Literary Devices
Not limited to the visual as the name may imply, this is the usage of metaphors, allusions, descriptive words, similes, and other literary devices to awaken the readers’ sensory perceptions.
What is imagery?
In "The Story of an Hour," this is what allegedly kills Mrs. Mallard's husband Brently.
What is a "railroad disaster" or train crash?
Amir shows Sohrab this other character's kite fighting technique at the end of the novel.
Who is Hassan?
The stereotypical opening of a fairy tale.
What is "Once upon a time..."?
The most commonly rolled die in a Dungeons and Dragons game.
What is a twenty-sided die or d20?
When Shang sings that Mulan and the men in his army must be "as swift as a coursing river," he provides an example of this literary device.
What is a simile?
According to Travis in "A Sound of Thunder," even stepping on this small animal while in the past could have a catastrophic impact on the present.
What is a mouse?
This driver helps Amir navigate Afghanistan and rescue Sohrab.
The German town where the story of the Pied Piper originally took place.
What is Hamlin?
The number of teaspoons in a tablespoon.
What is three?
Not to be confused with denotation (the literal dictionary definition of the word), this word refers to the various social overtones, cultural implications, or emotional meanings associated with a sign.
What is connotation?
This celebration of a season is the reason why people are parading through the streets in "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas."
What is the Festival of Summer?
This is the crime for which the couple at the soccer game are killed.
The oldest known version of Little Red Riding Hood is actually named after this other character from the story.
What is Grandmother?
This play - with characters like Polonius, Laertes, and Gertrude - is the longest one Shakespeare wrote.
What is Hamlet?
When Andrew Marvell tells his lover that "An hundred years should go to praise / Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze," his exaggeration is an example of this literary device.
What is hyperbole?
The title of this Ray Bradbury short story means a grassland in southern Africa, a setting that is displayed on the nursery walls.
What is the veldt?
The nickname that Hassan said he would call Assef, which his son makes into a reality.
Either one of the first names of the Brothers Grimm, who popularized fairy tales around their native Germany in the 19th century.
Who are Jacob and/or Wilhelm?
The namesake for Rickrolling, this musical artist is most famous for his 1987 song "Never Gonna Give You Up."
Who is Rick Astley?
Calling someone's weakness their "kryptonite" or "Achilles' heel" is an example of this literary device where an author references other well-known stories in their own story.
What is an allusion?
A well-known science fiction author, she is famous for stories like "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" and The Left Hand of Darkness.
Who is Ursula K Le Guin?
In the novel unlike the movie, Assef has this color hair to show his German heritage.
What is blond?
This French author is responsible for adding a very overt moral to the end of his version of Little Red Riding Hood.
Who is Charles Perrault?
During WWII, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights were all stored in this famously-hard-to-break-into location.
What is Fort Knox?