Probably the most noticeable of the basic elements of narrative is the plot, which simply refers to the action as it is happens in the book. Have students pay close attention to the action as it rises throughout the story to a climax and a denouement. You can ask students to create a plot line, which graphically represents this action. Students should also be thinking about whether the plot is driven by characters or external circumstances and if the story is told chronologically or with flashbacks.
Almost every narrative is populated with characters. Rather than taking for granted that these are real people, however, get your seventh-graders to think of them as simply one more element of the narrative that helps produce meaning. Students should think about whether the characters are realistic, or if they exist on a different plane of reality from everyday experience. They should be able to identify who the protagonist is, what his qualities and flaws are, and how he comes into conflict with other characters.
Analyzing setting is more than a matter of merely naming the place where the story occurs. Get students to think about what kind of world the story is set in. Is it a world like our own, or a more mythical or magical world? They should also consider how the setting affects the plot and characters, and most importantly, how it contributes to the story's meaning. Also ask students to think about what the story does with setting. It might be trying to map a city and say something about urban life, or it might use the setting as a pastoral retreat.
Students might take for granted that stories are told by a narrator. The narrator's point of view, however, is every bit a literary construction as anything else. Have students think about what perspective the narrator has. Some narrators speak in the third person and seem to disappear from sight. Even third-person narrators, however, can sometimes have their own motivations and hidden agendas. If the narrator speaks in the first person, ask students to evaluate how the narrator might be trying to influence his reader by telling the story in a certain way.