Literary terms and phrasesDirections: Use the clues to match the
literary terms we have studied in class with their definitions.
(Hint: Terms with two words, i.e., rising action will not use a
space = risingaction.
Across3. The highest point of tension before action falls5. The
reader the author thinks of when she/he writes6. When and where a
story takes place7. The ending or the moral of the story8. The
problem that the main character hasDown1. This part tells who,
where, and when2. Action the part in which the conflict gets sorted
out, solved4. All the parts of a story that can be shown on a line
of7. The part in which the conflict or problem gets worseUnit 1 and
Unit 2 Reading SkillsI. Evaluation: What is it? Evaluating stories
is the process of looking at who, what, where, when and why events
in a story take place. How do I do it? Think about your reaction to
a story or a part of a story and ask yourself, why did I feel that
way? Why did the author present that information? Example from our
class: (Lobs Girl)
II. Comprehension: What is it? Comprehension is a general
understanding the plot events. How do I do it? By understanding the
grammar, vocabulary and how the event in question impacts the
story, we can comprehend what is going on. Example from Class:
(Lobs Girl)
*It is important to understand who is saying what. You must know
which character is saying You must have him as a gift.
III. Prediction: What is it? It is using descriptions and clues
from the reading to make an educated guess as to what will happen
later in the story. How do I do it? The best way to make a
prediction is to use hints and foreshadows in the story to guess
what the characters will do or what will happen to them. Example
from the text: The woman will help the boy to stop stealing because
the title of the story is Thank you Maam.
IV. Inference: What is it? It is the process of using
information that is not directly stated to understand the text. How
do I do it? By using the descriptions of emotions, actions and
thoughts, you can gather information and then understand what the
author means. Example from the text: Thank you Maam
Here, it is important to imagine why a real person would do
this.
V. You will be given a new text to read during the midterm (it
will be quite short), in that text you will have to answer general
questions about the story (comprehension questions) and who, what,
where and when. A good way to practice for these kinds of questions
is to reread the assessment questions at the end of the stories in
the Jamestown Reader.
VI. You will also need to be able to answer the following
questions:
What are the five elements of a shorty story? What is a conflict
and what kinds of conflicts are there. You will also need to know
what foreshadowing is, what dialogue is, and what a theme is.