Where the Red Fern Grows Plot Elements

Billy wants a pair of hunting dogs more than anything, but his family is too poor to buy them for him. So, he earns the money himself. Slowly. Through two years of berry-picking and rodent-trapping.  The story is set in set in the Ozark Mountains on Cherokee land in northeastern Oklahoma during the Great Depression

• Rising Action
• Exposition
• Climax
• Falling Action

Tags

CCSS.RL.4.3

CCSS.RL.4.5

CCSS.RL.5.3

CCSS.RL.5.5

CCSS.RL.6.3

Old Dan dies, and Little Ann dies from a broken heart. Billy is majorly depressed. His parents try to comfort him by telling him that all the money he made hunting is going to pay for them all to move to town and get educated. 

• Exposition
• Rising Action
• Falling Action
• Climax

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.3

CCSS.RL.5.7

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.6.9

On the day the family is about to move, Billy visits the graves of his dogs and sees a sacred red fern growing between them. Seeing the fern gives Billy the peace he has been missing since his dogs died, and he's now ready to move into town with his family.

• Resolution
• Climax
• Exposition
• Rising Action

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.3

CCSS.RL.5.7

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.6.9

While out hunting, Billy and his dogs are attacked by a mountain lion. The dogs fight off the lion and save Billy's life, but they're wounded in the process. 

• Rising Action
• Exposition
• Climax
• Resolution

Tags

CCSS.RL.4.3

CCSS.RL.4.5

CCSS.RL.5.3

CCSS.RL.5.5

CCSS.RL.6.3

Billy spends all his time hunting with his dogs in the woods, flinging himself into dangerous situations like near-drownings and freezing water, Billy and his dogs overcome one obstacle after another, even winning a gold cup and $300 at a hunting competition. 

• Exposition
• Rising Action
• Falling Action
• Resolution

Tags

CCSS.RL.4.3

CCSS.RL.4.5

CCSS.RL.5.3

CCSS.RL.5.5

CCSS.RL.6.3