Unit 1 Review: The Short Story

Lesson Goal

Students will read a short story they haven't seen, Saki's The Open Window, and answer twelve questions covering the six ideas in Unit 1: conflict, the story arc, symbol, theme, foreshadowing and suspense, and character and inference.

Key Concepts

Two questions cover each idea. The hints only point back to the part of the story that answers the question, so the student has to bring the unit's terms with him.

The story turns on a trick the reader learns only in the last line: Vera invents the tragedy of the open window on the spot, and Framton runs away from the family he thinks are ghosts.

Where Students Get Stuck

Students often confuse a theme with a plot summary, and a clue with a scary moment. A theme has no names in it and is true of people in general; a clue points ahead to something that comes later. If he misses the arc questions, ask what is still unsettled at that moment.

Teaching Suggestion

Treat this as a test: no notes and no help during the questions, then go over the misses together afterward. Each miss maps to one lesson in the unit, so tell him which one to reopen.

Key Vocabulary

Symbol

A person, place or thing that has meaning in itself and also stands for something beyond itself.

Theme

The idea about life that a story reveals, usually written as a sentence that's true of people in general.

Foreshadowing

The use of clues to suggest events that will happen later in a story.

Inference

An educated guess based on evidence: a clue from the text plus what you already know.