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Exercise 3
A. In this exercise you will analyze the story for the way the writer sets the scene and tells us "who," "when," and "where." (This is called the "exposition.") Working with another student, look back at the first part of "All Summer in a Day" and fill in the table.
Main Characters ( List and describe)
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Setting (time)
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Setting (place)
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B. Compare your work with that of another pair of students. If you disagree, look back at the story to check your answers.
EXERCISE 4
A. Listed below are the events that make up the plot of "All Summer in a
Day." Working with another student, put the events in chronological order by numbering them from I to 11.
a. They let Margot out of the closet.
b. The children stood at the window waiting for the sun.
c. The children remembered that Margot was in the closet.
d. All day the children read and wrote about the sun in class.
e. The teacher left the classroom.
f. The children put Margot in the closet.
g. William and the children began to mistreat Margot.
h. The whole world seemed silent and the sun came out.
i. Raindrops began to fall and a boom of thunder startled the children.
j. The children went inside.
k. The children ran and played in the sunlight.
B. Compare your answers with those of another pair of students. If you disagree, look back at the story to check your answers.
Exercise 5
A. In the chart below you will find the terms that are often used to discuss the main elements of the plot in a work of literature. Look again at the events listed in Exercise 4 and decide where they belong in the chart. Write the letters (a-k) of the events in the appropriate box.
Note: Like many other stories, this story can be interpreted in several different ways, depending on the reader's point of view. Therefore, a variety of different answers is possible in this chart. Be prepared to explain your choices.
Exposition (Where the writer provides essential information about the story: "who," "where," "when," and "what.")
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Complicating action (Often involving a conflict between two characters.)
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Climax (The moment of greatest tension, usually also the turning point in the story.)
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Resolution (The ending, which may or may not be happy, and may even be left open for the reader to imagine.)
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B. Discuss these questions with two or three other students.
1. Did the children have any doubts about whether or not they should be locking
Margot in the closet? How can you tell?
2. How do you think Margot feels being locked in the closet?
3. Was the author trying to teach a lesson to the readers of the story? If so, what
was the lesson?
4. How would you describe the ending of this story? Happy, sad, or inconclusive
(incomplete)? Explain.
5. Could this story have an alternate ending? Try to imagine one and describe it.