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Your purpose is to take a closer look at the authors' purposes in realistic fiction stories.

This is what you will need:

• a realistic fiction book
• paper and pencil or access to a computer for word processing

Realistic fiction are stories about real-life. Characters are believable and have actual real-life experiences and problems. The basic story elements of characters, setting, problem, plot, and resolution are also found in realistic fiction. Also important is the theme of the story. This is the overall message or key idea presented by the author.

As you read this book, you will be asked to focus on:

• the main character of the story
• the theme of the story

1. Write your heading on a piece of paper. Include: the title of the book, the author's name, your name and date. For example,

1. Preview the story by looking at the title, cover, book jacket, chapter headings and illustrations. Think: What do you think this story is going to be about?
2. Next, write a brief paragraph stating why you selected this book and what you think this story is going to be about. Be sure to give evidences from the book to support your thinking.

Build a character web to fill in information about the main character as you are reading this book. Copy the format below on your own paper.

As you complete the web, note your discovery or conclusion and also an evidence from the story to support it. For example, if you were reading an Amelia Bedelia story you might say under "Behaviors" that she gets directions confused - make a note of something in the story that is an example of this like putting clothes on the turkey when she was suppose to add dressing.

After Reading Activities

Reflect on your notes about the character in your story. In realistic fiction, the experiences of the main character often cause some changes in thoughts or behaviors from the beginning to the end of the story. How did your character change over time? Write a paragraph to summarize your thoughts about the character.

The theme is the message, lesson or main idea that the author is trying to get across to the reader. It could be the author's view on friendship, good versus evil, or the nature of happiness. It may be a moral or a piece of advice to the reader or to society in general.

Respond to each of the theme-related questions below:

1. What is the theme of this book? Write a one sentence statement that sums up the message in this book.
2. How did the author communicate this theme? Was it through character development or plot that you came to understand this theme? Give story evidences to support your thinking.
3. What are your thoughts about this theme? Does it make sense to you ? If the theme of this book represents a value (a personal measure of what is important or right or wrong), is it a value that you share or is it in conflict with what is important to you?

1. Think about the main character in this book. Think about the qualities that you feel make good friends. Would you choose to have the main character as a friend? Write a paragraph to explain why or why not you would like to have him/her as a friend.
2. Suppose that the main character in this book comes to visit you at your home where you actually live at this time. Write a journal entry or several journal entries from the main character's point of view to tell about that visit. Include what happens and describe the character's feelings about what happens and the people he/she meets.

Return to Realistic Fiction