Analyzing Setting, Plot, & Character Development in “To Build a Fire”

Explore key story elements in more excerpts from the classic American short story “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry.

In Part Two of this two-part series, you'll analyze how important information about two main characters is revealed through the context of the story’s setting and events in the plot. By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to explain how character development, setting, and plot interact in "The Gift of the Magi."

Make sure to complete Part One before beginning Part Two. Click HERE to launch Part One. 

Explore key story elements in the classic American short story “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry. Throughout this two-part tutorial, you'll analyze how important information about two main characters is revealed through the context of the story’s setting and events in the plot. By the end of this tutorial series, you should be able to explain how character development, setting, and plot interact in excerpts from this short story.

Make sure to complete both parts! Click HERE to view "How Story Elements Interact in 'The Gift of the Magi' -- Part Two."

Learn to identify aspects of setting and character as you analyze several excerpts from “The Yellow Wallpaper," a chilling short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman that explores the impact on its narrator of being confined to mostly one room. You'll also determine how the narrator’s descriptions of the story’s setting better reveal her emotional and mental state.

This interactive tutorial is Part One in a two-part series. By the end of Part Two, you should be able to explain how the narrator changes through her interaction with the setting. Click below to launch Part Two.

The Power to Cure or Impair: The Importance of Setting in 'The Yellow Wallpaper' -- Part Two 

Continue to examine several excerpts from the chilling short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, which explores the impact on its narrator of being confined to mostly one room. In Part Two of this tutorial series, you'll determine how the narrator’s descriptions of the story’s setting reveal its impact on her emotional and mental state. By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to explain how the narrator changes through her interaction with the setting.

Make sure to complete Part One before beginning Part Two. Click HERE to launch "The Power to Cure or Impair: The Importance of Setting in 'The Yellow Wallpaper' -- Part One." 

Learn more about how dialogue, a character’s thoughts, and key events can reveal aspects of a character as you read excerpts from the exciting science fiction novel Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. As you learn more about Ender, the main character, you’ll piece together information about the world in which he lives and his unique situation given the demands of his environment.

This interactive tutorial is Part Two of a two-part series. Make sure to complete Part One first! Click HERE to launch Part One.

Learn how dialogue, a character’s thoughts, and key events can reveal aspects of a character as you read excerpts from the exciting science fiction novel Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. As you learn more about Ender, the main character, you’ll piece together information about the world in which he lives and his unique situation given the demands of his environment.

This interactive tutorial is Part One of a two-part series. Make sure to complete both parts! Click HERE to launch Part Two.

Analyze the interaction between characters and specific events to help reveal aspects of the infamous Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  In this interactive tutorial, you’ll examine how specific character interactions and plot events help provoke Scrooge to make a decision about the way he lives his life. 

In this two-part tutorial series, you’ll analyze the interaction among character development, setting, and plot in the short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. In Part One, you’ll read the first three excerpts from the story and analyze how the author reveals important information about a main character in the context of the setting and in the events of the plot. 

Make sure to complete both parts of this series! Click HERE to launch Part Two. 

In this two-part tutorial series, you’ll analyze the interaction among character development, setting, and plot in the short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. In Part Two, you’ll read the rest of the story and analyze how the author reveals important information about a main character in the context of the setting and in the events of the plot. By the end of Part Two, you should be able to explain how the setting and events in the plot have transformed the character of Louise Mallard by the end of the story. 

Make sure to complete Part One before beginning Part Two. Click HERE to launch Part One.