?
True
Give an example of theme.
Many possible answers here.
Example: Harry Potter does not know his origin story at the beginning of the series. He is made aware that he is a wizard when he finally meets Hagrid on his eleventh birthday. He receives an invitation to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he makes friends and learns even more about himself and his abilities. One major theme in Harry Potter is 'identity'.
Give an example of 'foreshadowing' and identify where in the plot your example would fall. Explain.
Many possible correct answers here.
Example: A girl thinks about how nervous she is to lose her new Nintendo Switch on the first day of sixth grade. Throughout the school day, she forgets to take care of her things and carelessly leaves it behind in the lunchroom. When she gets home from school, she realizes that she lost her Switch.
In this example, this foreshadowing event would happen during the exposition or the rising action because she loses her Switch during the most climactic point of the story (the climax).