Standard 3: Critical Reading and Writing

Students will apply critical thinking skills to reading and writing.

 For more specific genre information, please refer to Genre Guidance (page 4 of the Support Documents).

10.3.R.4 Students will evaluate literary devices to support interpretations of texts, including comparisons across texts:

• figurative language
• imagery
• tone
• symbolism
• irony

Student Actions 

Teacher Actions 

• Students will continue to identify literary devices authors use for various purposes.
• Students will continue to analyze how authors use various literary devices in order to work toward an interpretation.
• Students will continue to make claims about a text or multiple texts to support their interpretations.

• Teachers choose texts rich in literary devices.
• Teachers remind students to recognize literary devices.
• Teachers introduce the term figurative language to encompass literary devices they already know.
• Teachers provide opportunities for students to identify additional literary devices that may not be delineated in the standards, such as allusions and idioms, and the purpose of those devices.
• Teachers provide multiple occasions for students to determine how effectively literary devices are used.
• Teachers provide opportunities for students to receive feedback about how students analyze the author’s use of literary devices.
• Teachers guide students through the process of interpreting a text or multiple texts.
• Teachers provide opportunities for students to interpret a text or multiple texts.
• Teachers provide opportunities for students to receive feedback about the effectiveness or accuracy of their claims. 

Supporting Resource

Teacher Insights

• OSDE ELA Glossary (webpage)

• Some elements from earlier grade levels are not listed. The elements listed should be the focus for this grade.  However, students should also be able to demonstrate the knowledge and skills from previous grade levels.

• Literary devices, or techniques, are similar to literary elements in that they are choices an author includes when writing, but they “are not universal or necessary in the sense that not all works contain instances of them” (Literary Devices).

• Literary devices are style choices, instead of essentials.  

• Different devices include those listed in the standard, which can be found in the OSDE Glossary, but further explanations on these devices, along with other devices, refer to: literarydevices.com.

• At this level, figurative language is introduced for the first time: writing or speech not meant to be taken literally but used to express ideas in vivid or imaginative ways. Figurative language includes simile, metaphor, personification, analogy, hyperbole, and idiom.

• Examples of these terms include:

• simile: She runs like the wind.

• metaphor: She is the wind when she runs.

• onomatopoeia: Buzz, whoosh, and boom

• personification: The wind whispered through the trees.

• hyperbole: I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse!

• alliteration: Harry the happy hippo hula-hoops.

• imagery: involves language that appeals to all senses

• Sound: the splashing of the waves soothed us.

• Touch: Wisps of milkweed seeds brushed against my face.

• Taste: Saltwater is bitter on my tongue.

• Smell: The mushrooms gave off a pungent odor.

• Sight: The deep red of the maple leaves announced the coming of fall.

• tone: Tone can be serious, humorous, sarcastic, objective, etc.

• symbolism: Winter can represent old age.

• irony:

• Verbal: Terribly sunburned person says, “I am so glad I wore sunscreen today.”

• Situational: Fire station burns down.

• Dramatic: Audience knows the murderer is in the closet, but character is unaware and  is heading toward the closet.

• As students evaluate these literary devices they should be able to clearly identify the “what” (what device is being used to describe what) while articulating how it contributes to the text; or specifically with this standard, how it supports an interpretation of the text.

• Making an interpretation involves finding the meaning behind or the significance of a text.  

• The standard is extended even more by asking students to compare literary devices across texts.

• This involves synthesizing how authors use literary devices in multiple texts.

• Example: Students may read all of or an excerpt from any of the following texts: Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers (a fictional novel), The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (historical fiction short stories), “Dulce et Decorum est” by Wilfred Owen (poem). After reading, a literary analysis will reveal the devices used, such as imagery and similes, articulating how they contribute to the text. These devices can then be compared across the texts in a synthesis essay.

Due to recursive nature of the standards, it is essential that teachers are aware of how all objectives within and between strands work together for optimal instruction.