Source: Luo Binwang, Wikimedia
Now that you are familiar with the components of plot and character and how they relate to one another, take a look at a story to see them in action. Click the link to open the story “The Beggar’s Handkerchief.” When you have finished reading the story, return to the lesson and follow the directions below.
Read the first paragraph of the story again. Below is an annotated version.
Click on the highlighted text to see think-alouds that analyze the text for plot and character.
Now, read the next paragraph and click on the highlighted text to see think-alouds.
In the table below, you can see how the characters’ motivations are beginning to affect the plot.
| Character | Motivation/Conflict | Plot |
|---|---|---|
| Beggar | He is poor and thirsty but has nothing to drink. | He seeks comfort at a rich house but gets turned away by a rich lady. A servant girl helps the beggar instead. He seeks to repay her with his handkerchief. |
| Rich lady | The beggar is thirsty, but the rich lady doesn’t want to help him. | She turns away the beggar. |
| Servant girl | She is sympathetic to the beggar at the risk of making her employer angry. | She gives the beggar a drink of water and receives his handkerchief in return. |
Now, take your analysis a step farther by looking at another table shown below. This table demonstrates the STEAL mnemonic, a device that will help you understand more about the characters in the stories you read.
| Speech | What does the character say? How does the character speak? |
| Thoughts | What is revealed through the character’s private thoughts and feelings? |
| Effect on others | What is revealed through the character’s effect on other people? How do other characters feel or behave in reaction to the character? |
| Actions | What does the character do? How does the character behave? |
| Looks | What does the character look like? How does the character dress? |
Using the STEAL mnemonic, answer the questions in the chart as they apply to the rich lady. Use your notes. Keep in mind that the characters’ motivations and conflicts may change according to what happens in the plot. In addition, the plot may be altered as a result of the characters’ motivations and conflicts. When you are finished, check your understanding to see possible responses. Speech: The rich lady is demanding. She wants to know where the handkerchief comes from. She shouts at the servant girl.
Thoughts: She is shocked when she sees how beautiful the servant girl is. She realizes that she could have had the handkerchief if she had helped the beggar.
Effects on others: She thinks she can get a magic handkerchief, so she invites all the beggars to her home. The beggars realize that she isn’t honest, so they don’t give her handkerchiefs. She, however, takes one, and it makes her face dirtier and uglier.
Actions: She turns away the beggar rather than helping him. She is demanding and shouts at her servants. She feeds the beggars not because she cares for them but only to get what she wants.
Looks: Not much information is given about her looks at the beginning of the story, but at the end, her face is dirty and ugly.
You can use this chart to get an idea of how the author made decisions about his plot and characters. The rich lady’s speech, thoughts, effects on others, and actions all point to a selfish demanding woman. If you look closely at the Actions section of the mnemonic, you can get an idea of how important the character’s thoughts, feelings, and actions are. The rich lady turns away the beggar, and what happens? He repays the servant girl for her kindness by giving her a magic handkerchief. Does the rich lady learn from her actions after that? No, she doesn’t learn from her actions because she shouts at her servants, demanding that they bring in all the beggars. Finally, she feeds the beggars and demands their handkerchiefs as they leave. Use your notes to answer this final question: What motivates the beggars to act the way they do? When you are finished, check your understanding to see a sample response. The beggars know from the rich lady’s actions that she is not kind, only selfish. They punish her by not giving her a magical handkerchief. In fact, the last beggar allows the lady to take his dirty handkerchief, which makes her face dirty rather than beautiful.
The next time you’re reading a novel or short story, and the plot holds your interest, think about how that happened. How did the characters affect the development of the plot, and how did they keep the story interesting?