1. Notice and Note Signposts

2. Authors put some signposts in their stories that help us know what to watch for. These signposts tell us about the characters, about the conflicts or problems in the story, and sometimes about the big life lessons in the story. You have to know what signposts to look for, or you might just read right past them.

3. Learning and understanding the Notice and Note Signposts will help you to be a SMARTER READER!

4. Contrasts and Contradictions
This is one of the ways that an author shows us how a character is changing or developing.

5. Think about Hermione in the Harry Potter books
Think about Hermione in the Harry Potter books. She’s a kid who always has her homework done. Not only does she do her homework, but she likes doing homework. She wants the teacher to know that she always knows the answer. So what would you think if one day Hermione came to class and didn’t have her homework done?

6. It would make us wonder what’s going on because that’s not a part of Hermione’s personality. That change in behavior contradicts what we’ve come to expect.

7. When authors show us something that doesn’t fit with what we expect, when they present us with a contrast or a contradiction, then we want to pause and ask ourselves one question: Why would the character act this way?

8. As I read, I’m on the lookout for a place where the author shows me a character acting in a way that is a contrast or contradiction with how he or she has been acting or how I would expect the character would act.

9. When you notice that contrast or contradiction, stop and ask yourself one question: Why would the character act that way? As you answer that question, you will learn more about the character and sometimes more about the problems he or she faces. Sometimes you might even gain some insight into a theme—the important life lesson the author is trying to share.

10. Does this contradiction show us some new side of the character’s personality, something we hadn’t seen before?
If it does, then it may be showing you that the character has been hiding something from us, or it may be revealing how the character is changing. How does this contrast tell us anything about the differences between individuals or groups? If so, you’re probably seeing the conflict that is arising in the story.

11. Does this contrast tell us anything about the differences between individuals or groups?
If so, you’re probably seeing the conflict that is arising in the story.

12. Is the contrast between what you would expect to see in the place portrayed and what the author actually shows you?
If so, it may be revealing some unique feature of the setting.

13. is the contradiction between what the character expects to find or achieve and what he or she actually does discover or accomplish?
If so, we may be learning about the theme of the book.

14. Is the contradiction between what the character says and she does
Is the contradiction between what the character says and she does? is it between her speech or actions at one point in the story and her behavior at another time?
If so, we are learning something about her character and probably about her inner conflicts.

15. Does the contradiction show the character making an important decision or doing something that surprised you?
Try completing this statement: Once I saw (character’s name) do _________, then I knew that he/she had learned this lesson: ____________. If you can do that, then the contrast or contradiction that you noticed is probably showing you something about the theme.

16. Aha Moment
This is an easy signpost to learn because you’ve had many Aha Moments. For instance, have you ever walked into a class, seen people looking through their class notes, and suddenly remembered what it was you were supposed to do the night before—study for that big test? That’s an Aha Moment.

17. Aha Moments are those moments when a character realizes something, and that realization will probably change his or her actions in some way.

18. When you’re reading, the author often gives you clues that the character has come to an important understanding by having the character say something like, “Suddenly I realized,” or “In an instant I say,” or “It came to me in a flash,” or “I now knew,” or “I finally understood that.”

19. There are many other possibilities, but they will all point to some understanding that the character has finally reached. Those clues are there to tell you that this moment is important, and you need to stop and give it some thought. Once we’ve spotted the text clue to the Aha Moment, we have to pause and do something with it.

20. There is a question we can ask that will help us understand what’s going to happen. That simple question is: How might this change things? Thinking about possible answers to that question will let us see why the Aha Moment is important and how it affects the story.

21. You might notice three different kinds of aha moments
That moment in which the character finally realizes what is problem is:
“I suddenly realized that they were never going to accept me into their circle.”
That moment in which the character sees the pathway to the resolution of the conflict or the solution of the problem.
“I finally saw that I would have to find a way to be happy living my own life apart from the ‘in group.’”

22. That moment when the character comes to a broader understanding that might be seen as a lesson for life and possibly the theme of the book.
“At last I understood that real happiness came from living up to your own principles and not simply following the crowd.”

23. Tough Questions
We all ask questions such as “What’s for dinner?” or “Where are my shoes?” or “Do I really have to do my homework?” all the time. Those are questions to which we certainly want answers, but they aren’t really tough questions.

