Author:
Linde Hash
Subject:
Literature
Material Type:
Activity/Lab, Lecture Notes, Reading
Level:
Middle School
Tags:
License:
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike
Language:
English
Media Formats:
Interactive

Education Standards

Guided Literary Notes

Overview

This is a general template to pair with any piece of fiction you have your students read. The year I created this I saw that my 8th grade studetns at the time were struggling with engaging with any text, most were reading below grade level. They beleived reading to be boring and were missing a lot of background knowledge concerning literary elements. I created this template and paired it with their favorite novel (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) I found that they were engaged when filling out these "Guided notes". It helped bridge some gaps and gave them a renewed confidence in the classroom. 

Pair this with any fictional work. I chose Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Introduction:

 

Genre: What type of book it is. (nonfiction vs. fiction):

 

 

 

Setting and Context: Setting→ Where and when something takes places Context→ The circumstance that forms the setting for an event, or idea:

 

 

 

Narrator and Point of view: Is the person who writes something or the person who tells the story.  Point of View→ A way to considering a matter.. 

1st person: Someone telling his or her story( I, Me, We, Us) 

2nd person: How the story is told to someone (you,) 

3rd person: An outsider looking in (he, she,it and they)  

 

 

 

Tone and Mood: Tone→is the author's attitude towards a subject.    Mood→ is how we are made to feel as the reader (emotions evoked by the author):

 

 

 

Protagonist and Antagonist: Protagonist→ The main character (good guy) Antagonist→ A person who actively opposes the protagonist (bad guy) : 

 







 

Major Conflict: Conflict→ Many struggles between opposing forces, usually the main character against something or someone else. 

man

vs.

Himself 

man

vs.

Man 

man

vs.

Nature 

man

vs.

Society 

man

vs.

Machine 

 

Example: 

  1. Man vs. Man Rowley’s dad came downstairs and made them stop their Haunted House because he did not believe it was a “legitimate operation.”

 

Climax: (Plot Diagram) 

Exposition→ Introduction (how the story begins) 

Rising action→ All of the turns and twists that lead to the CLIMAX... 

CLIMAX→ The most exciting part (turning point)... 

Falling Action→Occurs right after climax (story begins to calm down) …

Resolution→ When the main problem is figured out (the end of the story) 

 

Literary Elements:

 

Foreshadowing: Foreshadowing→ A warning of a future event.

 

 

Understatement: Understatement→ The presentation of something making it seem smaller than it actually is. 

 

 

Allusion: Allusion→ An expression to call something to mind without mentioning it. (In everyday life: passive aggressive comments about someone without saying their name) 

 

 

Imagery: Imagery→ visually this is descriptive or figurative language in a literary work.