English Language Arts and Reading.7.7.D

The student is expected to

analyze how the setting influences character and plot development.

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.

Students need to draw upon their background knowledge and context clues in the text to determine how the historical and cultural backdrop of a story can restrict, impact, or even be the focus of a plot. The time and place in which a story is set has a direct impact on the internal logic and what will be considered plausible for the storyline. For instance, if a story is set in the Great Plains during the Great Depression, a character who is a farmer is likely dealing with both the economic strains of the time as well as the struggles created by the Dust Bowl. The way this character chooses to respond to these difficulties will lead to character and plot development.
the basic sequence of events in a story that includes the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution

Research

1. Nampaktai, P., Kaewsombut, S.A., Wongwayrote, U., &  Sameepet, B. (2013). Using story grammar to enhance reading comprehension. International Forum of Teaching and Studies, 9(1), 35–38. Retrieved from reseachgate.net

Summary: In this study, the story grammar technique—studying the elements of a story—is examined to determine whether the reading achievement and analytical skills of middle school students improve when using the technique. The study included 20 middle school students who were instructed in the use of the story grammar technique over a set period. The study showed that the story grammar technique did significantly improve the students' comprehension and analytical thinking skills.

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 way 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.