Story Elements
Reading Skills
Poetry Review
Working Together: Setting, Characters, and Plot
Characters’ Thoughts and Feelings
100

The reason a character acts, speaks, or feels a certain way is called what?
A. Theme
B. Motivation
C. Setting
D. Point of view

What is motivation?

100

Which sentence below is told in third-person omniscient point of view?
A. “I froze when the door creaked open.”
B. “She smiled confidently, while across the field her opponent worried about losing.”
C. “He stared at the floor, kicking at the dirt.”
D. “We packed our things and hurried to the car.”

What is the sentence showing third-person omniscient?

100

Identify the rhyme scheme of the stanza:
“Beneath the silent silver moon,
The river whispers to the night,
While shadows dance and shift too soon,
And leaves all glimmer in pale light.”
A. AABB
B. ABAB
C. ABCB
D. ABBA

What is ABAB?

100

How does the desert setting in a story about explorers without water affect the plot?
A. It creates a calm and easy journey.
B. It makes the characters’ search for water urgent.
C. It has no effect on the events.
D. It only describes the scenery.

It makes the characters’ search for water urgent.

100

Which of the following is an example of showing a character’s thoughts?
A. “Emma worried she would forget her lines on stage.”
B. “The stage was brightly lit.”
C. “The teacher handed out scripts.”
D. “The play began at 7 p.m.”

“Emma worried she would forget her lines on stage.”

200

“Alex clutched his lunch tray tightly and scanned the crowded tables. His stomach twisted when he saw everyone laughing with their friends. He slipped quietly into a seat in the corner.”
Which sentence BEST supports that Alex feels nervous?
A. “Alex clutched his lunch tray tightly and scanned the crowded tables.”
B. “His stomach twisted when he saw everyone laughing with their friends.”
C. “He slipped quietly into a seat in the corner.”
D. All of the above

What is “His stomach twisted when he saw everyone laughing with their friends”?

200

A boy borrows his brother’s skateboard without asking, breaks it, hides it, and his brother later refuses to trust him. What is the BEST theme?
A. Trust is fragile and can be lost when someone is dishonest.
B. Borrowing from siblings always causes trouble.
C. Mistakes can be fixed if ignored long enough.
D. Families should never argue about belongings.

What is “Trust is fragile and can be lost when someone is dishonest”?

200

Read this line: “The wind howled, the wind howled, the wind howled, through the empty streets.” Why does the poet repeat “the wind howled”?
A. To emphasize the eerie, chaotic mood
B. To create a rhyme
C. To describe the character
D. To signal the story is ending

What is “To emphasize the eerie, chaotic mood”?

200

A story begins in a small, isolated town. The characters constantly feel trapped and hopeless. How does the setting support the theme?
A. The setting mirrors the characters’ feelings.
B. The setting is random and unrelated.
C. The characters ignore the setting.
D. The setting distracts from the message.

The setting mirrors the characters’ feelings

200

Two characters both describe the same picnic: one says it was fun and relaxing, the other says it was boring. What does this show?
A. Authors sometimes confuse readers.
B. Characters can have different viewpoints about the same event.
C. Both characters must be lying.
D. The picnic didn’t really happen.

Characters can have different viewpoints about the same event.

300

A group of explorers are trapped in a desert with no water. Which event shows the setting directly drives the plot?
A. They argue about whose fault it is they got lost.
B. They start searching desperately for shade and a water source.
C. They remember the last trip they took together.
D. They dream about what they will do when they return home.

What is “They start searching desperately for shade and a water source”?

300

Sofia must choose between her best friend’s party and her cousin’s graduation and feels anxious about deciding. What type of conflict is this?

A. Internal conflict — struggling with a decision inside herself.
B. External conflict — fighting against her cousin.
C. External conflict — dealing with family pressure.
D. Internal conflict — because she dislikes parties.  

What is internal conflict?

300

“Fierce flames flickered and fanned across the forest floor.” Which poetic device is used here?
A. Metaphor
B. Personification
C. Alliteration
D. Onomatopoeia

What is alliteration?

300

In a story, the main character argues with a friend during a thunderstorm. Which best explains how the pieces of the text work together?
A. The setting increases the tension in the plot.
B. The thunderstorm is only for background.
C. The argument is unrelated to the setting.
D. The friend causes the thunderstorm.

The setting increases the tension in the plot.

300

In a story, a character fidgets, avoids eye contact, and chews their nails before presenting. What is the author showing?
A. The character is proud.
B. The character is nervous.
C. The character is excited.
D. The character is angry.

The character is nervous.

400

In a mystery, the detective gathers clues for weeks and then announces the thief at the neighborhood meeting. Which part of the plot is this?
A. The beginning — where setting and characters are introduced
B. Rising action — where the detective gathers clues
C. The climax — where the detective announces the thief
D. The resolution — where the case is closed

What is the climax?

400

Marcus gets lost in the woods during a storm and must find shelter before nightfall. What type of conflict is this?
A. Internal conflict — because he is afraid of the dark.
B. External conflict — because he is battling against nature.
C. External conflict — because he is arguing with his friends.
D. Internal conflict — because he regrets going on the trip.

What is external conflict (man vs. nature)?

400

How does the alliteration in “Fierce flames flickered and fanned” affect the line?
A. It makes the line sound calm and peaceful.
B. It emphasizes the movement and danger of the flames.
C. It adds extra syllables to fit a rhyme scheme.
D. It describes the forest in a literal, factual way.

What is “It emphasizes the movement and danger of the flames”?

400

A character in a war story remembers peaceful summers as a child while hiding in a bunker. How do character and setting connect here?
A. The contrast deepens the meaning of the character’s struggle.
B. The character ignores the setting.
C. The setting shows nothing about the character’s past.
D. The flashback has no effect on the story’s meaning.

The contrast deepens the meaning of the character’s struggle.

400

A narrator explains how two characters interpret a storm: one thinks it’s refreshing, while the other sees it as dangerous. What does this reveal?
A. Different perspectives help us understand characters more deeply.
B. The storm is unimportant.
C. The narrator is confused.
D. The characters must be wrong.

Different perspectives help us understand characters more deeply.

500

Jordan quickly shoves his test paper into his backpack, avoids eye contact, and doodles for the rest of the period. What do his actions MOST likely suggest?
A. He is proud of his grade.
B. He does not want anyone to see his grade.
C. He wants to share the grade later.
D. He wants to take another test.

What is “He does not want anyone to see his grade”?

500

The time and place of a story — which term fits this definition?
A. Theme
B. Tone
C. Setting
D. Climax

What is setting?

500

Repeating words or phrases in poetry most often serves which purpose?
A. To create emphasis or highlight mood
B. To confuse the reader
C. To shorten the poem
D. To list facts about characters

What is “To create emphasis or highlight mood”?

500

Why is it important to look at how setting, characters, and plot connect?
A. Because it shows how authors build a deeper message.
B. Because it makes the story longer.
C. Because it explains only the setting.
D. Because it is the only way to find the climax.

Because it shows how authors build a deeper message.

500

Why do authors reveal characters’ thoughts and feelings in different ways?
A. To build deeper meaning and show multiple perspectives.
B. To make the story harder to read.
C. To make characters less realistic.
D. To keep the reader from understanding the text.

To build deeper meaning and show multiple perspectives.

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