Multiple Genres: Analyzing How Setting Including Historical And Cultural Contexts Influences Character And Plot Development (TEKS.ELA.6.7.D)
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Texas 6th Grade ELA › Multiple Genres: Analyzing How Setting Including Historical And Cultural Contexts Influences Character And Plot Development (TEKS.ELA.6.7.D)
By late spring of 1936, the red earth of Clara's family farm in the Oklahoma Panhandle lay under a crust of dust. For months, wind had scoured the fields, lifting soil into brown clouds that seeped through window sills and settled into teacups. Their wheat failed again. A notice from the bank, creased and grit-stained, warned of foreclosure. At the general store, a line formed for government flour, and a faded handbill promised fruit-picking jobs in California. Clara stitched cotton cloths into makeshift masks for her little brothers, tied wet towels over the doorframe, and listened to the radio crackle with weather reports that never brought rain. When the sky turned copper and the house groaned, she guided the boys under the table the way her mother had taught her. That night, as her father wrapped the family Bible and a photograph in oilcloth, Clara folded her quilt and tucked in a tin of saved seed. She looked once at the upright piano, silent beneath a film of dust, and helped load the wagon bound for the highway west.
How does the setting influence the character's actions?
The Dust Bowl's drought, dust storms, and foreclosure threats push Clara to prepare masks, pack essentials, and leave for California.
The setting is a farm with wind and fields, which makes the story feel realistic and outdoorsy.
Clara leaves because she is naturally adventurous and wants to see new places, no matter where she lives.
The plot is exciting because there are storms and wagons, so Clara decides to go on an epic journey.
Explanation
Clara's choices—sewing dust masks, sheltering during storms, packing treasured items, and agreeing to migrate—are direct responses to the Dust Bowl setting and economic pressures. Extension: Write 3–4 sentences explaining how the Dust Bowl creates both conflict and opportunity for Clara's family. Scaffold: Because the setting is __________, the character __________. Enrichment: Compare how Clara's decisions might differ if the setting were a rainy Midwest year versus the Dust Bowl.
On the eve of Lunar New Year, Mei's family grocery above the corner of a narrow Chinatown street buzzed with smells and color. Steam curled from the kitchen where her grandmother simmered fish for prosperity, while baskets of glossy oranges promised luck. Outside, drumbeats from a lion dance rehearsal thumped through the stairwell. Mei had saved for months to buy a skateboard, counting coins in a tea tin. But her mother handed her a list of offerings to place: oranges for the doorway, sweets for guests, and red packets ready for little cousins. When her younger brother reached for a broom, Mei caught his wrist—no sweeping tonight, she reminded him, or we brush away good fortune. She ran down to the shop and used her saved bills to buy the fattest oranges, crimson paper decorations, and a box of candied lotus seeds. Back upstairs, she arranged the plates beside a small bowl of incense ash and watched the lion's paper-mâché head bob past the window, its silk tail flashing like a promise of the year to come.
How does the setting influence the character's actions?
The neighborhood is busy and colorful, so Mei enjoys watching the parade from her window.
Mei is generous because she has a kind personality, so she buys treats regardless of the time of year.
Lunar New Year traditions in her Chinatown community lead Mei to stop sweeping, use her savings on symbolic foods, and prepare offerings.
The story takes place in a city, which means people need to shop for groceries more often than in the country.
Explanation
Mei's decisions—pausing the broom, choosing oranges and sweets, and arranging offerings—are guided by the cultural practices of Lunar New Year in her community. Extension: Write 3–4 sentences explaining how New Year traditions create both limits and special opportunities for Mei. Scaffold: Because the setting is __________, the character __________. Enrichment: Compare how Mei's choices would change if the setting were an ordinary weekday versus Lunar New Year.
Elijah reached the American River in 1849 to find the banks crowded with men in patched trousers, pans flashing like fish scales in the sun. The sluices sang, but so did the camp rumors: eggs selling for a fortune, shovels gone by noon, and tents jammed shoulder to shoulder along muddy paths. He tried panning for two days and earned more blisters than gold. On the third morning, he noticed a line at dawn outside a woman's cookfire, her biscuits traded for flecks of yellow. A broken-boot pile grew beside her, waiting for a cobbler who never came. Elijah counted the nails in his kit, eyed the flour sack he'd hauled up the trail, and nodded to an empty patch of ground. By noon he had a rough table and a signboard of blank canvas, frying biscuits in a dented pan and setting a hammer to split heels between batches. When a prospector pressed a pinch of dust into his palm for a hot meal and mended sole, Elijah understood that in this camp, gold flowed fastest toward what men needed most.
How does the setting influence the character's actions?
The camp is outdoors near a river, so Elijah decides to enjoy nature while he works.
Scarcity and high demand in the Gold Rush camp push Elijah to stop panning and open a food-and-repair stand to meet miners' needs.
Elijah is hardworking, so he would always start a business no matter where he is.
The plot is about mining, so Elijah does what miners usually do: search for nuggets all day.
Explanation
Observing shortages and inflated demand in a bustling mining camp, Elijah pivots from prospecting to supplying food and repairs, a choice driven by the economic realities of the setting. Extension: Write 3–4 sentences explaining how the Gold Rush camp creates both conflict and opportunity for Elijah. Scaffold: Because the setting is __________, the character __________. Enrichment: Compare how Elijah's choices might change in a settled town with many stores versus a remote mining camp.