Students who have serial studies for literature class become familiar with the characters in the books on a more in-depth level. Students can get to know characters though one book, but will always be left wondering what happens next. With a serial study, students can follow that character, or that group of characters, and find out what really does happen next.
A fiction or literature book, no matter what age level, contains a story line. Students learn about plot and story from a young age, and can usually trace it by asking questions such as "What happened first" and "What happened next?" When students do a serial study, they focus on each individual book's story line. However, they can also trace a longer story arch that is contained through all of the books in the series. This allows them to think outside the box, and to see how individual plot structures can fit into an overall plot line.
Students can use a serial study to see examples of movement through time. Often, serial books contain movement, such as one year of a character's life per book, or even books that take place several months after the proceeding book was completed. This movement mimics the way that students themselves move through life. Students can see the ways that characters change and grow, and can use what the characters learn to help learn about their own journeys.
Almost always, in serial books, characters explore some environment or some aspect of life, and change and grow from book to book. The character in the first book in a series is often very different from the character in later books. As students read through serial books, they can see the way characters grow and change and can come to an understanding about growth and change within their own lives.