• 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 play
2. Unseen Poem
3.
Personal Writing
3 - 4 paragraphs based on visual
images or titles based on past
papers.
Story Openings
How to keep you reader reading
on!
Literary Toolbox
Fiction
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 Plots
Plots 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
Student Notes
Plot Diagram
3
2
1
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
Beginning of
Story
Middle of Story
3. Climax
4. Falling Action
5. Resolution
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 Catcher in the
Rye:New York,
1940s
Lord of the Flies:
deserted island, the
future.
The Bean Trees:
Arizona/Oklahoma
1980s.
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?