Setting

You know that a story's setting means where and when the story takes place. The setting may be specific like June 4, 1999, or the setting may be general like summer. Either way, the text is going to provide clues for you to know the surroundings.

Look at the first sentence from "The Treasure of Lemon Brown."

The bolded words below identify the setting.

"The dark sky, filled with angry, swirling clouds, reflected Greg Ridley's mood as he sat on the stoop of his building."

Conflict

Every fictional story must have some type of conflicta struggle between opposing forces in a story ; otherwise, the story has no point. There are two types of conflict: external takes place outside the body
Man vs. Man
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. Society
Man vs. Supernatural Beings and internal takes place inside the character's mind such as emotions
Man vs. Self .

Look at the second sentence from "The Treasure of Lemon Brown." What do you think the initial conflict of the story will be?

"His father's voice came to him again, first reading the letter the principal had sent to the house, then lecturing endlessly about his poor efforts in math."

Simile

Sometimes words give readers problems because they are trying to read them literallywords function exactly as defined instead of figuratively You must figure out what the words mean. . Figurative language helps writers paint a picture for their readers. Similes compare two unlike things using the words like or as in the description.

Look at the example from the story. Type the simile in the box below.

"His father's words, like the distant thunder that now echoed through the streets of Harlem, still rumbled softly in his ears."

Metaphor

Metaphors compare two unlike things. A metaphor is just like a simile; the only difference is that it doesn't use the connecting words like or as.

Look at the example from the story. Type the metaphor from the story in the box below.

"His black, heavily wrinkled face was surrounded by a halo of crinkly white hair and whiskers that seemed to separate his head from the layers of dirty coats piled on his smallish frame."

Personification

When a writer makes inanimatenot alive like animals and humans things come to life, he is using personification.

Look at the example from the story. Type the example of personification in the story in the box below.

"Gusts of wind made bits of paper dance between the parked cars."

The Treasure of Lemon Brown

Read Walter Dean Myers's "The Treasure of Lemon Brown." As you read, answer the text dependent questions to help you better comprehend the story. Try to make text-to-self connections about Lemon Brown's treasure and your own treasure.

Theme

The theme of a story is its message to the readers. Theme can be a life lesson, moral, or anything that teaches the readers something. Aesop's fables will have clearly stated themes in its stories; however, the themes in your texts will be implicit You have to infer, or figure out, the theme. .

Let's look back at a few of the quotes in the story that will help form the theme.

"Every man got a treasure. You don't know that, you must be a fool."

What is the theme of the quote below?

"If you know your pappy did something, you know you can do something too."

"What else a man got 'cepting what he can pass on to his son, or his daughter..."

"Greg pushed the button over the bell marked Ridley, thought of the lecture he knew his father would five him, and smiled."

The Message

Did the short story teach you a life lesson? You don't have to agree with a story's theme to identify it.
Read the sentences below. Choose the one that expresses a theme.

  • Don't judge a book by its cover.
  • Love.
  • Are you going to play basketball this year?

Recap

The theme usually refers to the central idea or underlying message in the text. You gather the theme from the setting, characters, and plot of a story. As long as you can provide textual evidence to support your theme, your statement will be correct.