Author Study Assessment Review

theme sentence starters and wrap up phrases

"Even though..." "Sometimes in life..." "It's hard to..." "It's important to..." "...because..." "...it could also be"

mood

"My mood" Mood is the emotions the reader feels while reading because the tone the author conveys.

character traits

The qualities that make up a character's personality - NOT their feelings! They can be positive, negative, or neutral.

dialogue

When a character speaks in the book.

symbolism

When a concrete object has important significance in the story.

literary allusion

When an author alludes to something from pop culture - they reference another book, movie, etc.

character vs. self

internal conflict, character has to overcome their own decisions, emotions, identity, conscious, etc.

tone

"tone of voice" or how the author "speaks" to the reader Tone is the attitude that an author takes toward the audience, the subject, or the character.

author's goals

The reason authors use techniques. For example, set up the problem or develop characters that feel real, change and grow.

playing with puncuation

When an author does something unusual with punctuation. Does not include simply using an exclamation point or question mark.

revealing action, gestures, or details

When an author has a character act a certain way or do something OR they share a specific detail about the character that reveals who they are/a trait.

repetition

When an author repeats words, phrases, scenes to show importance.

parts connected to other parts

When an author returns to important details throughout the story.

stretching out some parts and summarizing others

When an author shares a lot of details about a scene or quickly summarizes when something happened

vivid description

When an author shares many details, usually sensory imagery, to help the reader paint a picture in their mind.

inner thinking

When the author presents the thoughts and feelings of the narrator.

flashback

When the narrator goes back in time - typically several pages long - does not include the character thinking about the past

setting

Where and when the story takes place. Never about the characters.

motif

a one word description of the message of the story

symbolism

an object that has special meaning, can connect to the theme, takes a concrete object and connects it to an abstract idea (book = knowledge)

character vs. fate

character battles a prophecy (think magic)

character vs. technology

character battles technology

character vs. supernatural

character battles the unexplainable (think monsters)

character vs. nature

character fights to survive or overcome forces of nature **includes death

character vs. society

character has a problem with an institution or tradition and tries to change it

figurative language

metaphor, simile, hyperbole, alliteration, etc.

character vs. character

narrator has a problem with one or more other characters

author's techniques

revealing action, gestures, details; dialogue; inner thinking, flashback, repetition, figurative language, parts connected to other parts, stretching out some parts and summarizing others, vivid description, literary allusion, symbolism

Ways to find tone:

sensory imagery, setting description (weather, colors, light), show don't tell, what the characters think/say/do

conflict

the problem in the story

theme

the unifying idea or message about life that the author wants the reader to take away from a text.