English Freshman Year Winter Exam

Secret Life if Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

I……..Setting – Where and when the story takes place

A. Sets the scene

South Carolina 1964
Summer

B. Sets the mood

Traps bee in jar
Somber, calm, angry,

C. Names or indicates location

Often there are 3 major locations in a novel
- South Carolina
- House
- Tiburon, South Carolina
- Boatwright house
- Honey House
- Peach orchard
- At house in South Carolina
One major location in a short story

D. Indicates the time frame

II. Characters – people, animals, or occasionally things around which the story centers.

A. Characters reveal themselves in several ways

How they think
2. How they act and react
3. What they say
4. What other characters say about them
5. What the narrator says about them

Character list:
- Lily Owens
- Immature thinking
- Impulsive, acts out
- Other characters are loving towards her
- Narrator describes her as young/innocent
- T-Ray
- Stubborn, regretful
- Hurt
- Aggressive
- angry
- August Boatwright
- Productful, caring thinking
- Acts thoughtfully
- \
- May Boatwright
- Feels the hurt/suffering of other
- light-hearted
- June Boatwright
- Stubborn
- Heard-headed
- Guard up
- Rosaleen
- loving
- strong/perseveres
- Some characters
- Zach Taylor
- loving/big heart
- Understanding

B. Often how a character changes is an important part of the story

1. Change in a character often indicates a main character

Lily
- Idea of family

2. Static characters are usually of lesser importance

III Action/Plot – The plot is what happens in a story. Parts of plot include:

a. Introduction/Exposition --

Laying in bed

seeing the bees

at home

b. Complication/Initial Incident –

When Rosaleen gets arrested

When T Ray says that Lilly’s mother left her

c. Rising Action –

Main events and complications in the story. A novel usually has 8-12; a short story may have only one.

When Lilly breaks Roseline out of jail,

Runs away

d. Climax/Turning Point –

High point of the story; the place where the story reaches its greatest tension. This is the point at which everything else that happens is inevitable – the reader no longer wonders what will happen. If the story stops here, it’s considered a cliff-hanger.

When she confronts T Ray

When August shows the photo of her mom

Lilly in the honey room

e. Falling Action/Denouement – the action after the climax; ties up loose ends of the plot.

Walking back to the house

Moms are the moon shining over me

f. Resolution/Conclusion –

Ends the story.

C. Conflicts – Often the story centers on a conflict that the major characters experience. Types of conflicts include:

Lily vs. Self, Lily vs. T.Ray, Lily vs. her Mother, Lily vs. Society, May vs. Self, Zach vs. Society, August vs. Society, Lily vs. June, etc.

a. Person vs. Self

b. Person vs. Person

c. Person vs. Society

D. Theme – The central idea or message at the heart of a story. The theme of a story is the central point, which is often some truth about human beings.

Rebirth, Mothers, Acceptance

E. Point of view – 1st Person

F.Symbols – Moon, River, Nature, Water, Bees, Motherhood, Honey, Colors (Dull vs. Bright),

Structure of a Novel or Short Story: When the Emperor Was Divine

I……..Setting – Where and when the story takes place:

A. Sets the scene: Goes to Lundy’s Hardware → buys tools to pack up and kill White Dog, once at the house begins packing bags.

B. Sets the mood: Somber, intense, foreshadowing the future

C. Names or indicates location

1. Often there are 3 major locations in a novel

Berkeley, California
Topaz, Utah
Train

2. One major location in a short story

Internment camp→ Topaz, Utah

D. Indicates the time frame: Late April 1942

II. Characters – people, animals, or occasionally things around which the story centers.

Boy: starts as naive → steps into the male figure of the household
Girl: starts out as sweet/helpful → becomes reckless, acts out
Mom: starts out as put together, traditional → begins losing herself/personality
Dad: starts out as normal father figure → disappears and comes back as different, keeps to himself

A. Characters reveal themselves in several ways

1. How they think

2. How they act and react

3. What they say

4. What other characters say about them

5. What the narrator says about them

B. Often how a character changes is an important part of the story

1. Change in a character often indicates a main character

2. Static characters are usually of lesser importance

III Action/Plot – The plot is what happens in a story. Parts of plot include:

a. Introduction/Exposition -- when the mom goes the the hardware store

Indicates setting (time/place/mood) and characters.

b. Complication/Initial Incident – the mom kills the dog

Twist or problem that is specific to the action of the story (a conflict is more general or literary, see below). The first complication in the story is called the initial incident.

c. Rising Action – when the family is packing their suitcases, the mom kills their dog

Main events and complications in the story. A novel usually has 8-12; a short story may have only one.

d. Climax/Turning Point – when the dad returns (everything shifts)

e. Falling Action/Denouement – when the family gets back into society but is being treated differently than before

the action after the climax; ties up loose ends of the plot.

f. Resolution/Conclusion – when kids on the street begin calling out to them and society is growing closer to slightly accepting them back into their lives

Ends the story.

C. Conflicts – Often the story centers on a conflict that the major characters experience. Types of conflicts include:

a. Person vs. Self

b. Person vs. Person; Person vs. Society

c. Person vs. Nature

D. Theme – The central idea or message at the heart of a story. The theme of a story is the central point, which is often some truth about human beings.

a. Stories may or may not have a theme. They may simply have been written to entertain, amuse, or horrify.

b. On the other hand, stories or novels may have several themes.

c. Classic themes are: love, hate, death, jealousy, friendship, or revenge.

