Literary Elements
Novels and Plays
Test-Taking Strategies
Poetry Reading
Miscellaneous
100
The main lawyer in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Who is Atticus Finch?
100
The major theme of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
What is "you never know another person until you step inside their skin and walk around in it." Scout fully understands this when she stands on Boo Radley's porch at the end of the novel and looks at the neighborhood through his eyes
100
Two things you can do when you're reading a long passage and it's not making sense
What is breaking it down/summarizing small sections AND using the multiple choice questions as a frame of reference?
100
The literary element represented by the first line of this poetry passage: But habit is different: it chooses. And we, its good horse, opening our mouths at even the sight of the bit.
What is personification?
100
The passages on the first day are typically from this genre
What is non-fiction?
200
The quest that John Proctor is on during THE CRUCIBLE
What is redemption/search for his "goodness"?
200
The literary element being used in THE CRUCIBLE when Rev. Hale tells Proctor that when the world goes mad, you can't place the blame on the vengeful desires of a little girl.
What is dramatic irony?
200
Sit up straight and pay attention during this task so you don't fall asleep or let your mind wander by accident
What is the listening passage?
200
The literary element represented in this passage: Soybeans look like a foot of water on the field in April When you’re ready to plant and can’t get in; Like three kids at the kitchen table Eating macaroni and cheese five nights in a row; Or like a broken part on the combine when Your credit with the implement dealer is nearly tapped.
What is simile?
200
True or false: Literary terms must be used when you are writing about the reading passages on day two
TRUE. During the controlling idea essay, you must use the two passages they give you to support your controlling idea, and you MUST use literary elements. You must also use literary elements during the Critical Lens essay. DO NOT use literary elements on day one because those passages are non-fiction.
300
The reverend who comes to Salem to try and rid the town of the devil, but ultimately comes to realize that Abigail and the girls are responsible for a huge, deadly hoax
Who is Reverend Hale?
300
In OF MICE AND MEN, Steinbeck is trying to emphasize this about the American Dream
What is the difficulty (and sometimes impossibility) of achieving it?
300
Use a T-chart to summarize the meaning of each passage while brainstorming/outlining during this task
What is the controlling idea?
300
The literary element represented in this poem: RUNNING WATER water plops into pond splish-splash downhill warbling magpies in tree trilling, melodic thrill whoosh, passing breeze flags flutter and flap frog croaks, bird whistles babbling bubbles from tap
What is Onomatopoeia?
300
Put the following quote into your own words and apply it to a piece of literature: “Good people … are good because they’ve come to wisdom through failure.” —William Saroyan as quoted in “Room for Hate—and Hope” from New York Journal-American, August 23, 1961
Varied responses are acceptable. The quote is talking about how people gain knowledge through being unsuccessful; their failures and their struggles have taught them important lessons that have enriched their lives. This can apply to John Proctor in THE CRUCIBLE, Atticus Finch in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, several characters in OF MICE AND MEN, etc.
400
The character who is so low in status that he/she does not even receive a name
Who is Curley's wife?
400
The reason Macbeth did not fear a threat from Macduff
What is the witches had told him he could only be defeated by someone "not of woman born." However, Macduff had been born by C-section, which Macbeth did not know.
400
List 2-3 possible interpretations so you can pick the best one during this task
What is the critical lens?
400
Read the following poem and A) explain how the speaker feels about GRANDMOTHERS, and B) state which literary technique the poet uses to convey those feelings? LINEAGE My grandmothers were strong. They followed plows and bent to toil. They moved through fields sowing seed. They touched earth and grain grew. They were full of sturdiness and singing. My grandmothers were strong. My grandmothers are full of memories Smelling of soap and onions and wet clay With veins rolling roughly over quick hands They have many clean words to say. My grandmothers were strong. Why am I not as they? —Margaret Walker from For My People, 1942 Yale University Press
What is A) admiration and respect, and B) repetition
400
The literary element in which exaggeration takes effect (for example, "I've waited a hundred years for you to get back from the store with bread")
What is hyperbole?
500
The girl who was allegedly raped in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Who is Mayella Ewell?
500
The woman Jem must read to, the reason why, and the results of it
Who is Mrs. Dubose? Jem vandalizes her flowers and as a result, Atticus makes Jem read to her every day. She eventually dies and he finds out his reading helped her overcome her morphine addition; Atticus was trying to teach him about bravery and the importance of endurance during impossible challenges
500
You can avoid writing this when you are asked to only write the body of the letter
What is the greeting (i.e. "Dear Director") or salutation (i.e. "Sincerely yours"); you MUST still write an introductory paragraph and a closing paragraph
500
The major literary element being used in the following poem: SUNSET The fire in the sky is dying The mountains are tall and dark The spirit of the day is flying Sunset leaves its mark The colors up on high are lovely The air is clear and cool An ending approaches mildly Day and night begin a duel But the light must give way sometime And who will win, I'll bet Is dark, mysterious nighttime As day gives way to sunset - Mary O. Fumento, 1981
What is imagery?
500
Read this fable (which appeared on a controlling idea essay). What does it mean, and what might it be saying about "lessons learned"? ("Lessons learned" was the topic for this particular controlling idea essay): A man ambushed a stone. Caught it. Made it a prisoner. Put it in a dark room and stood guard over it for the rest of his life. His mother asked why. He said, because it’s held captive, because it is the captured. Look, the stone is asleep, she said, it does not know whether it’s in a garden or not. Eternity and the stone are mother and daughter; it is you who are getting old. The stone is only sleeping. But I caught it, mother, it is mine by conquest, he said. A stone is nobody’s, not even its own. It is you who are conquered; you are minding the prisoner, which is yourself, because you are afraid to go out, she said. Yes, yes, I am afraid, because you have never loved me, he said. Which is true, because you have always been to me as the stone is to you, she said. — Russell Edson from A Stone is Nobody’s, 1961 Thing Press
Varied answers could be acceptable for this. The general idea of the fable is that you must live for yourself instead of worrying about conquest of others...the stone is a symbol for the main character of his inability to overcome his own fears, and as such, he has wasted his entire life.
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