Plot Systems Analysis

I will evaluate the plot of Burn-E as a system.

Success Criteria

I can identify the five elements of plot in the story.

I can recognize how a short story is a system.

I can follow steps to analyze a system.

Goal

Jot down the 5 elements of plot.

How does changing one aspect of a story affect its meaning?

Essential Question

1.Explain a situation as a system – the parts and the functions of each part.

2. Describe how the parts affect each other.

3. Identify one part, change it, and explain how it affects the rest of the system.

4. If possible, make the change, and show the results to draw conclusions.

Systems Analysis

Changes?704

• Wall-E and Eve don’t go outside the ship.

• Escape pod blows up instead of launching.

• Burn-E does not get locked out.

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• Burn-E holds onto the light pole when he turns around to look at the spaceship.

• Power is knocked out to all of the outside light poles.

• Meteorite knocks out all power to the ship.

• Captain is not in the bridge to fight over the ship’s wheel.

• Burn-E misses grabbing onto the light pole when he flies out the door.

Conclusions?704

•Burn-E wouldn’t have been distracted and would have fixed the light the first time.

• Burn-E doesn’t get to push the button to reactivate the light and the lid to the pod does not knock the light out. Burn-E is destroyed.

• Burn-E gets back inside and finds Supply-R to push the button to reactivate the light before the ship lands.

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• Burn-E gets the job done right the first time.

• Burn-E has a lot more work to do and more problems happen.

• More Burn-E robots come out and have to work on the ship.

• Ship is not tilted and Burn-E is able to push the button to reactivate the light. He does not almost fall off the side.

• Burn-E flies into space and has to be rescued.

Overall, the students realized that many of the changes would result in the rest of the story being less interesting (and in a few cases more so).

Overall conclusions…• If we removed the inciting incident (rock hitting and breaking the light to set the plot in motion) the story could not move forward.

•If we took out the climax, it would be difficult to conclude the story.

•Students felt that the system (plot) could not function very well without each of the elements - except the conclusion (cliffhangers are okay!).