The Plot Thickens

1. The PlotThickens Benchmark LA.910.2.1.5 Benchmark LA.910.2.1.7

2. Setting Example: Pam held up a pair of jeans. “What do you think?” Debbielooked at the jeans and made a face, “The bell bottoms aren’tbig enough, and they look too new. Come on, we’ll find yousomething nice to wear to the roller disco tonight. Oh, look! Mood rings! Try this one on!” Time-Sometimes the author will state the day, the month, the year, and even the hour that the action begins. More often, however, authors do not state this information directly.

3. PlaceWhere a story takes place is often very important to the story line itself. “Space Colony 1 to Earth, do you read me? Space Colony 1 to Earth, do you read me? . . . Still no luck, Captain,” Ensign Rodriguez reported. “Keep trying, Ensign,” Captain Briggs said calmly, trying to prevent his growing sense of alarm from communicating itself to the crew. The colony would run out of supplies within a matter of weeks and no word had been heard from the command post on whether or not a supply ship would be launched, or rather, if one could be launched.

4. Test Tactics On the Florida Reading test, you won’t be asked just to identify the setting. Instead, you will be asked questions about the relationship between the setting and the passage. For example, you will fi nd questions on setting like: “How is the setting important to the plot?” You will learn more about plot later in this chapter, but in the example above, you can see that the spaceship setting is very important to the story. If the crew were aboard a ship in the ocean, they would probably be able to find a way to resupply their ship, but out in space, the crew is completely dependent on the ability of a supply ship to reach them.

5. Descriptive Language Authors of stories and books understand this, and so they use descriptive language that helps the reader create mental images so that he or she can almost see, hear, touch, taste, or smell what is being described. The descriptive words are clues to the author’s tone, or attitude, toward his or her subject. They also establish the mood, or feeling, of the story or poem, and may try to make the reader feel a certain way. Literary devices are special kinds of descriptive language that authors use.

6. Imagery Compare these two examples: 1.)Brandon was sleepy. He put his head on his science textbook and fell asleep. He began to dream. 2.)Brandon’s head started to bob over his textbook, Fundamentals of Microbiology. His eyelids felt like heavy drapes. Brandon slipped into a dream state and found himself swimming in a bubbling cauldron of chromosomes. Was this . . . the “gene pool”? The second example, with the descriptions “started to bob,” “eyelids felt like heavy drapes,” and “bubbling cauldron of chromosomes” creates a much more vivid image in the reader’s mind than the first. The term imagery refers to descriptions that create pictures in the reader’s mind. These mental images appeal to the reader’s five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Vivid imagery is made up of powerful, descriptive words that give more information than more general terms.

7. Tone The tone of a story can be described as joyful, humorous, hopeful, bitter, admiring, somber, respectful, mournful, loving, appreciative, sarcastic, thoughtful, angry, or light-hearted.

8. Read these two paragraphs and notice how the authors use words to convey two very different tones: 1.) In the 1800s, gold prospectors usually chose donkeys overhorses for pack animals. Donkeys were smaller than horses andbetter suited for navigating narrow mountain trails, yet theywere still strong enough to carry all of the prospector’s gear. 2.) It may be true that prospectors in the 1800s used donkeys because of their physical characteristics, which made them wonderfully adapted to mountain life. However, another reason had to be because of the charming personality of these remarkably intelligent and sociable animals.

9. Mood Mood is the feeling, or atmosphere, that the author tries to convey throughout the story. Does the author want the reader to feel frightened, or soothed, or excited? Does the author hope to make the reader laugh and feel good? To understand mood, be aware how you feel while reading the story. Notice words, phrases, and descriptions that make you feel a certain way. Mood is often conveyed by the story’s setting.

10. Describe the mood of this story: Amanda pushed open the cabin door and stepped inside.A pungent odor permeated the cabin. Amanda felt somethingrun across the top of her sneaker. She jumped back, and thenwatched with horror as the floor of the cabin seemed to comealive with scores of mice scurrying to scramble under thedusty, sheet-draped furniture.

11. Alliteration The term alliteration describes the special effect authors add to their writing by repeating the same sound or letter in a sentence.

12. Onomatopoeia descriptive words that imitate the sound of the things they describe.

13. Irony Irony is language that describes something that is the opposite of what the reader might expect. Writers use irony to make readers feel a variety of ways, from amused or amazed to annoyed or outraged. People in a story can say things that are ironic,

14. Figurative Language Figurative language techniques, like descriptive language techniques, are also known as literary devices. Simile A simile is a comparison that uses the words “like” or “as” Metaphor Like a simile, a metaphor compares two things. But unlike a simile, a metaphor doesn’t say something is like another thing, it says that it is another thing: Symbolism A symbol is anything that represents, or stands for, an idea, person, event, or object.

15. Personification Personification is when an author gives a nonhuman animal or an object human qualities or abilities. Hyperbole Hyperbole (pronounced “hi-PER-buh-lee”) is a figure of speech in which the author uses an over exaggeration to create a (usually) humorous effect or image. Pun A pun is a play on words that sound the same, or almost the same, but have different meanings.