Punctuation Patrol
Rhetorical Devices
Literary Concepts
Authors & Works
Thesis Statements
100

This punctuation mark is used to separate items in a series.

Oxford comma

100

This rhetorical appeal relies on the speaker's credibility or character.

ethos

100

The central message or insight about life that a literary work communicates.

theme

100

This author wrote The Great Gatsby.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

100

A strong argumentative thesis should do this rather than simply state a fact.

Make an arguable/defensible claim.

200

This punctuation mark can join two closely related independent clauses without using a coordinating conjunction.

semicolon

200

This rhetorical appeal uses emotions to influence an audience.

pathos

200

A comparison between two unlike things using “like” or “as.”

simile

200

This author wrote Things Fall Apart, a novel examining Igbo society and the effects of European colonialism.

Chinua Achebe

200

 Which is stronger? A. “Shakespeare uses imagery.”B. “Shakespeare uses recurring images of disease and decay to portray Denmark as a morally corrupted society.”

B

300

Identify the error: “Although she was tired she finished her homework.”

a comma is needed after the dependent clause, "Although she was tired,"

300

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences is called this.

anaphora

300

A character who opposes the protagonist is called this.

antagonist

300

This author wrote A Tale of Two Cities and created the characters Sydney Carton, Charles Darnay, and Madame Defarge.

Charles Dickens

300

Addressing the prompt should primarily take place in which part of the introduction?

The thesis statement

400

What punctuation should replace the comma? “The storm was approaching, therefore, we left immediately.”

semicolon

400

“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country” uses this rhetorical technique involving reversed grammatical structure.

Antithesis /chiasmus

400

When readers know something that a character does not know, this type of irony occurs.

dramatic irony

400

This American author wrote The Things They Carried, a work about soldiers during the Vietnam War.

Tim O'Brien

400

The thesis statement should help with developing a line of what?

reasoning

500

Correct the punctuation: “My favorite novels include Frankenstein The Great Gatsby and Things Fall Apart.”

 “My favorite novels include Frankenstein, The Great Gatsby, and Things Fall Apart.

500

A writer says, “If we allow one student to turn in an assignment late, soon nobody will meet deadlines.” This fallacy assumes one event will inevitably lead to increasingly extreme consequences.

slippery slope

500

A recurring image, idea, object, word, or situation that contributes to a work's meaning is called this.

motif

500

This author wrote Fahrenheit 451, a dystopian novel featuring Guy Montag and Captain Beatty.

Ray Bradbury

500

Improve this thesis: “In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury shows that books are important.”

Answers will vary

“In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury portrays books as catalysts for critical thinking, suggesting that a society that suppresses challenging ideas ultimately sacrifices individual freedom and intellectual independence.”