Chapter 12 – The qualities of stories

Consider the following statements and click to reveal the answer.

1. Explain the rationale for the following reasons why stories are so important for children:

a. To satisfy their curiosity.

b. To help them make sense of the world.

c. To experience the world vicariously.

d. To put them in touch with a common culture.

e. To improve their literacy.

f. To extend their knowledge and experience of language forms.

g. To give them pleasure.

Answer:

a. To satisfy their curiosity – this builds on children’s desire to know what happen next by stimulating their interest.

b. To help them make sense of the world – everyone, including children, tries to impose order in their lives by telling stories about them.

c. To experience the world vicariously – stories can provide opportunities to learn from the experiences of others.

d. To put them in touch with a common culture – children learn much about their own cultural heritage and that of the wider world by reading stories.

e. To improve their literacy – stories give children opportunities to learn about language at word, sentence and text levels and enable them to develop an understanding of phonics and grammar.

f. To extend their knowledge and experience of language forms – reading a wide range of stories helps children to learn about the structures and conventions of written language.

g. To give them pleasure – children need to read for their own enjoyment and not just to develop their language skills.

2. List three different genres of children’s stories.

Answer:

The different genres of children’s stories include (any three from): folk and fairy tales; myths and legends; adventure stories; detective stories; school-based stories; love stories; historical stories; magical tales or any others from the many references to different genres across the chapter.

3. Put the main stages of story structure into the right order:

  • The inciting moment
  • The ending
  • The opening
  • The development
  • The denouement

Answer:

  • The correct order is:

  • The inciting moment

  • The ending

  • The opening

  • The development

  • The denouement

4. List the alternative names for:

  • The story opening

  • The inciting moment

  • The denouement

  • The ending

Answer:

a. The story opening – orientation, exposition or the state of equilibrium.

b. The inciting moment – breach, disruption or complicating action.

c. The denouement – resolution.

d. The ending – redress, reinstatement, coda or conclusion.

5. What are the suggested criteria for evaluating and making judgements about stories?

Answer:

The suggested criteria for evaluating and making judgements about stories are:

  • Appropriateness

  • Social/political awareness

  • Plot and themes

  • Characters

  • Language

  • Illustrations

  • The properties of the book as an object

  • Teacher interest