Fiction Skills Review

The best definition of theme is...

• The lesson the author is teaching. 

• The message the author is sending.

• A word that summarizes the story.

• The character's main problem.

What is the theme of this story?  

• Eat your vegetables.

• Don't brag. Be modest. 

• Don't talk to strangers. 

• Necessity is the mother of invention.

An author usually does not state the theme in the story. You must use clues and infer his idea.

• True

• False

"Troy stuttered, blushed and shook as he addressed the crowd."
What can you infer about Troy from this statement? 

• Troy enjoys public speaking

• Troy is nervous

• Troy is an actor

• Troy has food poisoning

"Norman sees cookie crumbs on the floor and chocolate around his son's mouth." - To understand, or "read between the lines" of what really happened in this statement is called....

• annotation(s)

• context clues

• inferences (to infer)

• part of speech

Read the following sentence: The hedgehog was ecstatic-- She had found a hole to burrow into, and she was happily settled beneath the ground, excited to sleep the day away. Based on the context clues, what is the denotation of the word "ecstatic" in the passage?

• overly intelligent

• greatly impressed

• extremely happy

• often late

Read the following sentence: How would the meaning of the sentence change if the author used the word "unhurried" instead of the word "sluggish"?

• The man would seem less lazy

• the man would seem funnier

• the man wold seem more talented

• the man would seem animal-like

the way a writer reveals a character's personality - through the character's words and behavior, descriptions of the character's appearance, descriptions of the character's thoughts and feelings, and comments made about the character by the others in the story

• imagery

• author's purpose

• characterization

• humor

a situation in which the reader or audience knows something that the characters in the text do not

• dramatic irony

• situational irony

• verbal irony

What is the theme of this story? 

• Necessity is the mother of invention.

• Don't steal.

• Respect your elders.

• Slowly but surely wins the race.