Analyzing Character, Theme, and Plot in Short Stories Quiz Flashcards
Read the passage from Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea.”
Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she would have to be a real princess. He travelled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he wanted. There were princesses enough, but it was difficult to find out whether they were real ones. There was always something about them that was not as it should be. So he came home again and was sad, for he would have liked very much to have a real princess.
One evening a terrible storm came on; there was thunder and lightning, and the rain poured down in torrents. Suddenly a knocking was heard at the city gate, and the old king went to open it.
It was a princess standing out there in front of the gate. But, good gracious! What a sight the rain and the wind had made her look. The water ran down from her hair and clothes; it ran down into the toes of her shoes and out again at the heels. And yet she said that she was a real princess.
“Well, we’ll soon find that out,” thought the old queen. But she said nothing, went into the bed-room, took all the bedding off the bedstead, and laid a pea on the bottom; then she took twenty mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then twenty eider-down beds on top of the mattresses.
Which quotation from the passage best supports the theme that appearances can be deceiving?
“But, good gracious! What a sight the rain and the wind had made her look.”
Which quotation from “The Story of the Fisherman” in The Arabian Nights Entertainments supports the theme that cleverness trumps wrath?
“That vase could not contain one of your feet even, and how could your whole body go in? I cannot believe it unless I see you do the thing.”
The reason a character thinks, feels, or acts a specific way is called
Character motivation
The ________ of a story can be applied to other works of literature or to life.
Theme
By making inferences based on analysis of a character, the reader is able to determine a character’s
Motivation
How does character motivation affect a story’s plot?
It helps move the plot forward
Which statement best describes the resolution of “Sleeping Beauty”?
The Queen throws herself into the pit of reptiles
Read the passage from The Arabian Nights Entertainments.
Sire, there was once upon a time a fisherman so old and so poor that he could scarcely manage to support his wife and three children. He went every day to fish very early, and each day he made a rule not to throw his nets more than four times. He started out one morning by moonlight and came to the sea-shore. He undressed and threw his nets, and as he was drawing them towards the bank he felt a great weight. He thought he had caught a large fish, and he felt very pleased. But a moment afterwards, seeing that instead of a fish he only had in his nets the carcase of an ass, he was much disappointed.
Vexed with having such a bad haul, when he had mended his nets, which the carcase of the ass had broken in several places, he threw them a second time. In drawing them in he again felt a great weight, so that he thought they were full of fish. But he only found a large basket full of rubbish. He was much annoyed.
“O Fortune,” he cried, “do not trifle thus with me, a poor fisherman, who can hardly support his family!”
So saying, he threw away the rubbish, and after having washed his nets clean of the dirt, he threw them for the third time. But he only drew in stones, shells, and mud. He was almost in despair.
The main character’s motivation is to
Support his wife and three children
Read the passage from “Little Red Riding Hood.” In this older version of the story, she is called “Little Red- Cap.”
The grandmother lived out in the wood, half a league from the village, and just as Little Red-Cap entered the wood, a wolf met her. Little Red-Cap did not know what a wicked creature he was, and was not at all afraid of him.
“Good day, Little Red-Cap,” said he.
“Thank you kindly, wolf.”
“Whither away so early, Little Red-Cap?”
“To my grandmother’s.”
“What have you got in your apron?”
“Cake and wine; yesterday was baking-day, so poor sick grandmother is to have something good, to make her stronger.”
“Where does your grandmother live, Little Red-Cap?”
“A good quarter of a league farther on in the wood; her house stands under the three large oak-trees, the nut-trees are just below; you surely must know it,” replied Little Red-Cap.
What element of a plot does this passage illustrate?
Rising action
Read the passage from Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea.”
Then [the Queen] took twenty mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then twenty eider-down beds on top of the mattresses.
On this the princess had to lie all night. In the morning she was asked how she had slept.
“Oh, very badly!” said she. “I have scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows what was in the bed, but I was lying on something hard, so that I am black and blue all over my body. It’s horrible!”
Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had felt the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eider-down beds.
Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.
So the prince took her for his wife, for now he knew that he had a real princess; and the pea was put in the museum, where it may still be seen, if no one has stolen it.
There, that is a true story.
Which quotation from the passage encompasses the climax of the story?
“‘Oh, very badly!’ said she. ‘I have scarcely closed my eyes all night.’”
Which of these are part of a basic plot structure? Select three options.
A. Exposition
B. Climax
D. Falling action
Which quotation from “The Story of the Fisherman” in The Arabian Nights Entertainments supports the theme that cleverness trumps wrath?
“That vase could not contain one of your feet even, and how could your whole body go in? I cannot believe it unless I see you do the thing.”
Which quotation from “Little Red Riding Hood” explains the theme?
“As long as I live, I will never by myself leave the path, to run into the wood, when my mother has forbidden me to do so.”
What is rising action in a story?
A series of events that lead to the climax
