Summary Chapter 8

After reading chapter 8, I realized that I had prior knowledge to the information that was provided in the chapter. With this in mind, the chapter’s main focus was on students being able to comprehend stories and the most important elements that comes from reading to students. One important part of information that was discussed in the textbook is the elements of story structure. The textbook states, “stories have unique structural elements that distinguish them from other forms of literature, In fact, the structure of stories is quite complex-plot, characters, setting and other elements interact to produce a story. Authors manipulate the elements to make their stories complex and interesting. The five most important elements of story structure are

plot, characters, setting, point of view, and theme.” I found this information very insightful because it proceeded to breakdown each element of story structure and identified why it is important. “Plot is the sequence of events that involves characters in conflict situations.

The plot is based on the goals of one or more characters and the processes they go through to attain them. Characters is the people or personified animals in the story, that are often the most important element of story structure because many stories are centered on a character.” In addition, to the character aspect of story structure, the textbook discusses that there are four types of characters information that may be provided in a book. The first type is that some authors may provide a physical description of the characters when they’re introduced, it could be their facial features, body shapes, habits of dress, mannerisms, and gestures. The second types is through the character’s actions, what a character does is often the best way to know him or her. The third type is through dialogue, what characters say is important. The four type is the author provide insight into characters by revealing their thoughts through monologue. However, back to the story structure, “setting are location, weather, time period, and time. Point of view is broken down into four types, first person viewpoint, omniscient viewpoint, limited omniscient

viewpoint. Theme is the underlying meaning of a story, it embodies general truth about human nature. It usually deals with the characters’ emotions and values.” See this is information that I had prior knowledge of because of my previous method courses. However, reading this chapter provided more information and how you could possibly teach it to a classroom.
In chapter 8, I liked how it provided ways that teachers could teach students about stories. The textbook provides three ways. “First, teacher read aloud mentor texts and provide opportunities for students to examine stories closely and respond to them. Next, they teach minilessons about the elements of story structure, story genres, and narrative devices to expand students’ knowledge about fiction, and finally, they provide opportunities for students to write a variety of stories, including written retellings of familiar stories, genre stories, and original stories.”