Figurative Language
Comprehension terms
Author's Purpose
Literary Elements/Terms
A Nation Divided
100
Compares two things using like or as
What is a simile?
100
Conversation among or between characters
What is dialogue?
100
To inform the reader about certain information or ideas, to entertain the reader with something funny, mysterious or scary, or to persuade the reader to buy or do something.
What is the author's purpose?
100

The name of an educated guess that uses text and your own knowledge.

What is an inference

100

Which statement is supported by information in the text?

A. The Union postal system played an important role in ending the Civil War.

B. The Confederacy ran a successful mail program with Union support.

C. The Union limited the Confederacy's ability to send mail.


C. The Union limited the Confederacy's ability to send mail.

200
Choose simile, metaphor or personification: Ann could hear the screaming of the seagulls.
What is a personification?
200

Words and phrases that appeal to a reader's senses

What is imagery?

200
Just before Christmas of 1980, I was sitting in the Sevens, a neighborhood bar on Beacon Hill (don't all these stories of revelation begin in bars?), when a house painter named Tony remarked out of the blue that he wanted to find a place to go to mass on Christmas Eve. I didn't say anything, but a thought came into my mind, as swift and unexpected as it was unfamiliar: I'd like to do that too. The author's purpose is to . . .
What is to entertain?
200
What the story is about: it usually has a problem (conflict), a turning point (climax), and a solution (resolution) to the problem.
What is plot?
200

How did the Civil War influence the mail service?

A. Mail service was difficult and slow, but it persevered.

B. Mail service was carefully controlled and never faltered.

C. Mail service was interrupted for the duration of the war.


A. Mail service was difficult and slow, but it persevered.


300
Choose simile, metaphor or personification: Hair, like straw, fell to the salon's floor.
What is a simile?
300

How the author feels about a topic

What is a tone?

300
Good schools should be part of our children's education. You may ask, how do we build good schools? First, we must meet the basic needs of children. Parents must provide the emotional and physical foundation at home. They should spend time helping children with homework and doing enjoyable things together. Finally, parents and children should worship together at a church service of their choice. The bottom line is that spiritual help is the roof that shelters families from harm. The author's purpose is to . . .
What is to persuade?
300
What point of view are the sentences written? Eva thought her mother needed hospitalization.
What is third person.
300

What is the central idea of the text?

A.  the role of the postal service during the Civil War.

B.  how the Union control of the mail affected the Confederacy.

C. How the postal service adapted to the Civil War.


C. How the postal service adapted to the Civil War.

400
Choose simile, metaphor or personification? The car jumped the guardrail.
What is personification?
400

The way a writer creates and develops characters.(Use the STEAL method - look at the character's speech, thoughts, effects on others, and looks.)

What is characterization?

400
Many Americans are unaware of how pesticides affect our food supplies. Pesticides can run off into groundwater and run off into nearby streams, where they are carried from their original dispersal site. This is how pesticides end up in drinking water, fish, and game. For example, if grain fields or rough lands are sprayed with pesticides, residues can show up in poultry, eggs, milk, and butter. The author's purpose is to . . .
What is to inform?
400
How you feel when you read a story (sad, happy, scared...)
What is mood?
400

Why was the printing of postal stamps delayed for the Confederate postal system?

A.  The stamp designs had to be imported from England.

B. No one could decide on a design for the stamp.

C. The typical stamp printers were located in the North.

C. The typical stamp printers were located in the North.

500
Tell me, tell me, smiling child What the past is like to thee? 'An autumn evening soft and mild With a wind that signs mournfully.' Question: What is a metaphor for the "past"?
What is an autumn evening soft and mild?
500

A brief, overall summary of what the entire story is about.

What is central idea?

500
Throughout medieval Europe, the common people had been governed directly by their feudal lords and indirectly by their monarchs. This system of government is called feudalism. The lowest class of commoners were called serfs. The percentage of serfs was high; in parts of Europe, serfs comprised as much as 95% of the total population. The author's purpose is to . . .
What is to inform?
500
The interpretation of a dictionary definition.

It is the emotional or imaginative association of the word that is being used.

What is connotation?

500

How does the author support the claim that the U.S. Mail tried to assist the commiunications between the soldiers and their loved ones?

A. The soldiers did not have to pay for stamps to send their letters.

B. The soldiers had to send their mail through certain cities.

C. The soldiers needed to have special stamps for their letters.

A. The soldiers did not have to pay for stamps to send their letters.

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