Literary Devices

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…

• Tone

• Parallel Structure/Parallelism

• Oxymoron

• Understatement

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

Harry Potter (By J. K. Rowling)

Through seven novels, the audience believes that Harry can kill Voldemort, the evil lord. However, the audience is thrown off guard near the end of this series when it becomes clear that Harry must allow the evil lord to kill him, so that Voldemort’s soul could become mortal once again. Hence, Harry allows himself to be killed in order to defeat Voldemort, which is exactly the opposite of the audience’s expectations.

• Verbal Irony

• Setting

• Simile

• Situational Irony

Tags

CCSS.L.8.5A

In Beauty and the Beast, Belle tells Gaston, "I just don't deserve you!" when, in reality, Gaston doesn't deserve Belle.

• Tone

• Understatement

• Verbal Irony

• Theme

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

Pick the caption Mr. Smith thinks fits the meme the best.

• 
• 

“It went zip when it moved and bop when it stopped,

And whirr when it stood still.

I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will.”

• Onomatopoeia

• Paradox

• Personification

• Point of View

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

CCSS.L.6.5

CCSS.L.7.5

CCSS.L.8.5

Two Sunflowers Move in a Yellow Room (By William Blake)

“Two Sunflowers

Move in the Yellow Room.

‘Ah, William, we’re weary of weather,’

said the sunflowers, shining with dew.

Our traveling habits have tired us.

Can you give us a room with a view?”

• Pun

• Personification

• Satire

• Setting

Tags

CCSS.L.8.5A

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (By Mark Twain)

“There warn’t anybody at the church, except maybe a hog or two, for there warn’t any lock on the door, and hogs likes a puncheon floor in summer-time because it’s cool. If you notice, most folks don’t go to church only when they’ve got to; but a hog is different.”

• Repetition

• Satire

• Pun

• Theme

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

An elephant’s opinion carries a lot of weight.

This is an example of a ___________

Tags

CCSS.L.8.5A

As you Like It (By William Shakespeare)

“All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

they have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts,”

In these famous lines, Shakespeare is saying that men and women, in the course of their lives, perform different roles on the “stage” of life.

• Pun

• Stereotype

• Symbolism

• Point of View

“I am a deeply superficial person.” – Andy Warhol

• Personification

• Paradox

• Oxymoron

• Stereotype