Explain how authors use setting, plot, characters, theme, conflict, dialogue, and point of view to contribute to the meaning and purpose of prose and poetry, using textual evidence from the writing.
Arizona - K-12 Academic Standards:
6.RL.5
Common Core State Standards:
Literacy.RL.6.5
Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE):
ELAGSE6RL5
Tennessee Academic Standards:
6.RL.CS.5
Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot.
New York State Next Generation Learning Standards:
6R5
In literary texts, analyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, stanza, chapter, scene, or section
fits into the overall structure of a text and how it contributes to the development of theme,
central idea, setting, or plot. (RL)
Pennsylvania Core Standards:
CC.1.3.6.E
Analyze how the structure of a text contributes to the development of theme, setting, and plot.
Pennsylvania Core Standards:
E06.A-C.2.1.2
Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot.
6th Grade Reading - Structural Elements Lesson
Poetry
A poem is a genre (or type) of literature. Usually, a poem uses a lot of figurative language and has a song-like quality.
These are the elements and types of poetry:
Elements of Poetry:
Rhyme scheme: the pattern in which the end-rhymes of different lines in the poem match
Rhythm: the beat of the poem created by the use of strong and weak syllables, you can clap to the rhythm of the poem
Meter: the pattern and the number of strong and weak syllables that create the rhythm of a poem
Types of Poetry:
Ballad
A long poem that uses simple language. Often, a word or a phrase is repeated in each stanza.
Example: "The Ballad of the Reading Gaol" by Oscar Wilde
Epic
A long poem about a hero and his or her heroics, often a long journey.
Example: "The Odyssey" by Homer
Free Verse
A poem that does not use a fixed rhyme scheme (or rhymes at all) and is not written using a meter.
Example: "Keeping Things Whole" by Mark Strand
Lyrical Poem
A poem that uses a rhyme scheme and is usually written in a meter. Most lyrical poems are written to share the author's thoughts or feelings.
Example: "I am Nobody! Who are you?" by Emily Dickinson
Sonnet
A lyrical poem that has a fixed meter, number of lines, and a rhyme scheme.
Example: the Shakespearean sonnet "Sonnet Number 18" has 14 lines
Story
A story is a made-up passage that shows events that happen to a character or characters. Usually, a story only shows a part of a character’s life. A story has different parts and elements that make up its structure.
These are the structural elements or parts of a story:
Structure:
The rising action in which the action lead to the climax
A problem or a conflict that the character has to solve
A climax or a turning point in which the problem is most intense
The falling action in which the events wrap up after the climax
Elements:
Characters that speak through dialogue or who
are described by the narrator
The time and place in which the events happen (setting)
The main idea and the message of the story (theme)
Drama
A drama, or play, is a passage that tells a story using the lines characters say to each other.
These are the elements or parts of a drama:
Cast of characters: a list of characters that appear in a play; appears near the beginning of the play
Stage setting: the description of the time and place of the play and what the characters are doing as the scene begins
Dialogue: the lines that the characters say to each other to move the plot along
Stage directions: the words that appear in parentheses throughout the play and tell the characters how to act
Scene/Act: a small part of a play in which all actions happen in one place and at one time
6th Grade Reading - Structural Elements Lesson