Model Selection Short Stories: 7th Grade

Model Selection: Short Stories

​Model Selection: Short Stories

The characters in short stories are driven by motivations—reasons, needs, and feelings that cause them to act the way they do.

Characterization is the way in which a writer reveals a character’s traits, or personal qualities. Through direct characterization, the writer tells what the character is like. Through indirect characterization, the writer shows what the character is like.

With indirect characterization, the reader must draw conclusions about the character based on the character’s appearance, words, and actions, as well as what other characters say about him or her.

Open Ended

In the exposition, Greg is angry. What basic situation has caused his anger?

Open Ended

Describe the traits, or personal qualities, of Lemon Brown.

Open Ended

Lemon Brown says, “Hard times caught up with me.” What does he mean? Is this

an example of direct or indirect characterization? Explain your answer.

Open Ended

What conflict do Greg and Lemon Brown face?

Open Ended

How do Greg and Lemon Brown behave at the climax of the story?

Multiple Choice

What is a character’s motivation?

• the way a character looks in certain situations

• the reasons a character acts in certain ways

• what a character says about another character

• the point at which a character solves a problem

Multiple Choice

Honesty and fairness might illustrate which element of a short story?

• character traits

• the theme

• the setting

• the exposition

Multiple Choice

What is a universal theme?

• a message about friendship

• a message about the author’s life

• a message about life that many cultures express

• a message about the world that the author expresses

Multiple Choice

Which short story element names the problem that one or more characters face?

• resolution

• exposition

• theme

• conflict

Multiple Choice

What is the climax of a short story?

• the moment when the problem is solved

• the turning point or moment of greatest tension

• the point at which the setting is introduced

• the point at which the main character appears

Multiple Choice

Who is the main character in “The Treasure of Lemon Brown”?

• Greg

• Greg’s father

• Lemon Brown

• the thieves

Multiple Choice

As “The Treasure of Lemon Brown” opens, what problem does Greg face?

• He cannot go home because it is raining.

• He has been suspended from his basketball team.

• He cannot find Lemon Brown’s treasure.

• He cannot play basketball because he is failing math.

Multiple Choice

Which statement is an example of direct characterization?

• “Don’t try nothin’ ’cause I got a razor.”

• “What you doing here?”

• The figure shuffled forward again.

• He was an old man.

Multiple Choice

What conflict occurs while Greg is with Lemon Brown?

• Lemon Brown gives up his career as a blues singer.

• Lemon Brown’s wife becomes sick and dies.

• Thieves try to rob Lemon Brown’s treasure.

• Lemon Brown’s son dies while fighting in a war.

Multiple Choice

What is Lemon Brown’s treasure?

• a gold razor

• a bag of gold coins

• a harmonica and some news clippings

• some news clippings and a picture of his son

Multiple Choice

Why does Lemon Brown give the treasure to his son?

• He wants him to be a blues singer.

• He is afraid someone will steal it.

• He wants his son to feel safe.

• He wants his son to be proud of him.

Multiple Choice

What happens to Lemon Brown’s son?

• He is killed in a war.

• He is attacked by thieves.

• He dies in an abandoned tenement.

• He becomes a basketball player.

Multiple Choice

When does Lemon Brown feel proud and happy?

• when Greg understands that he was a great blues singer

• when he realizes that his son treasured the things he had given him

• when Greg realizes that he will be all right in East St. Louis

• when he frightens away the thieves and knows his treasure is safe

Multiple Choice

What is the setting of most of the action of “The Treasure of Lemon Brown”?

• Greg’s apartment

• a sidewalk in Greg’s neighborhood

• an abandoned tenement

• the Community Center

Multiple Choice

Which statement best expresses Greg’s feelings at the end of the story?

• He is worried that Lemon Brown will not be all right.

• He feels that Lemon Brown’s treasure is worthless.

• He wants to help Lemon Brown find a place to live.

• He has developed a new appreciation for his father.