Story Elements
What drives a story? "Part 1"
A car doesn't cruise on its own, it needs an engine and a good set of wheels. In the same
way, a writer can't invent an interesting story without the following key parts.
1) Setting: it is the time and place of the action. The time might be historical era, the
season, or the time of day. The place might be a country, a neighbourhood, or a
room. In many stories, setting affects the action and the characters' feelings.
 From "The Clay Marble", read the following excerpt and answer the questions below.
The last rays of afternoon sun were filtering through the forest as we approached the Border.
Gradually the trees thinned out and the path widened. Several trails merged into ours. It
seemed as if all the paths out of Cambodia were converging on this one spot on the Thai
border.
I could barely contain my excitement. I imagined mountains of rice lining the horizon, and
piles of tools and fishnets everywhere. Perhaps there would even be mounds of sweet moist
coconut cakes and banana fritters. “Hurry,” I urged my brother.
Yet, as we finally emerged from the forest, all we could see was a vast barren plain dotted
with shrubs and scraggly trees, flat and desolate
1. What details about the setting do you find in lines 1-3?
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2. Describe what the narrator expects to see when she crosses the border. Then describe
what she actually sees.
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3. How might the actual setting affect the narrator and the story?
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 From "Trouble River", read the following excerpt about a woman panics when her
grandson Dewey disappears. Notice the details that describe the time and place of
the action and answer the questions below.
Maadi Narmer School _KS3_YR7 _Literacy_ D.R.
Term_1
She rose and moved to the open doorway where she looked out over the golden
prairie.
“Dewey!” she called, her voice breaking with anxiety. “Deweeeeeee.”
When there was no answer, she went back to her rocking chair.
“Dewey Martin,” she called from her chair. “Oh, Deweeee.”
After a moment she went to stand in the doorway again. For as far as she could see
there was only the prairie, the long waving line of grass on the horizon with not one
single cabin or chimney in sight.
The sun was dropping behind the horizon, and she knew how quickly darkness would
cover the land, how quickly the colorful prairie would become desolate and cold.
1. Find two details that describe the woman's surroundings.
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2. Do you think that the setting affects the woman's feelings? In what way does the
setting add to the woman’s anxiety?
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3. What do you learn about the woman from the way she reacts to her grandson’s
absence? Support your answer.
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Maadi Narmer School _KS3_YR7 _Literacy_ D.R.
Term_1