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I I NGSSS

Plot and Setting LA.7.2.l.2: The student will locate and analyze characterization, setting, plot, and other elements of fiction

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In this lesson, you will learn about some common parts of a story. The plot is what happens-the series of events that make up a story. In a story, the plot includes a problem or conflict the characters must face. The plot usually revolves around how the characters solve these problems. There may also be additional problems, or complications, that develop along the way. The part of a story in which the complications become more challenging is called the rising action. The way the main character solves the problem is called the resolution.

The setting is where and when a story takes place. The plot and setting of a story are interconnected: one affects the other. A story must occur in a particular time and place, and the problems that the characters face are often related to that setting. For example, a story set in the Middle Ages may revolve around a peasant girl's uphill battle to get an education. As you read, pay attention to how the parts of a story affect each other.

Authors use two literary tools to make their plots more interesting. A flashback tells about an event from before the story began. With a flashback, writers tell readers about the past to help them understand the characters and events in the present. Foreshadowing is another tool that writers use. Foreshadowing is a hint about something that will happen later in the story. It is like the tense music in a movie that tells you something exciting or frightening is about to happen. Foreshadowing builds suspense and makes you want to read on. It also invites you to look for more clues about what will happen.

Setting Problem

story

Plot Resolution

NGSSS LA.7.2.U

Read this story about a little girl and her quest for a special fish. Look for details I ~, about the setting and plot to answer the question below.

Cuttlefish Confusion

1 "[ want a cuttl efi sh! " cried my lillie sister Tyra as we were leaving the Florida Aquarium in Tampa.

2 "But honey, you can't take a cutt lefi sh home from the 'aquarium," Dad said. "It belongs here, and remember, the marine biologist told us that some cuttlefish grow to be over eighteen inches long; they need a large tank and live food. A cuttlefish is an amazing creature, but it would not be a practical peL"

3 Tyra was hav ing none of it. "1 want a cutt lefish! " she said again, dragging Dad toward the gift shop. There she picked up a stingray plush toy and hugged it to her chest. She had her "cuddle fi sh."

Why is it important that this s tory is set in an aquarium?

~ Where and when does the story take place? The setting is the Florida Aquarium. The story is set in the present.

~ What is the problem or confl ict? Tyra seems to want a real cuttlefish, and her father wi ll not let her have one.

~ What events happen? How does the setting affect the events? Because the characters are at an aquar ium , the father assumes that Tyra wants one of the real fish they saw.

~ How does the story end? How does the setting affect the problem resolution? The story ends at the aquarium gift shop, where the father learns that Tyra really wanted a toy fish to cuddle, or a "cuddle fi sh." This realization solves the conflict.

ANSWER: Because the story is set in an aquarium , where there are exhibits of real fi sh and a gift shop full of cuddly fi sh toys, Tyra and her father have a misunderstanding over the word cuttlefish.

What details in Paragraph 2 help exp lain the conflict of the story?

NGSSS LA.7.2.1.2

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Think About It What is the setting of this story? What details about the time and place does the author provide?

Hint What do you know about the southern United States in 1936? Why might an African American man feel afraid in this setting?

CORRECT ANSWER

Read the story. Use the Think About It to guide your reading. Then answer the question. Use the Hint to help you.

RobertJohnson at the Crossroads

A young African American Delta blues musician stood at the roadside in the deep South in 1936. The air was cool, the stars were twinkling, and the cr ickets chirped noisily. But Robert j ohnson felt only a crushing dread. A few cars passed by the lanky young man , but none stopped. A song began to form in johnson's imagination: "Stand in' at the crossroads, tried to flag a ride .... Didn't nobody seem to know me; everybody passed me by." These words would someday become immortal , but on this evening, it was his own mortality that was [oremost on johnson's mind. He was a stranger in these parts, and he hoped a friendly driver would stop soon.

The setting of this story helps the reader understand A that j ohnson was a music ian .

B why j ohnson had nothing to fear.

C why johnson was afraid. D why johnson's song became famous.

Answer choice C is correct.

SUPPORTING DETAILS The setting of this story-the southern United States in 1936-tells the reader that racism would have been a significant problem for Robert johnson. Although the author uses pleasant words to describe the evening itself, the overall selling explains why johnson would feel afraid in this dark and deserted place at this time in history.

INCORRECT ANSWERS A is not correct because the selling does not indicate that Johnson was a musician.

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B is not correct because the selling suggests that he did have something to fear.

D is not correct because the selling doesn't indicate why johnson's song became famous.

Think About It Where are the students? What are they dOing there?

What problem does Harrison discover in paragraph 2?

What is a complication to Harrison's problem?

What details about the setting do you learn in paragraph 8?

How is the mystery solved? What problem still exists?

