1. Notice and Note Signposts
These “markers” can help guide you along the path to understanding as you read fiction. When you notice them, stop and take note.

2. Contrasts and Contradictions
The character acts in a way that is contradictory or unexpected compared to how he or she usually acts.
Contrasts
and
Contradictions
Text Clue:
Author shows actions or
feelings we haven’t seen before
or doesn’t expect
Question:
Why would the character act (feel) this way?

3. The author interrupts the flow of the story by letting the character remember something.
Memory
Moment
Text Clue:
“I remember…”
“The memory flooded back…”
“It was a strange memory…”
“She suddenly remembered…”
Question:
Why might this memory be important?

4. A character asks himself or a trusted friend a tough question that reveals concerns (internal conflict) the character has.
Tough
Questions
Text Clue:
Questions, often asked of self, that can’t be answered
Sometimes offered as statement, “I wonder if…”
Question:
What does this question make me wonder about? What does it tell me about the character?

5. The character realizes or comes to understand something that changes his thinking or his actions
Aha
Moment
Text Clue:
I suddenly realized…
Now I understood why…
It hit me with a force…
I knew what I had to do…
Question:
How might this change things?

6. A wiser —and usually older—character offers advice and insight about life to the main character.
Words
of the
Wiser
Text Clue:
A wiser, often older, character offers a life lesson, usually in a quiet moment
Question:
What’s the life lesson and how might it affect the main character?

7. The author keeps bringing up the same image, phrase, or reference
Again
and
Text Clue:
A repeated image, phrase, or reference
Question:
Why does this keep showing up again and again?