Literary Device Definitions
Literary Device Examples
Initiation
Marigolds
Potpourri
100

Beginning of the story; characters introduced, setting and early signs of the conflict

What is the exposition?

100

"Because the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk..."

What is simile?

100

The setting of "Initiation"...

At Lansing High School in October at the beginning of the school year.

100

Why does John Burke sit in outside in a chair all day?

He is mentally disabled.

100

This beloved Eric Carle book begins, “In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf.”

What is The Very Hungry Caterpillar? 

200

Rich description which creates a picture in a reader's mind. Language that appeals to the senses.

What is imagery?

200

"In a forest of mixed growth somewhere on the eastern spurs of the Carpathians..."

What is setting?

200
The author of "Initiation" is...

Sylvia Plath

200

Why does Miss Lottie grow marigolds?

To add beauty to the community/To take pride in her work.

200

A sloop, yawl, ketch and a schooner are all types of these.

What are boats?

300

The perspective from which the events in the story are told.

What is point of view?

300

"He looked as if he were fourteen or fifteen, frail and willow-wild, in tennis shoes and blue jeans."

What is characterization? (+100 points for direct)

300

The name of Millicent's best friend, who does not get into the sorority. 

Who is Tracy?

300

Destroying Miss Lottie's marigolds symbolizes what for Lizabeth?

What is the end of her childhood/becoming an adult

300

This colorful pirate’s reign of terror along the Carolina coast ended when he was killed in battle on Nov. 22, 1718

Who is Blackbeard?

400

The ending of a story.

What is resolution?

400

"...the girls in faded dresses that were too long or too short, the boys in patchy pants, their sweaty brown chests gleaming in the hot sun. A little cloud of dust followed our thin legs and bare feet as we tramped over the barren land."

What is imagery?

400

An example of internal conflict in "Initiation" is...

  1. Millicent gets angry at Beverly, of course, but she can't do anything about it because she wants to be in the sorority so badly.

  2. To become popular or be true to yourself? This was her problem.

  3. They had to sing, dance, clean, not wear makeup or do their hair, and cannot talk to boys.

400

"And one other thing I remember, another incongruency of memory—a brilliant splash of sunny yellow against the dust—Miss Lottie’s marigolds." Using this context, the definition of "incongruency" is...

What is inconsistency; lack of agreement or harmony, not going together

400

This is a koala's (my favorite animal)'s main source of nutrition.

What is eucalyptus?

500

The message or lesson presented by the author in the story.

What is theme?

500

"Within Millicent another melody soared, strong and exuberant, a triumphant answer to the music of the darting heather birds that sang so clear and lilting over the far lands. And she knew that her own private initiation had just begun."

What is resolution?

500

Millicent has to do this while on the bus to get into the sorority.

What is ask people what they had for breakfast?

500

In one sentence, create a theme for Marigolds. 

Collier writes Marigolds in order to show that [TOPIC][UNIVERSAL IDEA]

500

A flock of geese in flight can be called a skein or wedge; the same group on the ground or in the water is this.

What is a gaggle?