Steven Kang (MS10331)
Short Summary
 The story happens when Katie Takeshima, the main
character, and her family moves from Iowa to Georgia
for their business. Because Katie and her older sister
Lynn lost their favorite things before moving, a stuffed
animal named Bera-Bera for Katie and a sweater for
Lynn, they had hysterics before and while the moving.
Short Summary
 Katie and Lynn cried and cried while they were
moving in their uncle Katsuhisa’s truck. Katsuhisa
couldn’t restrain himself because crying Katie and
Lynn got Katsuhisa annoyed. So Katsuhisa taught
Katie and Lynn how to spit like a master. Katsuhisa
also sang for Katie and Lynn, singing Katie’s and
Lynn’s name with the tunes of many famous music,
which finally made Katie and Lynn stop from crying
and made them happy.
Plot Diagram
Exposition
Rising Action
• Introduces the setting and the characters
• Ex) ‘My mother was a delicate, rare…’ line 1~line 31
• Introduces obstacles that make the conflict more complicated
• Ex) ‘He was a madman, for sure’ line 32~line 56
Climax
• The turning point in the story and the moment of greatest suspense
• Ex) “We must leave or I don’t know what!” line 57~line 90
Falling
Action
• Shows how the main character resolves the conflict
• Ex) “She thought it might be fun to learn…” line 91~line 122
Resolution
• Reveals the story’s final outcome
• Ex) “Lynn smiled with satisfaction.” line 123~line 129
Explaining Conflicts, Problems, and
Challenges
 External Conflict
 Katie and Lynn vs. Their mother

Katie and Lynn cried and cried for their Bera-Bera and sweater,
so her mother was upset and made them to go with uncle
Katsuhisa.
 Ex) line 68~70
 Katie and Lynn vs. Uncle Katsuhisa

Katie and Lynn cried again after they get into their uncle’s
truck for moving after scolded by their mother. They cried so
much, so their uncle refused to drive with them.
 Ex) line 74~76
Explaining Conflicts, Problems, and
Challenges
 External Conflict
 Katie and Lynn vs. Their family’s move from Iowa to
Georgia

Katie and Lynn didn’t know why they had to move, because
they were happy in Iowa.
 Ex) line 79~line 84
 Internal Conflict
 Katie and Lynn vs. Themselves

When their uncle Katsuhisa told them that he’ll teach Katie
and Lynn how to spit like a master, Katie and Lynn first
hesitated for a moment.
 Ex) line 97~line 99
Finding 10 Literary Elements
 1. Metaphor
 line 12 – My mother was a delicate, rare and beautiful
flower.
 2. Sarcasm
 line 71~ line 72 – “Oh, no,” said Uncle. “I wouldn’t want
to deprive you of their delightful company.”
 3. Repetition
 line 74 – So we climbed into the noisy truck with our
noisy uncle.
Finding 10 Literary Elements
 4. Personification
 line 48~line 49 – Bera-Bera was my favorite stuffed
animal… Bera-Bera talked too much, laughed too
loudly…
 5. Exaggeration
 line 13~line 14 – She was so delicate that if you bumped
into her acccidentally, you could bruise her.
 6. Denotation
 line 6 – ochazuke-green tea mixed with rice…
Finding 10 Literary Elements
 7. Dialogue
 every sentences which is set off with quotation marks
are usually all dialogues. For instance, line 36~line 41 is a
dialogue between Katie and Lynn.
 8. Simile
 Line 96 – “I could teach you girls how to spit like a
master,” he said.
 9. Genre
 Fiction
 10. Title
 Kira-Kira
Thinking About Author’s Reason
for Writing
 The story mainly tells about Katie who is now on a
young person’s path to greater maturity. Everyone has
this period while life, and they say that these periods
are the most beautiful part in their life. As many
people think like this, the author could think like this,
and wanted to remind her own period, which
developed the maturity, by writing this story.
Two Critical Questions for
Discussion
 If you lose your favorite thing as Katie lost Bera-Bera,
how would you react? Why?
 For stopping Katie and Lynn crying, uncle Katsuhisa
taught Katie and Lynn how to spit like a master. Do
you think Katsuhisa’s act to Katie and Lynn was
morally right? Explain.
Finding the Most Difficult Words
 deprive – If you deprive someone of something that
they want or need, you take it away from them, or you
prevent them from having it.
 embroidered – If something such as clothing or cloth
is embroidered with a design, the design is stitched
into it.
 belch – If someone belches, they make a sudden noise
in their throat because air has risen up from their
stomach.
Finding the Most Difficult Words
 delicate – Something that is delicate is small and
beautifully shaped.
 hysterics – If someone is in hysterics or is having
hysterics, they are in a state of uncontrolled
excitement, anger, or panic.
 Thank you 
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