Free Printable Identifying Literary Devices

1.

Brian was a wall bouncing every tennis ball back over the net.

a)

Allusion

b)

Simile

c)

Metaphor

d)

Personification

2.

My love is like a red, red rose.

a)

Allusion

b)

Simile

c)

Metaphor

d)

Personification

3.

Snow speaks to the people; it’s falling above in the glooming sunlight. Its white, sparkling voice echoes as it falls through the air.

a)

Hyperbole

b)

Simile

c)

Metaphor

d)

Personification

4.

In the film and book Charlotte’s Web, Charlotte explains to Wilbur that all living things eventually die. Charlotte then has to spin a web to save Wilbur’s life. In the process of spinning her web, Charlotte expends all her energy and dies.

a)

Imagery

b)

Metaphor

c)

Foreshadowing

d)

Personification

5.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! Joe’s boots broke the forest’s silence. A full moon peeked out from behind two clouds. Tree shadows illuminated the snow drifts in its shimmering light. Joe shivered as a cold gust of wind blew through his jacket.

a)

Simile

b)

Metaphor

c)

Imagery

d)

Hyperbole

6.

“But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill.”
-William Sharp

a)

Allusion

b)

Simile

c)

Metaphor

d)

Irony

7.

An emerald is as green as grass,
A ruby red as blood;
A sapphire shines as blue as heaven;
A flint lies in the mud.

a)

Allusion

b)

Simile

c)

Personification

d)

Foreshadowing

8.

Earth felt the wound; and Nature from her seat, sighing, through all her works, gave signs of woe.
- John Milton

a)

Simile

b)

Foreshadowing

c)

Personification

d)

Allusion

9.

What type of figurative language is used?

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

a)

Allusion

b)

Simile

c)

Personifcation

d)

Foreshadowing

10.

When the woman kept changing the subject I knew she had something to hide. I wasn’t surprised when she turned out to be guilty.

a)

Foreshadowing

b)

Personfication

c)

Simile

d)

Metaphor

11.

“Only the daisy trees were serene… they ignored the men and continued to rock the diamondbacks that slept in their arms. It took the river to persuade them that indeed the world was altered.”

a)

Allusion

b)

Simile

c)

Irony

d)

Personification

12.

I smelled the warm, sweet, all-pervasive smell of silage, as well as the sour dirty laundry spilling over the basket in the hall. I could pick out the acrid smell of Claire’s drenched diaper, her sweaty feet, and her hair crusted with sand.

a)

Imagery

b)

Allusion

c)

Personification

d)

Irony

13.

The water beckoned invitingly to the hot swimmers.

a)

Allusion

b)

Personification

c)

Metaphor

d)

Irony

14.

What is personification?

a)

a word that mimics a sound

b)

repetition of consonant sounds

c)

using symbols to represent something

d)

Giving human-like traits to non-living objects

15.

What is symbolism?

a)

a word that mimics a sound

b)

repetition of consonant sounds

c)

using people, places, or things to represent something bigger

d)

Giving human-like traits to non-living objects

16.

A figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express a strong emotion or create a statement is a...

a)

Hyperbole

b)

Metaphor

c)

Imagery

d)

Foreshadowing

17.

The stars on the U.S. flag are an example of...

a)

Symbolism

b)

Repetition

c)

Alliteration

d)

Satire

18.

What is a simile?

a)

Comparing two unlike things using like, as, or resembles

b)

Comparing two things in a text

c)

Using symbols to represent something

d)

None of the above

19.

Break a leg is what kind of literary device?

a)

simile

b)

personification

c)

idiom

d)

dramatic irony

20.

"America is a melting pot." is an example of?

a)

Metaphor

b)

Simile

c)

Foreshadowing

d)

Repetition

21.

What is the definition of a figure of speech?

a)

An inanimate object being portrayed as if it has human qualities

b)

Comparing two unlike things using a word of comparison

c)

Expressions that are not literally true but suggest similarities between usually unrelated things

d)

When reality contradicts what we expect

22.

What is the literary definition of a imagery?

a)

A way of speaking that's characteristic of a particular place or group of people

b)

Language that creates word pictures and appeals to the senses

c)

Comparing two unlike things directly, without using a word of comparison

d)

Comparing two unlike things using a word of comparison such as "like"

23.

Identify the metaphor

a)

My heart was a bucket full of joy after all the sweet compliments.

b)

My heart is a muscle.

c)

My heart is like a hand pump pushing blood all throughout my body.

d)

My heart is like a muscle.

24.

Define foreshadowing.

a)

A flashback of what happened previously

b)

A hint at something that will happen later

c)

Giving human-like characteristics to non-living things

d)

Comparing two unlike things using like or as

25.

What is the foreshadow in this passage?

It was only 5:00AM, so everyone else in the house was still asleep. As they crept through the kitchen to the back door, Mary sniffed the air. It had the faint scent of coffee and something sweet. She shrugged it off and followed Justin out the door, down the back steps,and out onto the boat dock. The fog had settled over the lake, making it impossible to see anything.

a)

That Mary and Justin were going to go back to bed.

b)

That they might get into an accident or get lost on the lake because the fog made it impossible to see anything.

c)

They were about to eat breakfast.

d)

hat Mary and Justin were going to go for a nice boat ride across the lake.

