Please help me understand what the question is asking below. "How are the characters, setting, and problems like those in other stories you have read?" Thank you.

the characters are just the people in the story. The setting is where it happens, so if it mainly happens in a school, that would be the setting. The problems could be like  two of the characters hating each other or someone's mom sick in the hospital, stuff like that. problems like these usually get solved at the end of the story but they might not, like a cliffhanger.

Then "How are they like other stories you've read?" You can just take any other stories you know and look for things that are the same in both of them. Like if there's a character who's really shy in the story you read for class and the story you read on your own, then you would say " In this story, a character named Mia is really shy. In a story I read on my own, Social Caterpillar, Nicky is really shy and quiet."(Just a fake example) You would do the same thing for the setting and problems.

the group received an extra pound of butter for christmas.

the annex was delighted to hear that we'll all be receiving an extra quarter pound of butter for christmas.