Read the excerpt from a short story. How does the character of the spotless ladybug affect the plot of the story? A group of ladybugs lived in a hollowed log in the middle of the forest. The ladybugs came in lots of different shapes and sizes. Some were large and orange in color. Others were small and red. All of them were covered in spots—all except for one. The other ladybugs made fun of this one spotless ladybug. This ladybug became embarrassed and covered its body with leaves. Nothing worked, though, and the ladybug continued to be teased by the other ladybugs in the log.

One day, a flock of birds moved into a nearby tree. These were beautiful birds, but they were also dangerous. They had just one thing on their mind: eating ladybugs. The birds had no trouble finding all the ladybugs because of their spots— all of them except for the ladybug with no spots. This ladybug could blend in with the leaves and flowers around the log. That night, the ladybugs held a meeting. They decided that they needed get away from the birds. But how? The spotless ladybug spoke up. “The birds can’t see me. I can sneak into their tree when they’re sleeping and spill sticky honey in their nest. Then they’ll be stuck to the tree.” The ladybugs agreed to try this plan