24. Tough Questions are those questions we sometimes ask ourselves or someone else, that seem, at least for a while, not to have an answer. We might ask, ”How will I ever get over this?” when we hear that a loved one has died, or we might ask, “What should I do?” when we have a difficult, almost impossible, choice to make, or we might ask, “Am I brave enough to say no?” when we’re asked to do something we know we shouldn’t do.

25. When you share a tough question with a friend-or just think it to yourself—you’re really sharing something that bothers you. In a novel, we call that the internal conflict. If you can spot in a novel the tough questions a character asks of himself or to a friend, then you’ll have found the internal conflict.

26. Author’s show us these Tough Questions in several ways.
The main character either asks a trusted person or him or herself a question that obviously doesn’t have an easy answer. Often Tough Questions show up in pairs: “Why won’t they talk to me anymore? Why is everyone treating me this way?” Occasionally, the character might not ask a question, but might say something like, “I wonder if…”

27. Once you notice the Tough Question (or the statement that begins with “I wonder”), it’s important to stop and ask yourself, What does this question make me wonder about? Think about it this way. If you hear there’s a party, and you’re not invited, you might ask yourself, “Why’d I get left out?” And from that question, you might wonder if you had done something to hurt someone’s feelings. One tough question usually makes us wonder about other things.

28. When authors want to show us the internal conflict-the deep problems that worry a character-they often let the character share that conflict by having him or her share some difficult questions. He might ask himself the questions, or he might ask a friend.

29. When we see a Tough Question, we should ask ourselves, What does this question make me wonder about?

30. Examples of what we might wonder?
How would I, the reader, feel or think in these circumstances? Does the character seem to feel the same or different?
What alternatives does the character seem to have in answering the question?
What values will help the character make his or her choice (concern for other people, desire for great wealth, determination to appear courageous, something else)?
What would happen if the character made this choice, instead of that one?
Ask your self what else might we wonder about at this point?

31. Words of the Wiser
Authors are, in some ways, like a mom or a dad or a grandparent. They include scenes in which wise words are shared. When I’m reading, I should always be on the lookout for a place where the main character has a quiet and serious talk with a wiser character. That wiser character might be a friend, a brother or sister, a teacher, a parent, or the kindly neighbor down the street.

32. Words of the Wiser
The scene in which a wiser character offers the main character advice that is helpful at this moment in the story but could also be helpful throughout life. After we notice it, we want to ask ourselves one question: “What’s the life lesson and how might this affect the character?”

33. As you answer this question, you’ll learn more about the character, the conflict he or she faces, the plot, and perhaps the message of theme the author wants you to consider. Words of the Wiser can help you see character development, conflict, plot, and theme.

34. Again and Again
When something happens over and over again, that repetition begins to tell us something if we notice it and give it some thought. For example, one day you may be sitting with a few friends when another one joins you. One of the original group grows quiet and after a few minutes gets up and leaves. If that happens over and over again, you notice it and realize that something is up.

35. Again and Again
When authors repeat something—a word or an image or an event-it means something. When we see those words or images or events again and again, we out to stop and ask ourselves, “Why does this happen again and again?” The answer will generally tell us something about the character or the plot or perhaps even the theme.

36. Memory Moment
A Memory Moment is the point in the book when the writer interrupts what’s happening in the story to show us the main character as he or she remembers something important.

37. Sometimes the clue to the Memory Moment is very obvious
Sometimes the clue to the Memory Moment is very obvious. The character will say something like, “I remembered the first time I met him,” or “In that very moment the memory came flooding back.”

38. Other times, the clue is more subtle
Other times, the clue is more subtle. The character might say, “My dad liked to tell the story about…” or “This picture always reminded me of … Often those moments are highlighted with words such as remember or memory or reminded.

39. We want to be on the alert for times when a character shares a moment from the past because it’s likely to tell us something important, either about the character , about the plot, or about the conflict. We’re going to have to figure out what it might tell us, and so, when we find this moment in the novel, we want to pause and ask ourselves one question: Why might this memory be important?

40. The importance of the memory may not be revealed immediately
The importance of the memory may not be revealed immediately. You might have to file away the questions raised by the memory and expect them to be answered later.

41. Ask
Is the character remembering something as a way to provide guidance or to help him or others solve a problem? If so, it might mean that this moment gives us insight into how he will solve a conflict-internal or external.
Is the character remembering something that obviously troubles her? If so, it probably offers us insight into an internal conflict the character faces.