1. Plot. The plot is the story line; it is what happens in the story. You should not try to cover every incident that occurs. Some events are more important than others. Part of the assessment here will involve you’re recognizing the more important events in the story, and distinguishing them from those that are less important.
2. Character. Who are the main characters in the story? What are they like—describe their personalities and how the kinds of people they are shape the story. How does the author tell us (action? speech? how others act around them?) about them.
3. Setting. The term refers to the time and place of a story. In some stories, setting is very important; in others, it doesn’t matter much at all. Part of the assessment will depend on whether or not you consider setting in your story important, and how accurate your perception is.
Theme or meaning. These are the most important things to consider in your presentation—what points or ideas is the story trying to explore? What is it trying to say about what is sometimes called the “human condition”? What do the characters, or (for that matter), what does the reader, learn over the course of the story? When considering theme, you often need to include reference to a variety of literary techniques, such as symbols and imagery, irony, humor, style of language, etc. I realize these instructions are a little vague. That’s because I want you to try to think through the story for yourselves, rather than simply approaching the story in a check-the-boxes, fill-in-the-blanks kind of way.