To Kill a Mockingbird Summary | Plot Diagram
A common use for Storyboard That is to help students create a plot diagram of the events from a novel. Not only is this a great way to teach 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 novel with a six-cell storyboard containing the major parts of the plot diagram. For each cell, have students create a scene that follows the novel in sequence using: Exposition, Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.
Example To Kill a MockingbirdPlot Diagram
Exposition
The Finch family lives in Maycomb, Alabama. Although it is the 1930s, a time of depression, the family is not struggling. Atticus, the father, is a prominent lawyer. The narrator explains that it is a time of racism and prejudice.
Conflict
A young black man is accused of raping a white woman, and Atticus is asked to defend him. This is not easy; Atticus must overcome the prejudice and preconceptions people of Maycomb have against Tom Robinson.
Rising Action
Atticus’ children, Scout and Jem, become a center of attention because their father is representing a black man. Throughout the trial, the children go through tribulations of their own as they learn valuable lessons about justice, commitment, and what is right.
Climax
Tom is found guilty, and Atticus’ innocent children cannot believe that the people they knew could send an innocent man to the electric chair.
Falling Action
One man in particular, Bob Ewell, has made his disapproval of Atticus well known. During the move, he threatened both Atticus, and Tom’s wife, Helen. The children fear he will do something to hurt their father.
Resolution
In the end, Ewell goes after Scout and Jem instead of Atticus. In the process, their reclusive neighbor, Boo Radley, comes to the children's rescue. He grabs Ewell's knife and kills him.
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Lesson Plan Reference
Grade Level 9-10
Difficulty Level 2 (Reinforcing / Developing)
Type of Assignment Individual
Type of Activity: Plot Diagrams and Narrative Arcs
Common Core Standards- [ELA-Literacy/RL/9-10/1] Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text
- [ELA-Literacy/RL/9-10/2] Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text
- [ELA-Literacy/RL/9-10/5] Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise
Student Instructions
Create a visual plot diagram of To Kill a Mockingbird.
- Separate the story into the Exposition, Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.
- Create an image that represents an important moment or set of events for each of the story components.
- Write a description of each of the steps in the plot diagram.
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