LITERARY ELEMENTS
This literary element tells when and where a story takes place.
What is setting?
This is the message or lesson about life communicated through a text.
What is theme?
This rhetorical appeal uses emotion to persuade an audience.
What is pathos?
This describes WHY an author writes a text.
What is author's purpose?
“The classroom was as silent as a graveyard.” What type of figurative language is used?
What is a simile?
This is the main struggle or problem faced by a character in a story.
What is conflict?
A student looks outside at the pouring rain and says, “Perfect weather for a picnic!” What type of irony is used?
What is verbal irony?
“As a veterinarian with 20 years of experience, I recommend yearly checkups for pets.” Which rhetorical appeal is used?
What is ethos?
This describes an author's viewpoint or attitude toward a subject.
What is author's perspective?
“The wind whispered through the trees.” What type of figurative language is used?
What is personification?
Jordan desperately wants to make the soccer team, but he doubts his own abilities and considers quitting. What type of conflict is this?
What is character vs. self?
The audience knows an intruder is hiding behind a door, but the character believes the room is empty. What type of irony is used?
What is dramatic irony?
“Students who sleep at least eight hours scored 12% higher on the assessment.” Which rhetorical appeal is used?
What is logos?
An article uses facts, diagrams, and research to explain how plastic pollution affects ocean ecosystems. What is the author's primary purpose?
To inform or explain
“Her words were daggers.”
Identify the figurative language AND explain what the comparison means.
Metaphor.
It suggests that her words were painful or hurtful.
Maya finds a wallet filled with cash and immediately turns it in, even though she needs money. What character trait is revealed through her actions?
What is honesty/integrity?
A police station gets robbed while all the officers are away responding to other emergencies. What type of irony is used?
What is situational irony?
“Every night, thousands of abandoned animals wait alone in shelters, hoping someone will take them home.” Identify the rhetorical appeal AND explain how it persuades the audience.
Pathos. It appeals to the audience's emotions or sympathy.
One writer describes a crowded city as “alive with possibility.” Another describes it as “noisy, cramped, and exhausting.” What do these descriptions reveal about the writers?
They reveal different perspectives or attitudes toward the city
Poetry is commonly organized into lines and stanzas.
Prose is usually organized into what?
What are sentences and paragraphs?
At the beginning of a story, Andre refuses help because he wants to prove he can succeed alone. By the end, he willingly asks his friends for help. What literary element is demonstrated through this change?
What is character development?
Lena refuses help because she wants to prove she can do everything alone. After failing, she learns to accept support from her friends. Give a universal theme statement supported by this situation.
Accepting help can be a sign of strength.
(Or very similar)
“According to school records, tardiness dropped 30% after the new schedule began. As principal for 12 years, I have seen how consistent routines improve student success.”
Identify the TWO rhetorical appeals being used and the evidence for each.
Logos — the 30% statistic
Ethos — the principal's 12 years of experience.
An author describes a new school rule using words such as “restrictive,” “unnecessary,” and “frustrating.” What can you infer about the author's perspective? Use the word choice as evidence.
The author has a negative or critical perspective toward the rule, shown by the negative connotations of the words.
Question: Read the lines:
“The old house groaned
as darkness swallowed the road.”
Identify the figurative language AND explain how it contributes to the mood.
Personification
The house “groans” and darkness “swallows,” giving nonhuman things human or living qualities. This creates an eerie, threatening, or uneasy mood.