E. Point of view -- Point of view changes between the boy, girl, and mom as a third person point of view

The position from which the story is observed

a. First person: “I”

b. Second person: “you”

c. Third person: “he,” “she,” “it,” “they”

1. Limited omniscient– narrator only provides access into one character’s mind

2. Omniscient – narrator allows reader access into more than one character’s mind

IV SYMBOLS:

Colors
- White
Dust
Mustang/Horses
Bird
Fence
Tulip
Rose Bush
Absence of water
Moon

Structure of a Novel or Short Story

I……..Setting – Where and when the story takes place

A. Sets the scene

Chicago/Futuristic

B. Sets the mood

Self- oppressive society (dystopian)

C. Names or indicates location

The city
Fire station
The house
The river
The abandoned railroad
- Where he meets the other professors and Granger
- in the middle of the woods

D. Indicates the time frame

2022 = past date of war

II. Characters – people, animals, or occasionally things around which the story centers.

All half-dead

Clarisse

Asks hard questions→makes the rest of society uncomfy
clarisse=clear
- Kickstarts Montag’s development
- Asks him if he is happy

Montag

Fireman= burns books/ starts fires
- Begin→ he struggles/on the fence on what he chooses to believe in
- End > decides to rebuild society and has a love for books

Beatty

The physical embodiment of the societal norms

Mechanical Hound

Representation
- of how twisted world is
- Kills-> no mercy
- Power of fear; Guy scared of hound

Granger/ other professors

Exhibits to guy how strong a love of books can be

1. One of many who memorizes chapter/pgs from book 2. Lives in towns with other ppl with the corresponding books within their minds

Mildred

(Reason not to give children drugs)
Ideal figure in society
Absent-minded
Obsessed with drugs and tv
Believes that the people in the TV are her family
1. Faber

Old professor who’s friends with Montag
Goes above and beyond to bring literature back to the world in Louisiana

1. Gives montag his clothes in order to flee from the hounds olfactory sense

Old lady= died in fire

Pushes montag even further starts forming his own questions
- Wants to be able to love something more than himself
- How did she love something that much

III Action/Plot – The plot is what happens in a story. Parts of plot include:

a. Introduction/Exposition --

He meets Clarrisse
We see how different the society is
Get introduced to firemen
Mildred overdoses
Lives in city

b. Complication/Initial Incident –

Guy meets Clarisse→question asker
He opens up to her (unwillingly)
- She opens his mind to societal problems

Twist or problem that is specific to the action of the story (a conflict is more general or literary, see below). The first complication in the story is called the initial incident.

c. Rising Action –

Sees a women burn w/ her books
Steals a book 2 read
Gets caught
Tries to start a rebellion
Has firemen burn his house for his book collection

Main events and complications in the story. A novel usually has 8-12; a short story may have only one.

d. Climax/Turning Point –

They find out he’s hiding books
Burns house
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e. Falling Action/Denouement – the action after the climax; ties up loose ends of the plot.

Bomb is dropped on city
Runs away into hiding
Meets the professors
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f. Resolution/Conclusion –

He remembers verses from the bible
They go to rebuild the city

Ends the story.

C. Conflicts – Often the story centers on a conflict that the major characters experience. Types of conflicts include:

a. Person vs. Self

Mildred=
- She overdoses to get away reality
- Delusional/ lives in no man’s landde
Guy=
- Burns books/ wants to read them
- Wants to learn ab history

b. Person vs. Person

Guy vs. Beety
Guy vs. the Hound

C. Person vs. Society

Wants to be able to read and have full brain functions
- Guy
- Clariss
- Faber
- Society

d. Person vs. Nature

Guy vs. Fire

D. Theme – The central idea or message at the heart of a story. The theme of a story is the central point, which is often some truth about human beings.

Love
Fire
- Hate
Water
- Renewal/ restart
Life

a. Stories may or may not have a theme. They may simply have been written to entertain, amuse, or horrify.

b. On the other hand, stories or novels may have several themes.

c. Classic themes are: love, hate, death, jealousy, friendship, or revenge.

E. Point of view -- The position from which the story is observed

c. Third person: “he,” “she,” “it,” “they”

1. Limited omniscient– narrator only provides access into one character’s mind

alliteration = multiple uses of the same sound in close proximity
allusion = a reference to another piece of text
hyperbole (or overstatement) = “statements or claims not meant to be taken literally”
imagery = “visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work.”
irony = “the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite”
metaphor = “a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.”
onomatopoeia = “the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named”
oxymoron = “a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction”
paradox = “a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.”
personification = “the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.”
simile = a comparison using like or as
speaker = “the voice of the poem, similar to a narrator in fiction”
stanza = “a division of a poem consisting of two or more lines arranged together as a unit.”
symbol = “an object, a person, a situation, or an action that has a literal meaning in a story but suggests or represents other meanings.”
synesthesia = “an author's blending of human senses to describe an object”
theme = the overall lesson or idea to be taken away from the story
tone = the tone of voice an author takes toward a specific subject
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