Elements of a Narrative

1.2.1 The student will consider the contributions of plot, character, setting, conflict, and point of view when constructing the meaning of a text.

Students need Practice Reading from page 21

The initial exhilaration and joyful sense of freedom that must accompany any new adventure had been worn away by the combined weight of labor and monotony. Chores that had been accomplished easily at home in the East seemed almost impossible on this journey. Back at home, I would sing as I washed clothes in the sunshine, with a washtub next to the well. The clean fragrance of the soap and the sunshine and the sounds of the birtds all seemed like a dream to me now as I found myself lugging mounds of soiled clothes across endless fields to the nearest river, almost a mile away.

It seemed to take years to pass the Great Plains, a vast chasm of space filled with dust and heat and boredom. And then, suddenly, without warning, summer was over. Autumn peeked out behind the white clouds in the blue sky, then hid herself again.

The just as suddenly, the mountains rose up before us. As we began the climb into the mountains, we could heart the wind whispering, "Hurry, hurry." We could feel the cold breath of winter chasing after us. We could see the clouds gathering snow like soldiers filling ammunition bags.

From HSA Finish Line, Continental Press, 2006.

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