Characters
This character borrows a diamond necklace for a ball, then loses it.
Who is Mathilde Loisel?
“You may shoot me with your words” means this type of attack.
What is emotional or verbal attack?
Mathilde loses the necklace at this type of event.
What is a ball (or party)?
The word “dowry” refers to this, brought by a bride.
What is property or money brought by a bride to her husband?
Repeating the same consonant sound at the start of words (e.g., “Still I rise”).
What is alliteration?
This character whispers “free, free, free!” after learning her husband died.
Who is Mrs. Mallard (Louise)?
“I walk like I’ve got oil wells / Pumping in my living room” suggests this feeling.
What is wealth and confidence (or pride/self-worth)?
Mrs. Mallard dies when she sees this person walk through the door.
Who is Brently Mallard (her husband)?
“Usurers” are people who do this with money.
What is lend money at extremely high interest rates?
A question asked for effect, not an answer (e.g., “Does my sassiness upset you?”).
What is a rhetorical question?
This character works as a clerk and gives his wife the invitation to the ball.
Who is Monsieur Loisel?
“Out of the huts of history’s shame / I rise” refers to this historical legacy.
What is slavery and oppression (or African American historical struggle)?
After ten years of hard work, Mathilde learns the original necklace was this.
What is an imitation / fake / worth only 500 francs?
“Repression” means the act of doing this to thoughts or feelings.
What is suppressing thoughts, feelings, or desires?
Giving human qualities to non‑human things (e.g., “the new spring life” through the window).
What is personification?
This wealthy friend owns the necklace but does not notice the switch.
Who is Madame Forestier?
The speaker’s “sassiness” implies this kind of attitude.
What is bold, confident, and unapologetic (or sassy/defiant)?
The doctors say Mrs. Mallard died of “the joy that kills,” but the reader knows this is the real cause.
What is the shock of losing her newfound freedom (or seeing her husband alive)?
“Elixir of life” refers to this kind of magical effect.
What is a magical potion that brings joy and freedom?
A sharp contrast in a single sentence (e.g., “Speech is silver, but silence is golden”).
What is antithesis?
This sister tells Mrs. Mallard the news of the railroad accident.
Who is Josephine?
“Time is a thief” (from the technique list) would best describe this character’s loss in “The Necklace.”
What are the ten years of hard labor and poverty (or the loss of youth/beauty)?
Lev wants to hold onto an unlit cigarette because it represents this.
What is a companion and a promise of something to hold onto?
The missing word in: “apparently by some error of ______, get themselves born the daughters of very minor civil servants.”
What is fate (or destiny)?
Directly comparing two unlike things without “like” or “as” (e.g., “You may shoot me with your words”).
What is a metaphor?