How do you identify the problem in a story?

Let’s Review 3rd Person, an outside narrator is telling the story Main Characters: Dyamonde and Free First, let’s review. We know this book, Dyamonde Daniel is written in the 3rd person, so the story is told to us by an outside narrator.

Readers, sometimes a common mistake is that we identify a minor problem as a major problem. There can be smaller problems or issues that a character is confronted with in a story. When we look for the major problem or issue in the story, we want to identify the problem that a character struggles with throughout the book. This problem will be resolved by the end of the book.

The first step for this strategy is to pause after reading the first chapter. So, I’ve read the first chapter of Dyamonde Daniel and now I’m going to pause.

Alright, so now I am going to ask: What is Dyamonde struggling with?

One morning, in her third grade homeroom, Dyamonde was feeling down. Page 3 One morning, in her third grade homeroom, Dyamonde was feeling down. If I’m so smart, thought Dyamonde, how come I’ve been in this new school three whole weeks and I still don’t have a new best friend? Let me take a look at this part of the first chapter on page 3… one morning… Hmm… after reading this, I thought Dyamonde seems to be struggling to make friends. She’s wondering why she doesn’t have a best friend after being at this school for three weeks.

In this first chapter I learned Dyamonde is struggling to make friends In this first chapter I learned Dyamonde is struggling to make friends. That seems like a problem other kids might have and it also seems like a problem she might face throughout the book. So, let me now take a minute to write this on a post-it note. Dyamonde feels like she is struggling to make friends. This might be the problem in this story, so I’m going to watch how Dyamonde handles making friends while I read the rest of the story.

In this lesson, you learned one strategy to identify the problem in a story is to pause after reading the first chapter, then ask: What is the main character struggling with? Finally, be sure to jot your ideas about what the problem might be on a post it.

In this lesson you have learned how to identify the main character’s problem by asking What is the main character struggling with?

Read a section of your book. Pause after reading the first chapter of your book. Ask yourself: “What is the main character struggling with?” Jot your ideas on a sticky note.

In your reader’s notebook, brainstorm the struggles and problems you’ve seen characters have in books that you’ve read. With a partner or small group, make a list of common struggles. Share your list with the class. Compare the similarities and differences across different texts.