Welcome to Mrs. McMillan's Reading Site

When students and teachers talk about books, there are many starting points. Of course, it's helpful if we are using the same vocabulary.

• SETTING is where (place) and when (time) the story occurs. The setting can change drastically from chapter to chapter, so how do you know which setting is important?  When in doubt, ask yourself, Is this place or time important to the story's plot?

• cHARACTER is who (person) or what (animal/object) has a role in the story's action.  Some characters develop and are round or dynamic, but others do not develop and are flat or static.

• pLOT is what happens (the series of events) or the story's action.

• THEME is why the author wrote the story.  What is the message or lesson or moral (i.e., fable's characteristic).

• pOINT-OF VIEW is how the story is told.  Who is the narrator? Which person is telling the story?  Is a character telling the story in the first person, using pronouns like I, me, my, mine, or myself and we, us, our, ours, or ourselves?  Is the story limited to a character's thoughts and perceptions, using third person pronouns like he, his, himself, her, hers, herself, it, its, itself, they, them, their, theirs, or themselves.  Is the story being told by an external, all-knowing, or omnisicient narrator, using third person pronouns like he, his, himself, her, hers, herself, it, its, itself, they, them, their, theirs, or themselves.