What is the main Idea?
Carrots contain high amounts of vitamin A and are good for general eye health. However, carrots will not improve night vision. That myth goes back to British propaganda during World War II. In 1940, the German Luftwaffe, or air force, began bombing Britain at night. In response, the British government ordered people to turn off their lights; the government wanted to make it difficult for German pilots to hit their targets. A new technology, radar, allowed the British air force to track and shoot down the German planes without light. To keep the technology secret, the government told the media that their pilots could see the German planes because they consumed so many carrots. Consequently, people began to believe that eating carrots would help them see better in the dark.
Because of a British media campaign, people thought that eating carrots would improve their night vision.
Name the five story elements
Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution
True or False: A theme is a statement about something, not just a single word.
False
This type of conflict occurs within
Internal Conflict
Using your background knowledge and the evidence from the text
Inference
The Evolving Human Skeleton
Our early ancestors were hunter-gatherers who obtained food by hunting and by searching for edible wild plants. They needed strong bones, including large, strong jaws that enabled them to eat tough, uncooked foods. When our ancestors developed agriculture, however, their diet changed. They began growing plants, such as grains and beans, and raising animals for food; they also started cooking their foods, making them softer and easier to chew. Consequently, the human skeleton underwent radical changes. Over time, the human jaw became smaller and changed shape. Other bones also evolved, becoming lighter, especially in the joints, as a result of both dietary changes and a less active lifestyle.
As early humans developed agriculture, their bones changed significantly.
In this story element is where you can find out about the characters and the setting.
Exposition
What is the difference between THEME and MAIN IDEA?
Theme is a universal lesson and the main idea is what the story is about.
Main Idea is what the story is mostly about.
Two characters are at war
Man v. Man
What do you use to find out the meaning of words that you don't know?
Context Clues
Saving the Rhinos
Poachers in Africa are killing large numbers of rhinos for their horns. Rhinoceros horns, valued for use in traditional medicines in Vietnam and China, can fetch as much as thirty-six thousand dollars a pound. Officials have tried to protect the rhinos: they have created fenced areas for the animals, patrolled their habitats, and even tried removing their horns. Despite these efforts, the number of rhinos in Africa has been dwindling. One creative solution to the poaching problem is to remove the rhinos from Africa altogether. Ray Dearlove, the founder of the Australian Rhino Project, came up with a plan to relocate eighty rhinos to a safari park outside Adelaide, Australia, where a breeding herd can be established.
Because other attempts to protect African rhinos from poachers have failed, the Australian Rhino Project is relocating the rhinos to Australia.
This is the turning point in the story
Climax
True or False: Theme and Main Idea are the same thing.
False
The robots at the school began to attack the students
Man v. Technology
The sequence of events that take place in a literary work
Plot
Naming Pluto
When "Planet X" was discovered in 1930, astronomers began debating what to call it. An eleven-year-old girl named Venetia Burney suggested the name "Pluto" to her grandfather, who passed the idea along to a friend who was a professor of astronomy. The professor, in turn, immediately forwarded the suggestion to scientists at the Lowell Observatory, where the planet had been discovered. The astronomers appreciated the fact that Pluto was the ancient Romans' name for the god of the underworld, making it a fitting moniker for such a cold and distant celestial body. In addition, its first two letters matched the initials of Percival Lowell, the astronomer who first proposed the existence of Planet X. The matter was eventually put to a vote, with Pluto the hands-down winner.
After an eleven-year-old girl suggested "Pluto," astronomers chose it as the name of a newly discovered planet.
Problem begins
Rising Action
Which of the following is an example of THEME?
Sodas are bad for you.
Looking both ways before crossing the street is a good idea.
The Bengal Tiger is an endangered species.
Always share with others.
Always share with others
Protestors line up outside of the police department
Man v. Society
When and where a story takes place
Setting
Publishing Doctor Zhivago
Boris Pasternak's 1956 novel Doctor Zhivago tells the story of a Russian doctor living at the time of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which led to the establishment of the Soviet Union. Because the book dealt with hardships people faced after the revolution, publishers in the Soviet Union refused to release it, calling it anti-Soviet. Pasternak's solution was to have the book smuggled out of the Soviet Union and published in Europe. Though Soviet authorities tried to prevent it, the book was published in Italy in 1957 and was immediately well received. In 1958, it was translated into English and went on to become one of the most popular novels of the 1950s.
Boris Pasternak couldn't get his book Doctor Zhivago published in the Soviet Union, so he had the book smuggled out of the country.
The character finds a solution to all their problems
Falling Action
Hurricane Katrina and the residents of New Orleans
Man v. Nature