Setting Impacting Setting

Danielle shuddered as she ducked her head to enter the attic room. The light was dim, but she could see broken chairs piled up in a corner and a child's collapsed playpen nearby. The ceiling was pitched, slanting upward to a point. But she couldn't stand up all the way except in the very center. She felt a bead of sweat slip down her cheek and wondered why it was so hot in the shadowy room. She wanted to run away, slam the door behind her, and never return to the place where so many memories lay covered with dust—but she couldn't. She had to find her mother's photograph album, the one from the summer before Jimmy left home forever.

Question:

What is the importance of the setting in this passage?

• The setting explains how the family uses the attic to store belongings.

• The setting influences the mixed emotions that Danielle experiences.

• The setting shows why Danielle needs to find the photograph album.

• The setting suggests the difficult time after Jimmy left home forever.

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.3

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

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CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Stasis's Journey Home

Stasis was stuck behind the border of the rival company. The terrain was dead. The trees looked like skeletons. The earth was black. Hardened pillow lava crusted over much of the landscape. Even now, the landscape looked as if it was steaming.

Stasis held his spot firmly and looked to his homing beacon. A beeping on his screen showed that his copilot was close, just beyond the hedge of dead trees and burnt brush.

It was an amazing sight to see. On Stasis's island, Falidad, there were wild palms and lush vegetation. The land was thick with life and sun. But here, on Humbroto, the death and decay had to be brushed away from the face. The moon was always present. The smoke stayed in the clothes, in the hair. Stasis was unfamiliar with the land, but he knew he was in Humbroto territory.

The Humbro were a vile and vicious people. They hunted Stasis's people for sport. Stasis knew he only had a few minutes before his copilot Biggs showed up on the Humbro satellites. And then it would be over for both of them. He knew he would never see his family or anyone from Falidad again if he didn't get over that hedge to Biggs and then get out of Humbro. Stasis began to sweat at the difficulty of his task. The heat and the pressure caused a drop to fall from his eyebrow. It hit the pillow lava structure with a sizzle and hiss. But the hiss continued until Stasis realized it was the Humbro. They had sent a team out to find him, and their hisses were growing louder and louder!

adapted from "Stasis's Journey Home" by c.safos

Question:

How would the story have been different if it had taken place on Falidad?

• Stasis would have been lost instead of Biggs.

• Stasis would have known the land better.

• Stasis would have been hunted by Biggs.

• The story would not have been different.

The Stadium in my Backyard

by Dave McCaul

As a kid, I was determined to become a professional baseball player. I lived in Minneapolis, so the weather was less than ideal for baseball. But with the coming of summer, I spent practically every waking hour in my backyard.

It was a big backyard, rectangular in shape. Standing with my back to the house, I would look out over the outfield. A picket fence separated our place from the back alley. That was the homerun fence. On one side of the yard was a row of tall hedges with tangled branches that reached out to the sky like thin arms. Those hedges represented the crowd. On the other side was a doghouse, which was like the dugout where my team waited on the bench. At night, the lights in the back alley lit up my backyard so that we could play night games.

My neighbor and I would take turns pitching balls to each other. My neighbor had an impressive fastball that was tough to hit. I could just see the digital scoreboard reporting the speed of his pitches. 90 mph. 95 mph. 100 mph! But with my team rooting for me from the bench and the crowd watching my every swing, I refused to strike out.

Every now and again, I would hit the ball over the homerun fence. Running around the bases, I would close my eyes and imagine the fireworks exploding in the stadium. I would hear the breeze tossing the leaves of our Elm tree, which was like the sound of the crowd cheering me on. And I would wave to my adoring fans and know exactly how it felt to be a professional baseball player.

Question:

What does the setting say about the boy's character?

• He feels lazy in the summer.

• He does not like routine.

• He has a big imagination

• He has a short span of attention

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.3

CCSS.RL.6.3

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CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Nick stepped off the bus and walked into the bus station. He had never seen a building so enormous, with so many buses arriving and departing from dozens of gates. Everywhere he looked there were lines of people and piles of luggage, and he wondered what the weird smells could be. He had to get out of here fast, or he thought he might be sick to his stomach.

Nick spotted an escalator across the floor and hurried over, climbing on carefully as he looked up toward the next floor. There were even more people walking fast through the terminal, and more smells competing with each other—donuts, he thought, and buttered popcorn, and maybe pizza, too. He had to get out of here fast, but it was all so confusing and crowded.

At last, Nick spotted a sign that said EXIT. He adjusted his backpack and wove through the crowd to get to the last staircase. Nick clambered up the stairs and blinked as he finally emerged into the bright sunlight. Was it possible the sun was actually brighter here in New York City than at home in his small Pennsylvania town, or was it just the light bouncing off the skyscrapers that made it seem so intense?

Question:

How does the setting affect the plot of the story?

• It makes Nick wants to meet new people as soon as possible.

• It makes Nick want to leave the station as quickly as he can.

• It makes Nick desire to take the next bus home to his town.

• It makes Nick wish he hadn't packed so much stuff in his bag.

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.3

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3