6 Fiction Signposts We will look at each one Contrasts and contradictions Aha moment Tough Questions Words of the Wiser Again and again Memory moment Contrasts and contradictions When a character does something that ID: 635629
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Slide1
Reading Signposts
A “Signpost” is something in a story that should make you STOP and think. Slide2
6 Fiction Signposts. (We will look at each one.)
Contrasts and contradictions
Aha! moment
Tough Questions
Words of the WiserAgain and againMemory momentSlide3
Contrasts and contradictions
When a character does something that contrasts with what you would expect
or contradicts his earlier acts or statements…
STOP and ask “Why is the character doing that?”Slide4
Contrast and contradiction example from
A Monster Calls:
Conor actually wanted to be punished. That contrasts with what most kids want.
So we ask “Why is the character feeling that way?”
(Answer: He felt invisible AND guilty about wanting to let his mum go.) Slide5
Aha! Moment
When a character realizes, understands, or finally figures something out…
STOP and ask “How might this change things?” Slide6
Aha! Moment example from A Monster Calls
Conor finally understood the meaning of the three tales that the Monster had told: humans are complicated.
So we ask “How might this change things?”
(Remember the answer? He understood that it was
okay for him to want his mum to live AND for it to just be over.)Slide7
Tough Question
When a character asks himself a very tough question…
STOP and ask “What does the question make me wonder about?” Slide8
Tough Question example from The Outsiders
Ponyboy
says “Why did the
Socs
hate us so much? We left them alone.”So we ask: “What does this question make me wonder about?” (Should make us wonder why the Socs even bother thinking about the Greasers at all… are they jealous of them in some weird way? Do they just hate people that are different from them? Do they have any good reasons?)Slide9
Words of the Wiser
When another character (probably older and wiser) takes the main character aside and offers serious advice…
STOP and ask “What’s the life lesson and how might it affect the character?”Slide10
Words of the Wiser example from
A Monster Calls
The tree monster is
wayyyy
older and wiser than Conor. When he finishes the first tale, Conor is confused about which character was the “good guy.” The monster says “There is not always a good guy. Nor is there always a bad one. Most people are somewhere in between.” So we ask: “What’s the life lesson and how might it affect the character?” (Answer: People are complicated. You can’t just put them in a box and label them. Later it affects Conor when he realizes that he is complicated. He wanted his mum to stay and go and the same time.) Slide11
Again and Again
When you see a word, phrase, or situation happening over and over…
STOP and ask “Why does this keep happening again and again?”Slide12
Again and Again example from
A Monster CallsThe book kept mentioning The Nightmare. It only gave us small hints, but as the book progressed, we got a clearer and clearer picture of what was going on.
So we ask: “Why does this keep happening again and again?”
(Answer: It was foreshadowing the climax! We didn’t really find out the details of the dream until he was in it trying to save his mum.)Slide13
Memory Moment
When the author interrupts the action to tell you about a memory…
STOP and ask yourself “Why might this memory be important?” Slide14
Memory Moment example from
A Monster Calls
The narrator suddenly throws a flashback at us in the fourth chapter,
Life Writing
. This is the one where Conor remembers that really fun night with his mum. They ate Indian food and went to the movies.So we ask: “Why might this memory be important?”(Answer: It shows us what their relationship was like before any of this happened. It also shows just how scared Conor must be to lose his mum.)Slide15
Signposts
1. Memory Moment ___2. Words of the Wiser___3. Aha! Moment___4. Tough Question___
5. Again and Again___
6. Contrasts and Contradictions___
A. Oh, now I get it…B. Flashback!C. That’s not what I expectedD. That keeps popping upE. Older guy explains somethingF. That really makes me wonder…