English Language Arts and Reading.6.7.B

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The student is expected to

analyze how the characters' internal and external responses develop the plot;

multiple genres TEKS talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--literary elements. The student recognizes and analyzes literary elements within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse literary texts.
As characters move through the plot of a story, the author will reveal their thoughts and actions to the reader. This helps the reader understand the motivations of the characters and why they make the decisions they do which, in turn, advance the plot. For example, a main character’s emotional (internal) responses to certain memories might cause the main character to become angry and break someone else’s prized possession. This reaction might trigger the conflict for the story.
the basic sequence of events in a story that includes the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution

Research

1. McConn, M. (2014). Connecting students with the human dimensions in literature: Using Brudern's Modes of Thought to deepen literary appreciation. Texas Journal of Literacy Education, (2)2, 106–116. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?q=understanding+meaning+in+literature&pr=on&ft=on&id=EJ1110946

Summary: This article gives teachers a framework to increase students' knowledge of narrative structure, and how it can deepen understanding and lead readers to connections that have meaning in their own lives. Focused on the narrative structure of conflict development—internal conflict and resolution—the author asked students to select a character in O'Brien's The Things They Carried, and determine if the character's conflict was external or internal, using text evidence to support their understanding of the character. Then, students wrote their own narratives, based upon the lessons learned from the reading discussions and personal explorations.

2. Dallacqua, A. L. (2012). Exploring literary devices in graphic novels. Language Arts, 89(6), 365–378. Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/LA/0896-jul2012/LA0896Exploring.pdf

Summary:  In this article, the researcher suggests that students can use literary devices as a means to make meaning of text. The article demonstrates how graphic novels can be used to implement multimodal and visual instructional strategies that increase the reading comprehension of students.