Literary Devices
Practical Application
Vocabulary in Context
Conflict and Resolution
Rhetorical Devices
100
Creates suspense in a story by giving hints about future events.
What is foreshadowing?
100
In "The Gift of the Magi," Jim sells his watch to buy Della combs, and Della sells her hair to buy Jim a watch chain.
What is irony?
100
The definition of the word "bored" as used in the following quotation from The Odyssey: "... Straight forward they sprinted, lifted it, and rammed it deep in his crater eye, and leaned on it turning it as a shipwright turns a drill in planking... So with our brand we bored that great eye socket while blood ran out around the red-hot bar."
What is made a hole in?
100
Jill is chased by criminals who believe that she has photographs of them committing a crime.
What is conflict?
100
The rhetorical device used in the following quotation from Julius Caesar: “Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe.”
What is Ethos?
200
When the ending of a story is the opposite of what you expected to happen. (Be specific!)
What is situational irony?
200
The literary device shown in this quote from "The Cask of Amontillado." “At length I would be avenged; this point was definitely settled – but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved, precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but punish with impunity."
What is foreshadowing?
200
The meaning of the word "prodigious" as used in the following quotation from The Odyssey: "In the next land we found were Cyclopes, giants, louts, without a law to bless them... A prodigious man slept in this cave alone, and took his flocks to graze afield..."
What is enormous?
200
Jill tricks the criminals into meeting with her at a train station surrounded by police. The criminals are arrested, and Jill is safe at last.
What is resolution?
200
The rhetorical device used in the following quotation from Julius Caesar: “You all did love him once, not without cause; what cause withholds you then to mourn for him?”
What is Pathos?
300
The passage is told using terms such as "he" and "they," and the narrator reveals the thoughts of one or a few characters.
What is third person limited?
300
The reader can infer that this is valuable to Greek culture based on the following passage from The Odyssey: "It was our luck to come here; Here we stand, beholden for your help or any gifts You give – as custom is to honor strangers."
What is hospitality to strangers?
300
The meaning of sterling as it is used in the following quotation from "The Gift of the Magi": "Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling - something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim."
What is high quality?
300
Nat and Jen spot a Coast Guard boat heading their way. They signal the boat and are soon rescued.
What is resolution?
300
The rhetorical device used in the following quotation from Julius Caesar: “Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live free men?”
What is Logos?
400
The author reveals a character's attributes through dialogue and actions.
What is indirect characterization?
400
The predicted outcome of the situation based on the following quotation: "Colin slipped in and out of the lab quickly, the stolen documents hidden in his jacket. He easily made his way to the freight elevator and took it to the basement, unaware of the tiny camera in the corner. He was sure he would never be suspected of the theft."
What is Colin will be suspected of the theft?
400
The definition of the word "grizzled" as it is used in the following quotation: "There was something bleak and unapproachable in his face, and he was so stiffened and grizzled that I took him for an old man and was surprised to hear that he was not more than fifty-two. I had this from Harmon Gow, who had driven the stage from Bettsbridge to Starkfield in pre-trolley days and knew the chronicle of all the families on his line."
What is decrepit/elderly?
400
A flood threatens the village where Robin lives.
What is external conflict?
400
The rhetorical device used in this excerpt from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech: "I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive."
What is Pathos?
500
The main idea of a story or poem.
What is theme?
500
The main claim in the following quotation: "Evidence from Jane Lynch, an expert on nutrition, suggests that schools should design more nutritious lunch menus."
What is there should be more nutritious lunches at schools?
500
The meaning of the word "unscrupulous" in the following quotation: "Jim Powell was a Jelly-bean. Much as I desire to make him an appealing character, I feel that it would be unscrupulous to deceive you on that point. He was a bred-in-the-bone, dyed-in-the-wool, ninety-nine three-quarters per cent Jelly-bean and he grew lazily all during Jelly-bean season, which is every season, down in the land of the Jelly-beans well below the Mason-Dixon line."
What is unfair?
500
A coach realizes that one of his players is no longer good enough to be a starting player. That player is also the coach's friend. Each day, the coach decides to bend the player, but each day the coach finds an excuse not to.
What is internal conflict?
500
The rhetorical device used in the following excerpt from President Barack Obama's Presidential Acceptance speech: "I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future."
What is Ethos?
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