Plot
The part of the plot chart we are on right now.
What is the rising action?
" ... big but dark & dusty. There are piles of things everywhere. Not papers ... I mean piles of things with tubes and wires. Things I don't recognize."
Where is Albert's house?
"No, it's not blank. I drew a ghost in a blizzard."
Who is Ally?
Ally compares this character to the "queen" in chess.
Who is Shay?
And I think of words ... How they can be waved around like a wand ...
What is a simile?
This is the part of the plot we usually see about three quarters to 90 percent of the way through a novel.
What is the climax?
Soon I am keeping Mrs. Silver's chair warm.
Where is the principal's office?
"So, I'm sorry, Ally. I really am. I hope you can forgive me."
Who is Mr. Daniels?
... the piece with a ton of value but the one unable to move more than one space at a time. Always taking tiny steps. Always running from & hiding behind others.
Who is Albert?
Words that breathe
What is personification?
Ally shares this important "secret" with Keisha and Albert at his house.
What is her struggle with reading and writing?
I move the pieces of paper around on the floor. It takes me a while, but I realize that you need to take more than three trips.
Where is the classroom?
"Filling the refrigerator does not fall within the parameters if my responsibilities. Therefore, the lack of food therein would have no reflection upon me whatsoever."
Who is Albert?
Ally wants to think that this character doing something mean to anyone, "is like a fish swimming upside down and backward."
Who is Mr. Daniels?
I realize that dealing with Shay every day is like playing chess.
What is a simile?
This event in the rising action had Mr. Daniels saying, " ... I see I shouldn't have handled it by singling you out that way ..."
What is telling the sub Ally could draw instead of write?
"You know, honey, I bet there's an explanation for this. I bet Mr. Daniels didn't mean for this happen. Give him a chance, OK?"
Where is Peterson's? (Where is where Ally's mom works?)
"Aw ... you can't read it, can you?"
Who is Shay?
This character is, "Tall and powerful and able to move across the entire board in one move ..."
Who is Keisha?
I pull out a book and open it, but the letters quiggle and dance.
What is personification?
This important moment is part of the rising action: I can't believe it. My experience with endless frustration and having to work on things for so long has actually paid off.
What is Ally solving the chicken/wolf problem?
I'm out there just a few minutes, moving my pieces around, when Shay and Jessica come out ...
Where is the hallway?
"People ask what you want to be when you grow up. I know what kind of grown-up I want to be. But I don't know who I am now."
Who is Albert?
This is the piece Ally sees herself as.
What is the knight?
Shay is the queen.
What is a metaphor?