Otto's Story in Echo

Activity Overview

Creating a plot diagram not only helps students learn the parts of the plot, but it reinforces major events and helps students develop a greater understanding of literary structures. Students can create a storyboard capturing the narrative arc in a work with a six-cell storyboard containing the major parts of the plot diagram. In this activity, students will create a visual plot diagram of major events in Otto's story in Echo. Students should identify major turning points in Otto's story such as the Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution

Otto's Story

Exposition: Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan opens with a young boy named Otto playing hide and seek in the Black Forest in Germany in the late 1800s. He had bought a book and harmonica from a traveling woman that day. Bored while waiting to be found, he sat down and began to read. his book. The book was called "The 13th Harmonica of Otto Messenger".

Conflict: The book described a King and Queen who longed for children. However, when the queen gave birth to a girl the terrible king was mad. Only a boy would be heir to the throne. He made the midwife take the child away and told the queen that the baby had died in childbirth. The midwife, rather than leave the helpless child to the wolves, took the baby to her cousin, a witch who lived in the forest.

Rising Action: The book described a King and Queen who longed for children. However, when the queen gave birth to a girl the terrible king was mad. Only a boy would be heir to the throne. He made the midwife take the child away and told the queen that the baby had died in childbirth. The midwife, rather than leave the helpless child to the wolves, took the baby to her cousin, a witch who lived in the forest.

Climax: Otto was so absorbed that he got lost in the forest. Trying to find his way, he came upon three girls: Eins, Zwei, and Drei! They asked him to continue reading. The Queen finally gave birth to a boy and the King announced the baby as his first child, the heir to the throne. After the King passed, the Midwife broke her silence about the three sisters in the woods. She went to fetch them to bring them back, but the cruel witch cast a curse to keep them from leaving! At this point the book ended and was left with only blank pages.

Falling Action: Eins, Zwei, and Drei played Otto's harmonica, infusing it with their energy. Otto made it out of the forest but nobody believed his story. When he grew up, he became a harmonica maker in a shop in Trossingen and finally did his duty as "Messenger" by bringing the fateful harmonica to the shop. He marked it with a red M. From there, the harmonica would travel throughout the world.

Resolution: As fate would have it, Eins, Zwei, and Drei's freedom came when they saved Kenny Yamamoto from the brink of death. The witch's spell was broken and the sisters were finally reunited with their mother and brother. They were renamed Arabella, Roswitha, and Wilhelminia and lived happily, surrounded by their loving family.