Act 1: You are looking for details that talk about the story itself and what the main problem is (the conflict between the characters). The tone is the author's attitude toward the text (is it a cheerful tone, somber, sad, scary?) The mood is the reader's feelings toward the text (are you happy when reading this? Confused? Joyful? Scared?)
Act 2: Rising action is what is happening as you get to the climax. The climax is where the BIG action happens prior to the resolution. For example, in Finding Nemo, the climax is when Nemo is caught in the net, and they have to get everyone to swim down and work as a team in order to be free. Adjectives are descriptive words (google a mood or tone word list to help you with this).
Act 3: The falling action is what occurs right after the climax. So, was there a big fight? What happens after the fight is falling action that leads to the resolution. Using Finding Nemo again, once Nemo is free at last, the falling action is getting home and the resolution is Marlin giving him some space and allowing him to go to school.
As you read each part (beginning, middle, and end), the tone/mood will change often. That master list will help you with this.
Visual: The theme is the lesson. What are you learning from each act that you can see play out in your head? For example, a theme would be "family will always have your back and be there to support you". This is GENERAL and not specific to any one character. It can be applied to everyone. Symbolism is using an object to represent an abstract idea, like the sun symbolizes happiness, rain symbolizes sadness. As you identify the symbol, identify the act. For example, write it as, "In act 1, the sun is shown brightly, which symbolized how happy the main character is with the situation."
