Creating a plot diagram not only helps students learn the parts of the plot, but it reinforces major events and help students develop greater understanding of literary structures. Students can create a storyboard capturing the narrative arc in a work with a six-cell storyboard containing the major parts of the plot diagram. In this activity, students will create a visual plot diagram of major events in A Long Walk to Water. Students should identify major turning points in the novel such as the Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action and Resolution.
Exposition - Life in a Time of War and Famine
The war in Sudan changed the life of young Salva Dut in the 1980s. He must flee and search for his family without any true companionship along the way. Also set in Sudan, but in 2008, is the story of young Nya, who must walk for hours to get water for her family each day.
Rising Action - Forced to Flee
While Salva is in school gunshots, ring out all around the small schoolhouse. His teacher urges everyone to flee to the bush, as far away from the village as they can. They are under attack!
Climax - Refugee Camps
After a long time of walking and dangerous experiences, Salva ends up in a refugee camp in Ethiopia, where he stays for many years. When word that the camp is closing down, refugees are forced to leave and fight for their lives yet again.
Falling Action - Going to America
Salva leads a group of nearly 1,500 young men from Ethiopia to Kenya, where they find the Ifo Refuge Camp. After what seems like a lifetime there, Salva and 8 other boys, known as "the Lost Boys", are chosen to go to America.
Resolution - Reunion and Making a Difference
When Salva moves to Rochester, NY, he is welcomed into a new family and begins a new life. He also is able to see his parents and siblings again. He goes to college and begins a nonprofit organization called Water for South Sudan, which has brought clean water to hundreds of thousands in Sudan.
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Due Date:
Objective: Create a visual plot diagram of A Long Walk to Water.
Student Instructions:
Introduce the activity of making a plot diagram to students and tell them that they need to summarize the main events present in the plot to make this diagram. Ask the students to carefully read and analyze the story a couple of times from the perspective of summarizing the main events. Encourage the students to make notes and use highlighters for this step.
After students are clear on the activity of the plot diagram and are familiar with the stages and sections of the diagram, teachers can ask them to apply their knowledge to the plot of “A Long Way Down”. Once students have divided the story into visible sections of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, it will be easier for them to summarize the events for each section.
Help the students practice paraphrasing so that they can learn to summarize large texts without missing major details and maintain the essence of the real text. Teachers can give students regular exercises related to vocabulary learning, acquisition, and sentence formation to help perfect their skills.
Ask the students to form small groups and assign each group one section of the book as divided earlier. Students can talk about the key insights they gained about each section while summarizing the text and sharing them with the rest of the class. Understanding can be improved by this cooperative method.
At the end of the session, ask the students to reflect on the key insights they gained after performing this activity. Students can focus on points about lessons that can be drawn from Salva and Nya's story, as well as the significance of the events and the topics the book explores.
Students can provide information regarding the Sudanese setting in the exposition section. To draw attention to the geographical and cultural elements that are important to the plot, encourage the students to utilize graphic representations or annotations.
The plot diagram's various portions should clearly illustrate themes like resiliency, survival, the effects of conflict, and the value of water. Students should summarize the main events in such a way that the plot does not lose the essence of the actual narrative and readers can still identify elements such as themes, character development, and conflicts just by looking at the plot diagram.