Literary Elements
This is the person, animal, or being who takes part in a story.
What is a character?
This is a brief retelling of the most important events or ideas in a text.
What is a summary?
“Her smile was as bright as the sun.”
What literary device is being used?
What is a simile?
This punctuation mark normally appear at the end of a statement.
What is a period?
In our annotation system, this color is used for important vocabulary.
What is yellow?
This tells where and when a story takes place.
What is setting?
When you use clues from a text and what you already know to figure something out, you are making this.
What is an inference?
“The classroom was a zoo.”
What literary device is being used?
What is a metaphor?
Is this a complete sentence?
“Because the student was tired.”
What is no because it is a fragment sentence.
In our annotation system, this color is used to identify characterization.
What is orange?
This is the main problem or struggle that a character faces.
What is conflict?
A character repeatedly refuses help from others. A reader explains that this shows the character's desire to remain independent and reveals how the character's pride affects their relationships. What reading skill is the reader demonstrating?
What is analysis?
“The wind whispered through the trees.”
What literary device is being used?
What is personification?
What is wrong with this sentence?
“I finished my homework I watched TV.”
What is a run-on sentence?
In our annotation system, this color is used to identify the theme.
What is green?
A character is trying to decide whether to tell the truth or lie. What type of conflict is this?
“The character leaves home after arguing with her parents.”
Is this a summary, inference, or analysis?
What is a summary?
“I've told you a million times to clean your room!”
What literary device is being used?
What is hyperbole?
Combine these two sentences into one compound sentence:
“The character was nervous. She gave the speech anyway.”
The character was nervous, but she gave the speech anyway.
A student highlights an entire page and says, “I annotated it!”
Why might this NOT be effective annotation?
Because effective annotation focuses on important information and thinking, rather than highlighting everything.
A character wants to follow their dreams, but their family expects them to follow a different path. What type of conflict could this represent, and why?
What is External Conflict: Character vs. Society?
The character is struggling against expectations or beliefs imposed by others.
“The character's decision to leave home demonstrates how conflict can cause people to make impulsive decisions.”
Is this a summary, inference, or analysis?
What is analysis?
An author describes a dark, empty hallway using words such as cold, silent, shadowy, and creaking. What literary technique is the author primarily using, and what effect might it create?
What is imagery?
It helps the reader visualize the setting and may create a mysterious, tense, or frightening mood.
Which sentence is more effective for academic writing?
A. “The character is really scared and stuff.”
B. “The character's actions reveal that she is fearful of the consequences.”
What is B?
A student claims:
“The character is determined.”
Which piece of evidence would BEST support this claim?
A. The character sat quietly at lunch.
B. The character practiced every day even after failing three times.
C. The character wore a blue shirt.
D. The character walked home.
What is B?