Elements of a Story

What are characters?

• The people or animals in a story

• The place where a story happens

• What happens in the story

• The lesson taught in the story

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Choose the two words that best go with setting.

• who, why

• where, when

• where, why

• why, when

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Sylvia describes the events that happen in the beginning, middle and end of the book she just read. This means that Sylvia is describing the ________.

• character

• conflict

• plot

• theme

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Which story element provides the drama in a story?

• theme

• characters

• setting

• problem

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The people in a story are called the ________.

• personages

• characters

• actors

• stars

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If your life were a story, one of the characters might be:

• your fight with your mom

• your teacher

• your house

• the year 2015

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Which of these could be the setting of a fairy tale?

• a king and queen

• people change as they get older

• a faraway castle

• a wicked witch puts a curse on a princess

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All the action that goes on in a story makes up the ________.

• plot

• character

• conflict

• theme

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Plot is the term for the events that take place in a story and how they relate to each other. When we summarize a story we’re usually describing its plot. A good summary of a story's plot includes three main elements: the conflict, which is the disagreement or different drives of the characters or forces in the story, the climax, which is the most exciting point of the story and the resolution, which is how the conflict ends.

Read the following fairy tale.

A young boy named Jack trades his only cow for beans that he’s told are magic. When he brings the beans home, his mother doesn’t believe that they are magic and becomes angry with Jack. Against his mother’s advice, Jack plants the beans. A huge beanstalk grows. Jack climbs it and finds a giant’s house full of treasure. He takes the treasure from the house and runs away as the giant chases him down the beanstalk. Jack reaches the ground and is able to chop down the beanstalk. He keeps the treasure.

Choose the best summary of this fairy tale’s plot.

• After climbing a magic beanstalk, Jack takes treasure from a giant’s house, is chased down a beanstalk and chops it down before the giant can catch him.

• Jack trades his only cow for magic beans and plants them. They grow into a beanstalk.

• Jack’s mother sends him out to sell their only cow, becomes angry that her son trades the cow for beans and scolds him.

• Jack loves his only cow but chooses to believe that the beans he trades her for are magic.

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A conflict is a problem in a story. There are the things that the main character wants or needs to do, and then there are the things that get in the way of what he or she wants to do. That’s usually the conflict.

Read the following passage.

Sylvia found her Aunt Caroline especially aggravating. So when Sylvia was told she would have to spend Thursday afternoon with her aunt, she was peeved. She had wanted to go skating. Sylvia had been looking forward to it all week, yearning to glide and spin around the rink, hearing only the sound of the blades of her skates over the ice. “But Aunt Caroline never has visitors,” Sylvia’s mother reminded her, and Sylvia supposed this was true. Aunt Caroline’s house was large and drafty with a big, overgrown garden at the edge of town.

“She doesn’t have any visitors because she doesn’t want them,” Sylvia told her mother.

“Sylvia, don’t be rude,” her mother said.

But it was true: Caroline discouraged most visitors. Besides Sylvia and her mother, the only person who visited Aunt Caroline was the mailman. “The worst part,” Sylvia grumbled to herself, “is Blinkers.” Blinkers was Aunt Caroline’s very old and very crabby cat. When Sylvia visited, she wasn’t even allowed to play in the garden. She had to quietly sit in the living room, watching Blinkers nap. “And I don’t even like cats!” Sylvia groaned.

Which of the following best describes the conflict in this passage?

• Aunt Caroline is often lonely.

• Sylvia’s mother wants to visit her Aunt Caroline.

• Sylvia would like to go ice skating but has to visit Aunt Caroline.

• Blinkers the cat wants to escape from Aunt Caroline’s house.

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