English Language Arts and Reading.8.7.C

The student is expected to

analyze non-linear plot development such as flashbacks, foreshadowing, subplots, and parallel plot structures and compare it to linear plot development; and

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.

Task students with comparing multiple texts with varying plot development elements such as flashback, subplots, and parallel plot structures. Include texts with linear plot development. Have students compare non-linear plot structure to linear plot structure. 

Guiding Questions:

  • How are these structures similar to or different than a linear plot structure?
  • What additional plot structure choices could the author have included in the text?


Further Explanation

Students should be able to compare linear and non-linear plot development as they analyze as flashbacks, subplots, and parallel plot structures. Students examine how and why certain parts of the story are constructed and delivered to the audience. They should understand that an author can keep an audience interested in the plot by creating suspense. Through analysis students should understand how various events contribute to the suspense of the story. 

Plot elements are the different components that make up a story (i.e., conflict, rising action, resolution). Students should examine how and why an author might choose to construct and deliver certain points out of chronological order. Students should also be able to recognize how plot development affects the reader’s understanding of the story and the difference between linear and non-linear approaches.
a technique that involves a brief interruption in the plot that describes an earlier event or time in order to provide clarity, background, and context about an event currently taking place in the narrative
a literary device used when an author provides important hints about future events in the story to help the reader anticipate the/an outcome
a narrative technique by which a plot begins with exposition, follows the chronological order of events, and ends with the resolution
a narrative structure wherein the author develops two or more simultaneous plots connected by character, event, and/or theme
a secondary story in a narrative that adds complexity and depth and connects to the main plot in the contexts of setting, characters, or theme

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), 31–38. Retrieved from https://reseachgate.net

Summary:  The study included 20 middle school students who were instructed in the use of the story grammar technique over a set period of time. The study revealed 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 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ981296

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.