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Exposition 1: Background
Matt Pin, a kid from Vietnam, was airlifted out of the warring country. An American family has adopted him from an orphanage and cared for him. His real name is Vietnamese, and Matt Pin is only his American name -
Exposition 2: Setting
The story takes place somewhere in the United States but the location is not specified in the story. The time period is during and after the Vietnam War. -
Exposition 3: Characters
Matt Pin: Matt is a Vietnamese kid who is living with a foster family in the U.S. He is really good at baseball and is the main character in the story.
Matt’s family: Matt’s family includes his foster parents, who are really supportive of him, and his foster brother, Tommy, who was also adopted.
Jeff: Matt’s piano teacher and a Vietnam War veteran. He helps Matt learn not just piano, but life skills.
Coach Robeson: Matt’s baseball coach. He is supportive of Matt’s future.
Rob: Bully -
Period: to
All the Broken Pieces
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Exposition 4: Conflict
Matt tries out for and makes the school baseball team. The kids are mean to Matt just because he’s Vietnamese and they hate him even though he’s a great pitcher. In fact, they hate him so much that they’d rather lose all the games then have him on the team. They mess up on purpose to make Matt get a big play. -
Rising Action 1
At a practice, Matt’s coach, Coach Robeson, tells the team that being mean to Matt would get them thrown off the team. The kids hate him even worse because he is favored by the coach. -
Rising Action 2
Rob, Matt’s enemy, hangs signs on Matt’ locker proclaiming him "Matt the Rat". Matt gets even more angry, and the coach says this is Rob's final warning. -
Rising Action 3
Matt gets even more frustrated over piano and baseball. He goes to a weekly meeting with Vietnam War veterans. Earlier that day he pitched a no hitter and his team hates him more. Going to the meeting doesn't help him much. -
Rising Action 4
Matt meets a disabled war veteran that lost one of his arms and is disabled and is not able to walk. It makes him feel even more guilty that his home country caused this. -
Rising Action 5
Matt dissects a baseball and it reminds him of the "broken pieces" of Vietnam that he carries inside him. It makes him very sad and guilty. -
Rising Action 6
Matt continues to hear about the horrors that are occuring and have occured in Vietnam. For example, he heard about a pesticide that was killing thousands in Vietnam. It made him even more depressed inside. -
Rising Action 7
Matt's baseball coach misses two practices , and Matt is worried because the other coach tolerates mocking Matt. -
Climax
Matt's baseball coach was diagnosed with cancer and has to miss the rest of the season. The coach must have surgery and chemotherapy/ radiation treatment. -
Falling Action 1
Matt's baseball team has a farewell party for Coach Robeson. It is saddening for Matt not just because the coach is leaving, but that the coach mentions the horrors that are occuring and have occured in Vietnam. -
Falling Action 2
Matt is tormented even worse because the substitute coaches don't have a strict discipline policy. This makes Matt extremely frustrated, so much so that he thinks about quitting the team. -
Falling Action 3
Matt is put in the spotlight as his saddening story is told to the war veterans at the meeting. The veterans begin to realize his pain and they feel for him. This slightly raises his spirits. -
Falling Action 4
Chris, the war veteran who lost his arm and is immoble on his legs, becomes the baseball team's new coach. Chris is mocked by the team and Matt defends him. Matt is beat up. -
Resolution 1
Matt and Rob realize that they have a lot in common, with lost relatives and sometimes frustrating but mostly great lives. -
Resolution 2
Matt's enemies realize that Matt is just another person seeking a great life. They ralize how not to judge people by race, but by personality. -
Falling Action 5
Matt is paired up with his worst enemy, Rob, to do an activity where one person is blindfolded and the other guides him to pick up a certain amount of objects. They end up telling each other their story in life. -
Resolution 3
Matt and Rob become friends, and they go to visit their coach in the hospital. The coach is impressed to see them together. He is showing signs of recovery already. And everyone lived happily ever after!
