Plot / Story Mountain
What is PLOT?
Plot, or Story Mountain, is the sequence of action or events in a story.
What is the method (wheel) we use for thinking about Characters and Characterization?
The STEAL Wheel!
What is a MORPHEME?
The smallest unit of language with meaning still attached to it
What is a THEME?
A THEME is a message, lesson, takeaway, or universal truth meant to be learned from a story. It is a statement (complete sentence) not just a topic.
What is "Genre"?
A type or category of something
What are the 5 parts of Plot / Story Mountain (in order)? What kicks off Rising Action?
Exposition, Rising Action (*Inciting Incident* kicks off the Rising Action), Climax, Falling Action, Resolution)
What does the STEAL Wheel stand for when analyzing characterization? We look at a character's...
Speech
Thoughts
Effects on Others
Actions
Looks
How does knowing morphemes and being familiar with morphology (Greek and Latin Roots, Suffixes, and Prefixes) help us? In other words, why is it important?
Possibilities (from Theme Topics / Big Ideas packet)
-Violence
-Change vs. Tradition
-Coming of Age
-Chance
-Mercy
What genres have we studied / read from so far this quarter?
Fiction
Nonfiction / Informational Texts (memoir)
Myths, Folktales, Fables (7th Grade -- "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi")
Drama
Rising Action -- it is the INCITING INCIDENT that kicks off Rising Action.
What is DIRECT characterization? Give an example (your own or from one of our readings).
Direct Characterization happens when the writer/narrator TELLS us about a certain character's trait without SHOWING us.
For example, when Frederick Loren is describing his wife, he explains, "She is so amusing" from our screenplay excerpt, House on Haunted Hill. He directly TELLS us that one of her character traits is being amusing (entertaining or funny).
Another example would be "Malcolm is brave." We don't get to see proof of Malcolm being brave--we just have to take the writer/narrator's word for it.
What is CONNOTATION? What is DENOTATION?
What are four methods of finding theme (from our Virtual Stations Activity on Google Classroom)?
-SLIME (Subject, Lesson, Idea, Message, Evidence)
-4-Step Method (1-Read, 2-List of Topics 3-The Author believes that..4-Delete "The Author believes that...")
-THE MEssage
-THEME TREE
7th Grade: List at least 3 Genres that are not on our genre wheel (think music or movie types if you need to).
8th Grade: List at least 3 Elements of Suspense.
horror, sci-fi, country, romance, comedy, pop, rap, thriller, action, animated, anime
Darkness, Close Calls, Isolation, Sensory Language, Story Questions ("What was that noise?"), Lack of Trust, Foreshadowing
The excerpt of the screenplay, House on Haunted Hill (1959) introduces the characters, the setting, and the initial conflict. Which part of Story Mountain includes introducing the characters, the setting, and the initial conflict?
Exposition
What is INDIRECT characterization? Give an example (your own or from one of our readings).
INDIRECT Characterization happens when the writer/narrator SHOWS us about a certain character's trait and the readers/viewers have to do some extra work to INFER a character's traits based on parts of our STEAL Wheel (their Speech, Thoughts, Effects on Others, Actions, Looks, etc).
For example, when Frederick Loren is describing his wife, he explains that it was her idea (Thoughts) to bring the guests to the haunted house party in "funeral cars." As readers/viewers, it is up to us to infer that, based on this idea or Thought of hers, one of her character traits is being entertaining or having a particular sense of humor.
Another example would be "Malcolm ran across the street and scooped up the lost dog bare seconds before the truck whooshed by."
Here, we see proof of Malcolm being brave--we have to put in the extra work of inferring or making a guess based on our knowledge and evidence that Malcolm is a brave person (who probably cares about dogs).
The following set of words has what shared DENOTATION?
Frightening, Horrifying, Freaky, Disturbing
Denotation: Scary or spooky
Nature is brutal and life in the wilderness can be harsh.
This is a THEME from one of our readings.
TRUE or FALSE?
TRUE! This is one of the themes from the excerpt from Gary Paulsen's memoir, Woodsong.
7th Grade: What is CONFLICT?
8th Grade: What is SUSPENSE?
Conflict is the problem, "fight," or struggle between opposing forces in the story that drives the plot forward (toward Resolution).
It can be internal or external. Other ways of thinking about conflict include: character vs character; character vs. themselves, character vs. society, character vs. nature
SUSPENSE is the feeling of uncertainty, anxiety, and excited anticipation about what is going to happen next.
It is a key storytelling device used in literature, film, and other media to keep an audience engaged by creating a sense of mystery, tension, and urgency.
How does the plot (action or events of the story) and the setting help develop or impact the MOOD or TONE of a narrative? Use your own example or one of our readings to help you explain your answer.
Plot and setting can significantly impact and help develop the mood and tone of a story.
For example, with Woodsong, the events or plot of the story take a dark turn with the chase and death of the doe, which shifts the mood from one of wonder and beauty to fear and the realization that nature is brutal and the reality of life and death in the wilderness can be harsh.
With House on Haunted Hill, the setting is a haunted house isolated on a hill at midnight where seven people, readers find out, have already died (or were murdered). The setting really emphasizes and develops the spooky, unsettling, eerie, "chills and thrills" mood.
"The dogs were still running at a lope...We were..dancing with winter. I could not help smiling, just smiling idiotically at the grandness of it" (Paulsen 35).
Excerpt from WoodsongWhat type of characterization is this, DIRECT or INDIRECT?
What can we infer about Gary Paulsen as a person / character based on this quote?
It is INDIRECT characterization because the writer/narrator (Gary Paulsen) is SHOWING us his ACTIONS (smiling) and THOUGHTS (idiotically), and Word Choice (dancing; grandness), and based on this evidence, we can infer that Paulsen is:
-happy
-full of life, wonder, and joy
-someone who enjoys dogs / dog sledding
-a bit of a goofball, probably, and okay with other people knowing the extent of his joy (not just smiling, but smiling "idiotically").
In terms of CONNOTATION (context), which word best fits in the blanks and why:
Frightening, Horrifying, Freaky, Disturbing
FORMAL: The sudden monsoon took many lives, which is a ___________ tragedy.
MOST INFORMAL/CASUAL: Man, that part in the movie with the guy actually being a ghost wasn't super spooky, but it was a little __________.
Connotation:
"Horrifying" is the best choice here. A monsoon might be frightening or disturbing, but the death toll would be an additional layer or degree of horror and is also associated with shock which would make sense for a sudden natural disaster.
"Freaky" is the most informal / casual word in the list.
*BONUS*
When we were digging into MOOD and TONE, we listened to a song called "Once Upon A December."
We also watched a TikTok video. What was the main message or takeaway of that silly cat video?
*You must pronounce it correctly to get the points!*
"Raise your HanT!" :)
What is the A.C.E. Method of answering questions?
*When using quotes from a source, it is important to include: _______ marks around the words taken from the text, an in-text ___________ using the author's last ________ and the ______ number, and a ________ after the closing parenthesis.
Answer
Cite Evidence
Explain how your evidence supports or proves your Answer
*When using quotes from a source, it is important to include: ___QUOTATION____ marks around the words taken from the text, an in-text ___CITATION_____ using the author's last __NAME____ and the __PAGE__ number, and a __PERIOD__ after the closing parenthesis.
Example:
In Woodsong, the writer explains, "I have seen rabbits outwit foxes and watched red squirrels tease martens and get away with it, but this time it was not to be" (Paulsen 37).