Name: ______
Narrative Elements Part 2: Study Guide
My Study Guide is due: ______
My Test Date is: ______
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What do I need to know?
Ø Vocabulary: There will be a section on the test where you must apply your knowledge of the definitions to examples.
Example: Which of the following is an example of direct characterization?
Ø Application: You will need to be able to apply the terms for this unit and previous units to different short stories/passages.
Example: What is the setting of this story?
Things to Study:
Ø Your notes in your Reader’s Notebook covering Characterization, Theme, Flashback, Foreshadowing, Tone/Mood, and Point of View
Ø Figurative Language Terms
Ø Plot Structure Terms
Ø Your notes from Narrative Elements, part 1
Ø Practice done in class
Ø This study guide!
Vocabulary Matching
Connect the vocabulary term to the correct definition
1. Flashback / A. The perspective from which the story is told2. Foreshadowing / B. A section of a literary work that interrupts the sequence of events to relate an event or memory from an earlier time
3. Point of View / C. The use of clues that suggest events that haven’t happened yet
4. Indirect Characterization / E. The attitude of the author or narrator
5. Direct Characterization / F. Overall message of a story
6. Tone / G. The author tells the reader the character’s traits
7. Mood / H. The emotion a writer makes a reader feel
8. Theme / I. The author shows the reader the character’s traits (through S.T.E.A.L.)
9. Identify each paragraph as either Flashback or Foreshadowing:
A. ______The carefree boy sailed toward the distant shore, unaware of the dark clouds forming behind him. He whistled his favorite tune and thought about the fun day he had planned on the island.
B. ______Sue loved Jason. As she accepted his proposal, she decided to ignore the nagging voice in her head that suggested that perhaps he was too good to be true.
C. ______The day of the race had finally arrived. Ken stood nervously waiting to begin. It was only ten months ago he had been in a terrible car accident. For a moment, he thought back to sitting behind the wheel of his truck and the rain hitting his windshield. Then everything went black. Suddenly, the pop of the starter gun jolted him back to reality.
D. ______As I walked onto the stage to receive my diploma, I remembered the day I first set eyes on the university’s campus. It was a sunny, clear, and bright—just like my future.
10. What’s the difference between Direct Characterization and Indirect Characterization?
______
11. Identify an appropriate character trait based off the characterization in each sentence.
Example: Kind Maria stopped to help her classmate pick up the books they dropped in the hall.
A. ______Julia’s sweaty hands were shaking when she walked on stage.
B. ______Arnold is clumsy; he is always dropping all his books in the hallway.
C. ______Tom is the bravest person in my family. He never looks scared.
D. ______He unwrapped the birthday gift quickly, and he didn’t even read the card!
E. ______Emma scooped up the whimpering puppy in her arms.
12. What is the point of view of this passage?
Leslie sat in front of Paul. She had two long, brown pigtails that reached all the way down to her waist. Paul saw those pigtails, and a terrible urge came over him. He wanted to pull a pigtail. He wanted to wrap his fist around it, feel the hair between his fingers, and just yank. He thought it would be fun to tie the pigtails together, or better yet, tie them to her chair. But most of all, he just wanted to pull one.
A. First Person
B. Second Person
C. Third Person Limited
D. Third Person Omniscient
13. What’s the point of view of this passage?
They found themselves in bed and watching, by the dim light from the night-light, the rest of Mary Poppin’s unpacking being performed. From the carpet bag she took out seven flannel nightgowns, four cotton ones, a pair of boots, a set of dominoes, two bathing-caps and a postcard album. Jane and Michael sat hugging themselves and watching. It was all so surprising that they could find nothing to say. But they knew, both of them, that something strange and wonderful had happened at Number Seventeen, Cherry-Tree Lane.
A. First Person
B. Second Person
C. Third Person Limited
D. Third Person Omniscient
14. What’s the point of view of this passage?
Tonight I just finished one of the books for our read-a-thon, called The Wave. This story is about a school experiment that shows how peer pressure can get out of hand. One of the main characters was a guy by the name of Robert Billing. He pressured and bullied other teenagers into acting like modern-day Nazis. The teenagers were like sheep blindly following a leader. After reading this book, I realized how teens are very gullible, getting tricked into doing things to fit in or be popular.
A. First Person
B. Second Person
C. Third Person Limited
D. Third Person Omniscient
15. The passage above uses figurative language in the sentence, “The teenagers were like sheep blindly following a leader.” What type of figurative language is being used?
A. Simile
B. Metaphor
C. Personification
D. Onomatopoeia
Amra and the Skateboard
Read the story below and answer the questions that follow.
The skateboard flew down the hill. Buzzing over the pavement, it passed by houses with manicured gardens and freshly cut grass, and whizzed past prim and proper homeowners—middle-aged mothers with beehive haircuts and stern-looking fathers with Oxford button-downs tucked into crisp khaki pants. At the bottom of the hill, it slammed into the curb and landed violently on its side.
Amra was searching for worms in her front yard. She was on her hands and knees when she heard the whizzing crack. Startled, she shot her head up and scanned the scene.
She saw the skateboard to her right, lying on the sidewalk. To her left, high up on the hill, she saw a gaggle of boys. Blinding rays of light carved out their silhouetted figures. The outlines of kneepads and helmets could be made out, as well as other skateboards, some held like canes, others like briefcases. One among the crew was sitting on his bottom, rocking back and forth in mild pain. He had wiped out.
