Characters in Focus
This character in Of Mice and Men is a large, childlike migrant worker who loves petting soft things but doesn't know his own strength.
Who is Lennie Small?
This is the term used for the turning point or peak of tension and drama in a narrative plot.
What is the climax?
Identify the technique used in this sentence: "The car engine screamed to life in the freezing cold morning."
What is personification?
This is the location where Ponyboy and Johnny hide out for a week after the tragic fight in the park.
What is the abandoned church in Windrixville?
This is the general message, lesson, or central idea that an author wants the reader to take away from a complete text.
What is a theme?
This is the name of the toughest, most hardened Greaser in The Outsiders, who previously spent time in real jails in New York.
Who is Dallas "Dally" Winston?
This structural technique occurs when a sentence or thought in poetry runs over from one line to the next without any punctuation at the end of the line.
What is enjambment?
Identify the technique used in this description of Lennie: "He walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws."
What is a simile?
This is the specific location on the ranch where Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife.
What is the barn?
This is the name given to the wealthy, upper-class rival gang from the West Side in The Outsiders.
What are the Socs / Socials?
This character is the stable buck on the ranch who is isolated from the other men because of the colour of his skin.
Who is Crooks?
This is the term for the pattern of rhymes at the end of the lines in a poem, usually tracked using letters like AABB or ABAB.
What is a rhyme scheme?
Identify the technique used in this phrase: "The big blue butterflies blinked in the bright sun."
What is alliteration?
This is the location where Johnny kills Bob the Soc in self-defence to save Ponyboy from being drowned.
What is the park fountain?
This is the term for the specific vocabulary and choice of words an author uses to create a particular style or atmosphere.
What is diction / word choice?
This fun-loving, wisecracking Greaser is famous for his prize possession: a black-handled switchblade.
Who is Two-Bit Mathews?
This is poetry that does not use a regular rhyme scheme or a consistent musical rhythm.
What is free verse?
Identify the technique used in this line: "The burning fire crackled and hissed as the rain began to pour."
What is onomatopoeia / imagery?
This is the Oklahoma city where S.E. Hinton set the dangerous rivalry between the Greasers and the Socs.
What is Tulsa?
This is the term for the main character in a narrative who faces the primary conflict, such as Ponyboy or George.
What is a protagonist?
This character in The Outsiders is Ponyboy’s middle brother, who is handsome, understanding, and works at a petrol station.
Who is Sodapop Curtis?
This is the term for a stanza in poetry that consists of exactly four lines.
What is a quatrain?
Identify the technique used here: "Her home was a prison of strict rules and quiet rooms."
What is a metaphor?
This is the setting of both the opening and closing scenes of Of Mice and Men, creating a circular structure to the novella.
What is the clearing by the Salinas River?
This literary device involves an extreme exaggeration used to make a point, such as saying "I've told you a million times."
What is hyperbole?