Reading a Story for Meaning

1First, read the story

Read it once straight through, quickly. Then read it a second time, slowly. Nobody understands a story properly on the first pass, and good readers know that.

The Long Walk Home

Last Saturday, Keza went to Kimironko market with her grandmother. They filled their basket with beans, tomatoes and one enormous avocado, and by nine o'clock they were finished.

Grandmother counted her coins. Then she counted them again. Then her face fell. She had 200 Frw left, but the bus home cost 400 Frw for the two of them.

"We will walk," she said. "It is only five kilometres."

Keza's legs were already aching and the basket was heavy. She said nothing. She lifted the basket onto her hip and started walking.

They had not gone far when the rain began. It was not a soft rain. It was a downpour, and within one minute their clothes were soaked and cold. Keza felt tears coming up behind her eyes.

Then a small blue truck slowed down beside them. The driver leaned out of the window. It was Mukamana, the woman who sold bananas next to Grandmother's stall.

"Get in!" she shouted over the noise of the rain. "I pass your house!"

Keza climbed in, dripping and suddenly laughing. Grandmother laughed too, and the little truck rattled away up the hill.

That evening Keza's mother asked her how the market had been.

"It was the best day," Keza said. And she meant it.

2Who is in it? The characters

Go through the story and simply name every person you meet: Keza, Grandmother, Mukamana, and Keza's mother.

Now, which one is the main character? The main character is the one the story follows from the first line to the last line. Test it: we are with Keza at the market, on the road, in the rain, in the truck, and at home in the evening. She is in every single part.

Mukamana is important — she rescues them — but she appears for only four lines. Being important is not the same as being the main character.

The main character is Keza.

3Where and when? The setting

The setting is the place and the time. The writer hands both to you, quietly, without stopping to explain:

• Where: Kimironko market, then the road home, then Keza's house.
• When: last Saturday — from nine in the morning until the evening.

Notice the tiny clock the writer keeps checking: last Saturday … by nine o'clock … that evening. Good writers always let you know where you are in time.

4The main idea is not a detail

Here is the question that finds the main idea: if I could keep only ONE sentence about this story, which one holds the whole thing?

Let us test three sentences that a reader might offer.

"Keza bought a big avocado." It is true. But it happens in one line, near the start. Take the avocado away and the story still works perfectly. So this is a detail, not the main idea.

"It rained." Also true, and it matters more. But the rain is only the middle of the story. It says nothing about the market, and nothing about the truck or the evening. Still not big enough.

"A hard, wet, unlucky day turned into Keza's best day, because a neighbour stopped to help." Now look: this touches the beginning (the market, no bus money), the middle (the long walk, the downpour) and the end (the lift, and "the best day"). It holds all of it.

That is the main idea.

So here is your test. Say your sentence, then ask: does it cover the beginning, the middle AND the end? If it only covers one moment, you have picked up a detail by mistake. Put it down and look again.

5The order of events

A story moves. To be sure you followed it, list what happened in order:

1. Keza and Grandmother finished shopping at Kimironko market.
2. Grandmother counted her coins and found she did not have enough for the bus.
3. They set off to walk the five kilometres home, carrying the heavy basket.
4. The rain became a downpour and soaked them.
5. Mukamana stopped her blue truck and drove them home.
6. That evening Keza told her mother it had been the best day.

If you can do this, you have understood the story. If you cannot, you have not — and the honest thing to do is read it again.

6Guessing a word from its neighbours

You will always meet words you do not know. That is normal, even for adults. You do not need a dictionary for every one of them, because the words standing around a hard word are clues. Be a detective.

Try it yourself

All five are about The Long Walk Home. Look back at the story as often as you like — good readers always do.

1. Who is the main character, and how do you know?
2. Where does the story begin, and when?
3. "Keza's legs were already aching and the basket was heavy." What does aching mean? Use the clues, not a dictionary.
4. Which of these is the main idea? (a) Grandmother sells things at a market stall. (b) A hard, unlucky day became a good day because a neighbour helped. (c) It rained on Saturday.
5. Put these three events in the order they happened: the rain started · Mukamana stopped her truck · Grandmother counted her coins.

Answers

• 1. Keza. She is in every part of the story — the market, the road, the rain, the truck, the house. The story follows her from first line to last.
• 2. At Kimironko market, on Saturday morning (the story says "by nine o'clock they were finished").
• 3. Aching means hurting with a dull, tired soreness. Clues: it is her legs, she has been at the market since early, the basket is heavy, and she still has five kilometres to walk. It is not a sharp pain like a cut — it is the tired kind.
• 4. (b). Sentence (a) is a detail about Grandmother, and (c) is only the middle of the story. Only (b) holds the beginning, the middle and the end together.
• 5. Grandmother counted her coins → the rain started → Mukamana stopped her truck. The money problem is what put them on the road in the first place, so it must come first.