Amra walked over to the skateboard. She took it into her hands and looked up toward the boys. One of them beckoned to her with his hand.
“Bring it up!” he called out.
The thought of interacting with them set her nerves on edge. She was only 10. They were older—high-schoolers.
Amra slowly walked the skateboard to the top. The boys stood there expressionless.
“Thanks kid,” the one who wiped out said.
He walked over and took the skateboard from Amra’s arms.
“Can I try?” she asked him.
The boys laughed.
“You’re just a kid,” Wipe Out said.
“And you’re a girl,” added another.
More laughter.
Amra shot an angry look. “Let me try!”
Wipe Out smirked. “Okay,” he said, and handed back the skateboard.
Amra laid it on the pavement and rolled it back and forth to get the feel of the concrete. Stepping her left foot onto the front of the skateboard, she crouched and shot off, zipping down the hill and landing on a strip of grass along the sidewalk.
When she lifted the skateboard over her head in triumph, the boys were dumbfounded.
16. What is the lesson the author most likely wants the readers to learn?
A. Be careful what you wish for.
B. Children should be careful when playing.
C. Share the wealth.
D. Do not underestimate people.
17. Amra can best be described as which type of character?
A. Protagonist
B. Antagonist
C. Minor
D. Static
18. When the boys laugh at Amra for wanting to try to skateboard, we know that they…
A. Don’t think that she will be able to skateboard.
B. Are confident that Amra will be a talented skateboarder.
C. Think that Amra is a nice girl.
D. Are angry at Amra for asking.
19. What is the setting of this story?
A. Outside in a suburban neighborhood
B. Inside Amra’s house
C. In the middle of the road
D. Amra’s backyard
20. Which of the following character traits can be used to describe Amra in the beginning of the story?
A. Angry
B. Annoyed
C. Morose ¬ (if you don’t know what this means, look it up!)
D. Surprised
21. Where does the conflict start in the story?
A. When Amra returns the skateboard.
B. When the skateboard startles Amra.
C. When Amra successfully rides the skateboard.
D. When the skateboard buzzes down the hill.
22. What type of figurative language is used in the statement below:
A. Metaphor
B. Personification
C. Simile
D. Idiom
The Most Important Question
Read the story below and answer the questions that follow.
1 In a jungle, there was a large cool pond where many animals came to drink. Tall animals like giraffes, and small animals like meerkats all came to this pond and drank from the water together. Each species had its own section at the pond: the zebras did not drink by the cranes, and the elephants did not drink by the monkeys. It was a very peaceful place.
2 One day a hippopotamus came to the pond and bent to drink some water right where the giraffes usually drank. None of the other animals had ever seen him before. They were frightened: he was really big and did not seem to care about the rules of the pond.
3 “We should tell him to go away!” a meerkat whispered to a monkey. The monkey nodded. They were both much smaller than the hippopotamus, and they were very nervous about getting eaten by him.
4 You see, since none of the animals had ever seen a hippopotamus, they did not know what it liked to eat. It was very important that all the animals in the jungle knew what the others’ preferred foods were, so that they could protect themselves. The zebras knew to stay away from the lions who preyed on them; and the mice knew to stay hidden under the trees, away from the large birds who swooped down to eat them. All of the animals in the jungle grew up learning about the food chain. This food chain was a part of life: the animals who were eaten provided important nutrients for the animals that ate them, like proteins and fat that helped the eaters to grow. How do you think lions become so big and strong?
5 A giraffe came up to where the meerkat and monkey stood by the pond and leaned its long head down to talk to them. “Do you think he eats plants?” the giraffe asked worriedly.
6 Giraffes only eat plants, and because the hippopotamus was so close to the ground, this giraffe was afraid he would eat all the plants before they could grow tall enough for the giraffes to eat.
7 A zebra skipped up to the group, still in a huddle. “You have nothing to worry about, Meerkat and Monkey!” he said. “It looks like the new guy likes plants. Sorry, Giraffe.”
8 The four animals looked over to the hippopotamus, now about a third of the way into the pond, chomping on some very green leaves with a content and happy expression on his face.
23. Which event takes place during the exposition of the story?
A. One day a hippopotamus came to the pond and bent to drink some water right where the giraffes usually drank.
B. A zebra skipped up to the group, still in a huddle.
C. The four animals looked over to the hippopotamus, now about a third of the way into the pond…
D. Tall animals like giraffes, and small animals like meerkats all came to this pond and drank from the water together.
24. What two words best describe the tone of paragraphs 2-5?
Excited / Curious / AngryConcerned / Frustrated / Embarrassed
25. What is the lesson the author most likely wants the readers to learn?
A. It’s important to follow the rules.
B. Sometimes it pays to take risks.
C. Don’t judge someone before you know them.
D. Keeping the peace is more important than anything else.
26. What type of conflict is present in paragraph 3?
A. Character v. Self
B. Character v. Character
C. Character v. Nature
D. Character v. Society
27. What type of characterization is used in the following sentence? - “A zebra skipped up to the group, still in a huddle. “You have nothing to worry about, Meerkat and Monkey! he said.”
A. Direct characterization
B. Indirect characterization
· Look at the questions you missed. What skills/concepts do you need to work on before our test? ______
· Think about the questions that were easy for you. What skills skills/concepts are you already strong at? ______