NGSSS LA.7.2 .1.2

Read the passage. Use each Think About It to guide your reading,

Mystery Aboard 'The Blue Ghost" 1 "OK, gang, it's time to pack up," sa id M r. Sanchez to the twenty

seventh-graders bunking in the bowels of the gigantic aircraft carrier, the USS Lexington. He took students there every year to experience what it must have been like for a seaman to live aboard a Navy ship during World War II. The students had spelll the night sleeping in the floating museum's narrow bunks, which were stacked three high.

2 As the group of twenty students hurriedly stuffed their belongings into duffel bags, Harrison cried out, "My camera-it's gone!" He frantically emptied his duffel bag onto his bunk and pawed through all of his possessions, searching for his tiny silver camera.

3 "When did you last see it, Harrison?" asked Mr. Sanchez.

4 Harrison closed his eyes in concentration. "It was yesterday on the flight deck, when we were looking at the pelicans diving for fi sh."

5 Mr. Sanchez let out a deep sigh. The flight deck of the aircraft carrier was large enough to hold three football fields. Still , it narrowed things down-at least they could rule out the other fifteen decks.

6 "Maybe the blue ghost took it," teased his friend Victoria.

7 "Forget about the ghost stories you heard last night, class. Does anyone remember the real reason the airc raft carrier is called The Blue Ghost'?" Mr. Sanchez never missed an opportunity to reinforce his students' knowledge of history. One of the students answered that during World War 11, the USS Lexington was reported to have sunk four times, so the Japanese gave it its ghostly nickname.

S "Right you are. Now up to the flight deck, class. Let's help Harrison ] find his camera." The students scampered , and then trudged, up flight .~ after flight of stairs. Although the aircraft carrier was as high as a ~ nineteen-story building, there were no elevators. .~

9 On the flight deck at last, the students fanned out for their search. "There it is! " shouted Harrison. He poillled to the top of the control tower, which rose 150 feet above the fl ight deck. Dangling fro m an antenna by a thin strap, a silver rectangle shone brightly in the sun.

10 "But no one could have gotten way up there! " said Victoria.

11 "Maybe not, but look there," said Mr. Sanchez. Near the dangling camera, a brown pelican raised its wings and fl apped lazily toward the outer bay, searching the water below for the sil ver fl ash of a tasty fish.

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Hints

A story plot begi ns with a problem or conflict. What is the problem in this mystery?

Reread paragraph 4. What foreshadowing is included in this paragraph?

Think about how the mystery was solved. How does the setting on an aircraft carrier affect the resolution of the story?

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With your partner, share and discuss your answers and supporting details.

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Use the Hints to answer the questions below. Circle the correct answers and provide supporting details from the passage.

I The event that sets the plot in motion in th is story is A the history club's visit to the USS Lexington. B Harrison's looking out at the pelicans. e the pelican's search fo r shiny silver objects. D Harrison's discovery that his camera is missing.

Supporting Detai.l s: _________________ _

2 A plot detail in the story that foreshadows the resolution is A when the Japanese gave the ship its ghostly nickname.

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B when Victoria says that maybe the blue ghost took the camera. e when Harrison says he last saw his camera while watching the

pelicans dive for fi sh. D when the students spend the night sleeping in the floating

museum's narrow bunks.

Supporting Details: _________________ _

The setting of this story helps the reader understand that A Mr. Sanchez knows a great deal about history. B a hungry pelican probably took Harr ison's camera. e Harrison lost his camera because he was careless. D another student took the camera as a pran k.

Supporting Detail s: _________________ _

NGSSS LA .7.2.1.2

Read the passage "Renaissance Festival Fantasy" before answering Numbers 1 through 6.

~enaissance 'Festival 'Fantasy '13)' '13ill MiddletolJ

"Come all, Lacey, we're going to be late," said Eric, annoyed that his little sister kept stopping to look at the vendors' carts when he was due at the meadow to sing with his school chorus. The trip to the Florida Renaissance Festival each March was a tradition at Eric's school. Families traveled to the fair to watch their children perform and to enjoy medieval food, entertainment, and crafts.

Eric looked over his shoulder just in time to see Lacey disappear into a tent that was unlike any he had ever seen. Most of the other artisans had open stalls, but this enclosed tent had ornate tapestry walls fringed with gold silken tassels.

Sighing in frustration, Eric followed Lacey into the tent, where he found his sister sitting cross­legged on a pile of cushions, listening with rapt attention to a woman wearing the medieval costume of a merchant. He knew from his social studies class that most of the people who lived in the Middle Ages were peasants who wore patched clothing of rough cloth, while the nobility often wore very fine clothes of silk or velvet richly embroidered with beads or jewels. This woman's dress was something in between the two-fine embroidered silk, but shabby. She probably got it off tIle costume rack at the thrift store like me, Eric thought to himself.

