Meaning
Clue: This is the word used to describe the central message, moral, or "lesson learned" that an author wants to share with the reader.
Answer: What is Theme?
Clue: Setting is made up of these two primary elements.
Answer: What are Time and Place?
Clue: This term describes the organized sequence of events that make up a story.
Answer: What is Plot?
Clue: "I looked at the clock and sighed. Only five minutes had passed since the last time I checked. My legs felt like lead as I stared at the stack of ungraded essays on my desk."
What can you infer about the speaker?
Inference: What is the speaker is bored, exhausted, or overwhelmed?
Clue: "As the sun began to set, the family gathered on the floor around the large communal platter. Using only their right hands, they expertly scooped up the spicy lentils with pieces of warm, torn injera bread."
What can you identify about their culture?
Inference: What is their eating tradition (or etiquette)?
Clue: While a "topic" is usually just one word (like friendship), a "thematic statement" must be written in this format.
Answer: What is a complete sentence?
Clue: In the sentence, "The year was 2085, and the city of Neo-Tokyo was glowing with neon lights," this specific word represents the Time of the setting.
Answer: What is 2085?
Clue: This is the very first stage of the plot where the author introduces the characters, the setting, and the basic situation.
Answer: What is the Exposition?
Clue: "The tiny creature trembled in my palm. I whispered softly, making sure not to startle it, as I carefully moved the fallen nest back to the safety of the oak branch."
What can you infer about the speaker?
Inference: What is the speaker is kind, patient, or an animal lover?
Clue: "The marketplace was a sea of vibrant silk saris. The air was thick with the scent of cumin and turmeric, and the constant bartering over the price of copper pots created a loud, rhythmic hum."
What can you identify about their culture?
Inference: What is their economy and style of dress (or a South Asian-inspired setting)?
Clue: In the fable The Lion and the Mouse, the Lion laughs at the Mouse's offer of help, but the Mouse later saves him. The theme of that story is...
Answer: What is "Little friends may prove great friends"?
Clue: This term describes the "feeling" or "atmosphere" a setting creates for a reader, such as a dark, rainy castle feeling "spooky" or "gloomy."
Answer: What is Mood?
Clue: Without this "struggle between opposing forces," there is no plot at all.
Answer: What is Conflict?
Clue: "They told me the bridge was sturdy, but I still gripped the railing until my knuckles turned white. Every time a car drove past, I closed my eyes and prayed the metal wouldn't snap."
What can you infer about the speaker?
Inference: What is the speaker is fearful (specifically of heights or bridges)?
Clue: "The marketplace was a sea of blue and gray burqas. No woman walked alone; each was accompanied by a Mahram, a male relative, who acted as her legal guardian and escort in all public spaces."
What can you identify about their culture?
Inference: What is a culture that enforces the Male Guardian system?
The Clue: An old man spends his whole life working overtime to buy a solid gold watch. He finally buys it, but he has no friends or family to show it to, and he realizes he has no stories to tell about his life other than working in a factory. He eventually trades the watch to help a neighbor pay for medical bills and finds he is much happier having a friend than a piece of jewelry. What is the theme?
The Answer: The Theme: True wealth is found in the connections we make with others, not in the things we own.
Clue: This type of setting involves the beliefs, word usage, and traditions of the people living in that time and place.
Answer: What is Cultural?
Clue: On her way to the championship game, Sarah’s bike chain snaps, and she has to figure out how to fix it before the first whistle blows.
What type of conflict is in the passage?
Answer: What is Man vs. Nature (or Man vs. Machine/Object)?
Clue: "The blueprints were spread across the table, covered in coffee stains and red ink. If we don't adjust the load-bearing beams by Friday, the entire east wing will be structurally unsound."
Infer what does the speaker does for a living.
Inference: What is the speaker is an architect or a structural engineer?
Clue: "The young girl quickly tucked her loose hair under her headscarf and lowered her gaze as the patrol truck turned the corner. In this city, showing even a single strand of hair was considered a violation of the strict modesty laws."
What can you identify about their culture?
Inference: What is a culture with strict religious modesty codes (specifically for women)?
The Story: A young girl is terrified of the "Mountain Giant" because of the scary stories the village elders tell. One day, she gets lost and actually meets the giant. She discovers he isn't mean; he is just very large, clumsy, and lonely. She returns to the village and convinces the others to stop hiding and start talking to him. What is the theme?
The Answer: Fear is often born from a lack of understanding.
Clue: "Steam whistled from the massive iron engine as passengers hurried along the cobblestone platform. Men in top hats checked their pocket watches, and the soot from the coal-burning furnace left a gray smudge on everyone’s wool coats."
Answer: What is a Train Station in the 1800s (Victorian Era/Industrial Revolution)?
Clue: Brian knows that if he tells the truth about who broke the window, his best friend will get in trouble, but if he stays quiet, the whole class loses recess. He spends all night tossing and turning, trying to decide what to do.
What type of conflict is in the passage?
Answer: What is Man vs. Self (Internal Conflict)?
Clue: "I remember when this entire valley was nothing but orange groves. Now, it's all concrete and shopping malls. I suppose that's what they call 'progress,' but I'd give anything for one more breath of that citrus air."
What can we infer about the speaker?
Inference: What is the speaker is older and misses how things were or resentful of change?
Clue: "Mariam watched her brother walk through the school gates with his backpack. She turned away, clutching her younger sister's hand; she knew that since the change in government, her own days of sitting in a classroom were officially over."
What can you identify about their culture?
Inference: What is a culture that restricts or bans education for girls and women?