Which of the following factors could pose the most significant challenge to a student with grade-level literacy when reading a narrative text?

Sentence complexity can pose a significant challenge to a student with grade-level literacy when reading narrative texts. This is because students who are at grade-level may still be developing their ability to process and comprehend more complex sentence structures. If sentences contain multiple clauses, varied punctuation, or non-linear constructions, it can lead to confusion and hinder comprehension.

Complex sentences often require readers to hold multiple ideas in their working memory, connect them logically, and understand the relationships between different parts of the text. If a reader struggles with this, it can overwhelm their ability to follow the narrative flow, leading to misunderstandings about character actions, plot progression, and theme.

While other factors like character development, thematic elements, and vocabulary difficulty can certainly impact understanding, it is the complexity of the sentence structures that can fundamentally disrupt a student's ability to grasp the overall meaning and engage with the narrative effectively, making it a particularly notable challenge.