The woman held a book illustrated with richly detailed, ancient-looking illustrations as she told a story about a young si lversmith's apprentice. Eric started to grab Lacey's hand but suddenly felt very tired. He had risen at five in the morning for the long drive to Deerfield Beach, and he had just devoured a huge turkey leg. He began listening to the storyteller, his eyes growing heavy.

NGSSS LA.n.Ll

Eric awoke with a start to find Lacey practically dragging him to his feet, whispering, "Come on, Eric-the Sheriff's after you!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Eric. Straightening up as he emerged from the tent, he rubbed his eyes hard to make sure he was really awake.

Before, the people at the fair had been wearing shorts and T-shirts, but now everyone seemed to be in full costume. Instead of pushing strollers, they were pushing crude carts and dodging farm animals. And the air, which before had been filled with the scent of popcorn, now smelled of horses and smoke.

"Hear ye, hear ye!" boomed a loud voice. Eric whirled around to see a man in a brown

leather vest reading from a scroll: "Eric, a boy apprenticed to Randolph the silversmith, has run away from the neighboring town. He stole silver from his master."

Eric felt two hands seize his arms from behind. "Here's the thief!" cried the burly owner of the hands.

"Wait, you're making a mistake!" cried Eric. "Then what's this?" cried a woman in a green

woolen dress, snatching the small, silver-colored MP3 player Eric had clipped to his costume. The~ player's ear buds flew out of Eric's ears, a nd the .~ man holding his arms let go and started batting at <3 the flying ear buds as if they were giant ~

mosquitoes. '0 "Come on Eric-run!" Lacey was running ]

towa rd the largest building around, which Eric 5

realized was a church. Close on his sister's heels, j Eric rushed through its heavy doors and slammed = them shut. ~

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"Are you seeking sanctuary, a safe harbor, freedom from persecution, my chi ldren?" asked a man in a long, brown robe with a circular bald spot on top of his head. Eric and Lacey nodded their heads, too stunned at first to speak.

"Are you going to turn me in?" asked Eric. The clergyman shook his head. "Anyone

seeking sanctuary has protec tion in this church for forty days. Besides, the apprentice whom the constable seeks is here. He has already made his confession. Now, then, you wear the clothing of a noble, but I can see that you are not."

''I'm just a kid!" Eric said, confused. "Well, even if you are the ch ild of a goat, you

will need peasant's clothing. You are violating the law by wearing the garb of the noble class." The man left and then came back with brown homespun leggings and a tunic. Eric bundled them under his arm.

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"Urn-thanks, but what are we going to do for forty days?" Before he got an answer, Eric yawned, feeling his eyes grow heavy again. He lay down on a bed of straw in the corner and watched sleepily while Lacey chased a mouse along the church's stone wall.

When he awoke, Eric was back in the cozy tent. The storyteller was gone, but his sister Lacey was curled up on a pillow next to him, snoring lightly. A pair of sneakers appeared under the tent flap; it was their mother.

"Eric, I've been looking everywhere-you're late for your performance!"

Eric got up groggi ly. Looking down, he noticed that he was still wearing his thrift-store costume, but later, when he patted his vest to feel for his MP3 player, it was long gone.

NGSSS LA.7.2.1.2

o The second paragraph is important to the story because it shows that

A. Eric is easil y frustrated with his younger sis tel; Lacey.

B. Lacey knew that the tent would lead them to a different time.

C. there is something very mysterious about this particular tent.

D. once the children go into the tent, they w ill probably never get out again.

., The details in the fourth paragraph foreshadow tha t

F. Eric may fa ll asleep.

G. Eric is very hungry.

H. the richly detailed book is mag ic.

I. Eric will steal silver from hi s master.

e In paragraphs 10 through 13, what is the problem that Eric faces?

A. A man is wearing a vest.

B. He is mistaken for a thi ef.

C. His ear buds have disappeared.

D. His MP3 player has been stolen.

• Paragraph 15, that begins "The clergyman shook his head," is important to the story because it

F. shows Eric the way back to his time.

G. gives Eric a solution to his problem.

H. gi ves Eric a chance to retu rn the sil ver.

I. tells abou t an important role of the medieval church.

NGSSS LA .7.2.1.2

., The setting details in paragraph 20, that begins "When he awoke, Eric was back in the cozy tent," help the reader understand that

A. Eric's mother has also traveled back in time.

B. Eric and Lacey are back in their own time.

C. the storyteller had traveled back in time.

D . Lacey's snoring made Eric wake up.

o What is the logical explanation for Eric and Lacey's adventure?

F. Eric and Lacey found a secret portal to the Middle Ages.

G. Eric traveled to the Middle Ages, but Lacey stayed behind.

H . Eric made up the story as an excuse for missing his performance.

I. Eric fell asleep and had an interesting dream in the storyteller'S tent.

Answer Form

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