Plot Development

Young Adult Reading

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In the beginning…

Exposition

• Characters- who are they, why should you care, what are they like

• Setting- where are we, what is this location like, what are the people like

• Conflict- what is the problem that the characters are facing, why do we care

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Types of Plot

• Chronological- story moves in order of events

• Parallel- story is linked together by multiple stories going on at the same time.

• Flashbacks- author interrupts the flow of the story to take us back to actions that occurred before the present story. Flashbacks are typically used to help explain what is happening now and why.

Character Development

• What does the author tell us up front about the protagonist?

• What does the author do to make you care about this person?

• Can you identify with the character?

• Are there any similarities between this character and another character in this book or another book?

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Functions of Setting

• Backdrop setting- just there not important to the story.

• Integral setting- critical to the action of the story.

• Setting as the antagonist- the setting creates problems for the protagonist.

• Setting that illuminates the character- because of the setting the character has important decisions to make

Conflict

• Person vs. Person

• Person vs. Themselves

• Person vs. Unknown

• Person vs. Society

• Person vs. Nature

• Person vs. Supernatural

And the plot thickens…

• Tone/Mood- the overall emotions or “feel” of the book

• Flashback- taking us back to an event that happened before the action of the story.

• Foreshadowing- the use of hints to give us more insight into characters motives.

• Suspense- giving us bits of information along the way that lead us to the climax.

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Tone/Mood

• What sort of emotions are you experiencing as you read the book?

• How does the author bring out these emotions in the reader?

• Are there any words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs that are particularly strong for this emotion?

Flashback

• What events from before the action in the book have you learned about?

• Why do you think it was important to learn about this event?

• How does the author use this information to keep you interested in the story?

Foreshadowing

• Has the author given you any hints about upcoming events?

• Is there a change happening in the weather, the setting, or the mood?

• Are there objects or scenic elements that suggest something happy, sad, dangerous, exciting, etc.?

• Do characters or the narrator observe something in the background that might be a hint about something to come later?

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Suspense

• What information has the author given you about the conflict in the story?

• How has the author used new conflicts to build excitement in the story?

• Are you still waiting on information to be revealed? If so, what information are you waiting on?

Now for something a little scary!

Theme

• What are some of the overall lessons learned in the story?– Friendship– Perseverance– Trustworthiness– Loyalty– ETC.