Non-Fiction
Read the passage below.
"The company was a chic athleisure brand perfectly positioned to attract millennials, but it was also selling a lifestyle."
Name the literary device used in this passage.
Metaphor
Read the excerpt below. Identify which literary device is being used.
"The thunder roared its displeasure at the mortal who dared stand defiantly on top of the cliff overlooking the rest of the valley."
Personification
Read the stanza below.
"“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -"
Identify what Emily Dickinson is comparing hope to.
A bird!
Read the stanza below.
"You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise."
What does "trod" mean in this context?
Step on;
Read the excerpt below. Identify which literary device is being used.
"Managing to break free from my mother’s grasp, I charged. With arms flailing and chubby legs fluttering beneath me, I was the ferocious two year old rampaging through Costco on a Saturday morning. "
Imagery
Read the excerpt below. Identify the central idea of this paragraph.
"She had no clothes, no jewels, nothing. And these were the only things she loved; she felt that she was made for them. She had longed so eagerly to charm, to be desired, to be wildly attractive and sought after"
This character is upset because she doesn't have anything that would make her feel loved by others.
Read the poem below. Identify which literary device is being used.
"so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens"
Imagery
Read the stanza below.
"But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it."
What does the word "confession" imply?
There's a crime to confess to/the poem did something wrong/there's something to be gained from the torture
Read the excerpt below and identify the author's purpose.
"We clearly have no choice about how we come into this world, we have little choice early in life, but as we grow older choices abound. I have long believed that while we have no control over the beginning of our life, the overwhelming majority of us have the ability to influence the outcomes we attain. Fair is a state of mind, and most often, an unhealthy state of mind."
To persuade
Read the excerpt below. Identify which literary device is being used to show us how calm the character is.
"His first impulse is to jump back and warn the others, but he knows the commotion would frighten the cobra into striking. He speaks quickly, the tone of his voice so arresting that it sobers everyone."
Indirect characterization
Read the excerpt below. Identify the theme of the poem.
"Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light."
Even if you don't have privileges/life is hard, it's important to keep on moving forward.
Read the poem below.
"A man said to the universe:
'Sir, I exist!'
'However,' replied the universe,
'The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation.'"
What does "obligation" mean in this context?
Duty; entitlement;
Read the excerpt below.
"In fact, we as individuals punish even when it costs us to do so. One 1995 study found that if treated very unfairly, some people were willing to forgo up to three month's salary if it meant they could punish the perpetrator"
Identify the meaning of "perpetrator" in this context.
Person who wronged an individual.
Read the excerpt below.
"She put the parcel down on the table and went through into the living room; and when she saw him lying there on the floor with his legs doubled up and one arm twisted back underneath his body, it really was rather a shock. All the old love and longing for him welled up inside her, and she ran over to him, knelt down beside him, and began to cry her heart out. It was easy. No acting was necessary."
In this story, a woman kills her husband. Which sentence(s) reveal her as the murderer?
"It was easy. No acting was necessary."
Read the stanza below. Identify which literary device is being used.
"
Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality."
Personification
Read the excerpt below.
"And if the sign may not be fully read,
If I can comprehend but not control,
I need not gloom my days with futile dread,
Because I see a part and not the whole."
What does "futile" mean in this context?
Useless; pointless
Read the passage below.
"With little experience and with less learning, I have been able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfectly together; and trusting to your patient and generous indulgence, I will proceed to lay them before you."
Name how many metaphors are in this passage.
Two
Read the excerpt below. Identify which literary device is being used.
"I probably stood there for under a minute, but, to this day, it was one of the longest minutes of my life. Seconds plodded by, each separated from the next by an eternity. Air grew heavy damp, almost solid. I was breathing bricks."
Hyperbole or metaphor
Read the stanza below and identify the central idea.
"The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he’s a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he’s to setting."
Time flies/the days pass by quickly
Read the stanza below.
"We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties."
What does "guile" mean in this context?
Cunning; deceit; tricks; treachery