Reading a longer story: setting and character clues
A story begins with a setting: a time and a place. The writer shows it with sounds, smells and light, and these details also create the mood. A character is shown in the same way. A writer seldom says that someone is honest; the writer shows it through actions and words. To answer a question about character, name the trait and then give the clue: He is honest because he runs after the customer to return the note. Other characters show values too: a person who offers tea and says that the work can wait may value kindness more than speed. In your reader, The Count of Monte Cristo, read Chapter 1 on pages 5 to 11. The exercises on this chapter are on page 41. We do not retell the chapter here. After you read it, look for its setting and for clues about its characters, using the questions in the table.
| Look at | Question to ask | Example from our story |
|---|---|---|
| Setting | Where and when? What can you hear, smell and see? | a market before sunrise; lamps, mint, carts |
| Mood | How does the place feel? | busy and warm |
| Trait | What is the person like? | honest and careful |
| Clue | Which action or word shows it? | he runs after the customer with the note |
Long before sunrise the vegetable market was already awake. Lamps swung above the crates, the air smelled of mint and wet carrots, and the first carts rolled over the stones with a low rumble. Youssef, sixteen, was helping at his aunt’s stall for the first time. He rubbed his eyes and began to stack the tomatoes in neat pyramids. His aunt, Madam Samia, watched his hands and said nothing. At eight o’clock a hurried customer paid for her onions, took her bag and left in a rush. Under a crate Youssef noticed a folded twenty-pound note. He remembered the woman’s open purse, picked up the note and ran between the carts. “Excuse me! Is this yours?” he called. She stared at it, then smiled. When he came back, the tomato pyramid had fallen. His aunt only raised an eyebrow and passed him a glass of tea. “Sit,” she said. “The tomatoes can wait.”
Clue notebook. Choose a character from a film or a story you know well. Write one sentence about the setting and two trait clues, each with because. List clues only; do not retell the story.