Reading Skills: Fiction, Short Stories, and Drama

Reading Skills:Fiction, Short Stories, and Drama BrainPOP | Reading Skills

Fiction vs. Nonfiction • Fiction is imaginary • Characters, plot (see diagram-slide #3), setting, theme, etc. • Novels, novellas, short stories • Nonfiction is real and it can be verified. • Fact based, advice, autobiographies, biographies, articles, textbooks, essays, etc.

Plot Diagram Climax (Turning Point) Falling Action Rising Action (Characters react to climax ) (Develop situations and characters) Resolution Introduction/Exposition (The End) (Problem/Conflict)

Characterization • This is the act of creating and bringing a character to life. The characters have traits and motives. • Traits=are the qualities the character possesses that help the reader understand the character (intelligence, stubbornness, etc. • Motives=the reasons a character does something. This includes the character's thoughts, feelings, and ideas. • 2 types: Direct and indirect. • Direct=described by writer • Indirect=described through actions in the story

Compare and Contrast • Compare=how two or more things are alike (clue words or phrases are: also, alike, same, similar, have in common) Example: simile (use like or as), metaphor • Contrast=how two or more things are different (clue words or phrases are: different, not alike, before/after, although, however) • Graphic organizers used: Venn Diagram, T-Chart Before and After (an event) chart, 3 column chart (KWL) • Clues: ask How would you compare (contrast)? How are they alike (different)? In what way…?

Author’s Purpose • 1) to entertain (Ask: Is the author being funny? Is the author telling a story—creating suspense or mystery?) • 2) to inform (Ask: is the author explaining or giving facts, statistics, etc.?) • 3) to persuade-tomake someone think a certain way or to make someone do something (convince them) • We should… • Because of this problem, someone should… • We need to…

Author’s Perspective • The viewpoint from which the author writes • His or her background and beliefs play an important role in this.

Tone • Author’s attitude in the piece of writing • Can be described in 1 word. Example: playful, serious, sad, humorous.

Elements of Fiction • Fiction – writing that tells about imaginary characters/events and include: a)characters b)plot- made-up series of events c) setting – time and place d)narrator-point of view (first person and third person) e) theme – message about life

Setting • The time and place in which a story takes place. A modern story will sound realistic in details of the surroundings, etc. A story that takes place in the past will have historical facts, etc. • The setting can effect a character’s mood. • It is the background that the story takes in.

Theme • Theme is the message or insight about life contained in a story. Also called a universal, or reoccurring, theme • 2 types • Stated theme=expressly by the author • Implied theme=suggested or implied through what happens to the characters.

Conflict • A conflict is the problem between opposing forces in the story. • 2 types: • Internal conflict=takes place in the mind of the character • External conflict=takes place with other characters or some other outside force (nature)

Narrator’s Point of view 1) First person • When narrator is in the story • Uses pronouns like I, We, Us, Our, Me, My, Mine, Ours-coming from the narrator’s perspective 2) Third person someone else tells the story either as a character or as an “omniscient” being (omniscient means everywhere, knowing everything) Uses pronouns like he, she, them, it, they, his, her, its, their, theirs

Short Stories • It is fiction that is shorter in length. • It has the same basic elements as fiction: plot, (see diagram), characters, Setting, and theme. See related slides for each.

Literary Devices • Foreshadowing=use of clues early in a story to hint at events to come • Flashback=the use of a past event that interrupts the sequence of events to provide more information to the story. • Irony=general name given to any technique that involves the use of surprising, interesting or amusing contradictions. In a story it is when something unexpected happens. • Dialect=the form of a language spoken by a particular region or group (like an accent). This makes a story more authentic and a characters words sound more realistic.

Cause and Effect • A cause is what makes something happen. • An effect is what happens as a result of a cause. It may cause another (separate) effect. • Clues: • 1) Look for clue words like: because, causing, effect, happening • 2) Ask yourself: What made this happen? Or What happened as a result of this?

Predictions/Making Inferences • Prediction-making a logical guess as to what will happen next in a story. Inference=an assumption based on fact. (to infer, to predict, to speculate) • Prior Knowledge-your previous experience(s) that you can use to make a prediction • Support Predictions-using clues in the story to back up what you predicted; refer (look back) to text for details to support • Read ahead – to verify/confirm predictions • Revise-if your prediction was wrong, you can change it or make a new one • Text Structure-used to make predictions when reading informational texts (nonfiction).

Sequence Order of the events in a story (chronological, first, next, then, last) If events happen at the same time clue words are: while, at the same time, in the same year, or meanwhile. A graphic organizer for this is a timeline. A timeline helps you keep track of events by putting them in chronological order.

Context Clues • Use the text (wording) that surrounds an unfamiliar word or idea to clarify its meaning. This text can be similar or opposite to the unknown word or idea. • You may need to re-read the passage to better understand it. • You may need to read ahead to confirm the meaning you have decided upon • May have “historical context,” which is political and social events of the time in which something was written.

Symbols and Symbolism • Symbol-and person, place, or thing that represents more than its regular meaning. • Symbolism-is an author’s use of symbols to add meaning to a story • Can be different to each reader (it’s open to interpretation) • Interpretation should be based on what is in the story • A symbol may have more than one meaning

Main Idea and supporting details • Main idea is the most important idea in a paragraph or story. • It is sometimes said in 1 sentence that can be anywhere in the story. • It has to be re-worded into the reader’s own words (Summarized) • Supporting details are the facts that explain or back up what the main idea is.

Summary • This is when a reader puts what is read into his or her own words when explaining about what was read. Generalization • making a general statement about things, events, or people in • a story • usually one sentence in length • Valid generalization is supported by details in the story • Faulty generalization is not supported by the story

Draw Conclusions • Taking facts from the story and making a judgment about a character or event in the story. • Must be able to support your conclusions with facts from the story.

Using Graphic Sources • This includes maps, timeline, diagrams, charts, and pictures with captions • These make information easy to see and understand. • Examples: in class we have used Venn Diagrams and word webs. Compare

Drama ***more than just plays, it is also movies, TV, radio broadcasts, and some podcasts • Dialogue- conversation between 2 or more people • Monologue-one person speaking to the audience (like a speech) • Dialogue in a script is written as follows: Scrooge: It’s less of a time of year… Cratchit: I must be going home….have a lovely day tomorrow, sir… Scrooge: bah humbug!

Drama (#2) • In a script stage directions are written in parentheses. (They tell where to stand, what to d0, etc.) • Theater=where a play is usually presented • Set=the items on the stage that suggest the time and place of the story (setting). Another word for this can be scenery. • Props=small moveable object used on stage during the play. • Plays are broken into smaller parts called acts and those can be broken into smaller parts called scenes.

Drama (#3) • Playwrights= author of a play. They use elements of fiction (just like novels and short stories) to create their stories. EX: characterization, theme, setting, point of view, conflict, etc. • Actors= people who perform the play. • Comedy=drama that has a happy ending. They can entertain as well as teach a lesson. • Tragedy=usually has the main character “fall”. Events in a tragedy lead to the downfall of an important person or otherwise has a sad ending.

Reading Skills: Fiction, Short Stories, and Drama