• Literature Aloud• 2009-2010•  • Please make the following

announcement to your classes:•  • All students who wish to take part

in this year’s Literature Aloud should see Mrs Quin and Miss Fitzsimons

• Room 13 • Wednesday, 18th November at 1.30

Christmas Exam• Drama: 1. Shakespeare play2. Unseen Poem3. Personal Writing

3 - 4 paragraphs based on visual images or titles based on past papers.

Story OpeningsStory OpeningsHow to keep you reader

reading on!

Literary ToolboxFiction

Plot (definition)

• Plot is the organized pattern or sequence of events that make up a story. Every plot is made up of a series of incidents that are related to one another.

Types of Linear PlotsPlots can be told in

Chronological order

Flashback

In media res (in the middle of things) when the story starts in the middle of the action without exposition

Identifying the Elements of A Plot Diagram

Identifying the Elements of A Plot Diagram

Student Notes

Plot Diagram

2

1

3

4

5

1. Exposition• This usually occurs at the beginning of a

short story. Here the characters are introduced. We also learn about the setting of the story. Most importantly, we are introduced to the main conflict (main problem).

2. Rising Action• This part of the story begins

to develop the conflict(s). A building of interest or suspense occurs.

3. Climax• This is the turning point of the

story. Usually the main character comes face to face with a conflict. The main character will change in some way.

4. Falling Action• All loose

ends of the plot are tied up. The conflict(s) and climax are taken care of.

5. Resolution• The story comes to a reasonable ending.

Putting It All Together

1. Exposition

2. Rising Action

3. Climax

4. Falling Action

5. Resolution

Beginning of Story

Middle of Story

End of Story

Conflict Conflict is the dramatic struggle

between two forces in a story. Without conflict, there is no plot.

Setting:the time, place and period in which the action takes place.

The Bean Trees: Arizona/Oklahoma 1980s.The Catcher in the

Rye:New York, 1940s

Lord of the Flies: deserted island, the future.

Why is the opening important?

• The first few lines of any piece of writing are essential because they set the tone and, hopefully, make the reader want to read on. This is known as a ‘hook’.

When I was four months old, my mother died suddenly and my father was left to look after me all by himself. Danny The Champion Of The World by Roald Dahl

How do you make the reader want to read

on?

• The first line should leave the reader asking a question. This question should invite the reader to keep reading.

I disappeared on the night before my twelfth birthday. Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo

How should I begin?

• There are many different ways to start a story. Here are a few of them:

• Description of a character:

Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy.The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

Or you could begin with…

• Description of setting:

The hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square houses of Privet Drive.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling

Or how about…• Description of setting and

character:

A thousand miles ago, in a country east of the jungle and south of the mountains, there lived a Firework-Maker called Lalchand and his daughter Lila.The Firework-Maker’s Daughter by Phillip Pullman

Or maybe…• Action:

Peter crouched over the fire, stirring the embers so that the sparks swarmed up like imps on the rocky walls of hell.Count Karlstein by Phillip Pullman

Or…• Dialogue:

I’m going shopping in the village,” George’s mother said to George on Saturday morning. “So be a good boy and don’t get up to mischief.”George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl

How about…• A

question:

Ever had the feeling your life’s been flushed down the toilet?The Toilet of Doom by Michael Lawrence

Or maybe…• A

statement: It’s a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful.Matilda by Roald Dahl

Remember!• The opening of a story should

normally tell the reader:– Where and when the story is set– Who the characters are– The style and mood of the story

Don’t forget!

• Your opening should also have a ‘hook’. That is, something to keep the reader interested and make him or her want to read more.

• Now try planning your own story opening.

First you need to think about…

• The who, where, when and what!–Who is your story about?–Where and When is it set?–What is going to happen?