26.

What is connotation?

a)

Connotation implies or suggests a meaning of a word.

b)

Dictionary meaning of a word.

c)

I don't know!

d)

Unknown meaning

27.

Which connotation is MORE negative?
I didn't like the ______ on the jester's face.

a)

grin

b)

smirk

28.

A look back to an earlier event...

a)

Flashback

b)

Foreshadowing

c)

theme

d)

rising action

29.

“Remember, Cinderella,” warned her fairy godmother, “you must leave the ball at midnight. If you stay later, everything will turn back as it was. Your coach will become a pumpkin again. Your gown will become rags. Promise me you will remember.”
“Of course, I’ll remember,” said Cinderella, but as her coach carried her toward the ball, the warning was replaced in her mind with images of dancing and music.

a)

Flashback

b)

Foreshadowing

c)

theme

d)

climax

30.

Interrupts the chronological order of the story

a)

Flashback

b)

Foreshadowing

31.

What can a light bulb symbolize?

a)

Magic

b)

Intelligence

c)

Love

d)

Mystery

32.

What color symbolizes loss, depression, and emotionless?

a)

Gray

b)

White

c)

Blue

d)

Red

33.

A dog does NOT symbolize...

a)

Loyalty

b)

Mystery

c)

Friendship

d)

Protection

34.

What might a "storm" symbolize?

a)

A difficult time

b)

Thunder and lightning

c)

A party

d)

Cold weather

35.

Which of the following symbols may represent a fresh start?

a)

A dove

b)

A shovel

c)

Rain

d)

Gold

36.

I was so angry that I kicked an elephant all the way to Mars!

a)

Hyperbole

b)

Idiom

c)

Personification

d)

Alliteration

37.

Ethan’s smile is a mile wide.

a)

Metaphor

b)

Simile

c)

Personification

d)

Hyperbole

38.

I could sleep for an hour.

a)

Hyperbole

b)

Not a hyperbole

39.

After using Lina's hair shampoo, my hair is as long as the Nile River.

a)

Not a hyperbole

b)

Hyperbole

40.

This sentence appeals to which sense:

The concert was so loud that her ears rang for days afterward.

a)

sound

b)

sight

c)

smell

d)

touch

41.

Is this Imagery: The wind blew silently

a)

Yes

b)

No

42.

Treasure Island (an excerpt)
by Robert Louis Stevenson

I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow – a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the shoulder of his soiled blue coat, his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails, and the sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. I remember him looking round the cover and whistling to himself as he did so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that he sang so often afterwards.
What does the IMAGERY used in the first paragraph tell the reader about the captain?

a)

He is in need of first aid.

b)

He is likely carrying treasure in his sea-chest.

c)

He has grown frail and tired with old age.

d)

He has had a rough and adventurous life.

43.

"The Monkey Paw" by W. W. Jacobs
Neither spoke, but lay silently listening to the ticking of the clock. A stair creaked, and a squeaky mouse scurried noisily through the wall. The darkness was oppressive, and after lying for some time gathering up courage, he took the box of matches, and striking one, went downstairs for a candle.
At the foot of the stairs the match went out, and he paused to strike another; and at the samee moment a knock so quiet and stealthy as to be scarcely audible, sounded on the front door.
The matches fell from his hand. He stood motionless, his breath suspended.......
Choose the phrase from the passage that appeals to your sense of hearing.

a)

"he took the box of matches"

b)

"went downstairs for a candle"

c)

"squeaky mouse scurried noisily"

d)

The matches fell from his hand.

44.

Writers create imagery through figurative language. Which is NOT a type of figurative language?

a)

simile

b)

metaphor

c)

personification

d)

theme

45.

"The Monkey Paw" by W. W. Jacobs
Neither spoke, but lay silently listening to the ticking of the clock. A stair creaked, and a squeaky mouse scurried noisily through the wall. The darkness was oppressive, and after lying for some time gathering up courage, he took the box of matches, and striking one, went downstairs for a candle.
At the foot of the stairs the match went out, and he paused to strike another; and at the samee moment a knock so quiet and stealthy as to be scarcely audible, sounded on the front door.
The matches fell from his hand. He stood motionless, his breath suspended.......
Choose the phrase from the passage that appeals to your sense of sight.

a)

"squeaky mouse scurried noisily"

b)

"At the foot of the stairs, the match went out,"

c)

"clicking of the clock"

d)

"striking one"

46.

The drumbeats sounded like distant thunder.
What type of figurative language is used?

a)

metaphor

b)

simile

c)

personification

d)

idiom

47.

After Dan climbed the steep hill, his legs were rubber.
What type of figurative language is used?

a)

metaphor

b)

simile

c)

personification

d)

idiom

48.

The owl laughed into the darkness.
What type of figurative language is used?

a)

metaphor

b)

simile

c)

personification

d)

idiom

Identifying Literary Devices

Total questions: 48

Worksheet time: 4hrs 0mins

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