Ms. Dorsey begins a lesson by reviewing the story grammar of conventional short fiction. What is the primary instructional purpose of this approach?

• A. To provide a framework that helps students to comprehend and retain story information
• B. To memorize each sentence
• C. To analyze author's background
• D. To compare word frequency

Answer: (A)

Using the story grammar of conventional short fiction is about giving students a framework to understand what happens in a story and remember it later. By outlining the common parts—characters and setting, the problem or goal, the sequence of events, and the outcome—students map new details onto a familiar structure. This scaffold helps comprehension because it clarifies sequence, cause-and-effect, and how the problem is resolved, making it easier to summarize and recall. It isn’t about memorizing every sentence, analyzing an author’s background, or comparing word frequency, which are different kinds of tasks.