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Literary Devices

Page history last edited by Jason Stephenson 4 years, 1 month ago

 

Literary Devices

 

noun | Literary devices are choices that authors make when writing and include, but are not limited to: simile, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, symbolism, tone, and irony.

 

Literary devices, or techniques, are similar to literary elements in that they are choices an author includes when writing, but literary devices “are not universal or necessary in the sense that not all works contain instances of them” (Literary Devices). These devices add to the text’s creativity, depth, and/or style, making it more interesting, vivid, and/or complex. Different devices include those listed in these objectives, which can be found in the OSDE Glossary, but for further explanations on these devices, along with other devices, refer to literarydevices.com.

 

Literary Devices By Grade Level

  10 11

Simile

   

Metaphor

X X X X X X    

Personification

 
X X    

Onomatopoeia 

 
X X X     

Hyperbole

  X X X  
 

Imagery

   
X X 

Symbolism 

   
X

Tone

    X X

Irony

          X X X X X

Figurative Language

                X  

 

 

 

Literacy Progression

Standard 3

Progression 

objectives in chronological order with shifts bolded

how the objectives develop & change through the grade levels

2.3.R.4 Students will find examples of literary devices:

● simile

● metaphor

At this level, students are being introduced to similes, a combination of two things that are unlike, usually using the words like or as, and metaphors, a direct comparison of two, unlike things. They should be able to find examples of these devices in grade-level texts. The expectation of the objective is to find examples. 

3.3.R.4 Students will find examples of literary devices:

● simile

● metaphor

● personification

● onomatopoeia

● hyperbole

 

Students will continue to work with finding similes and metaphors. At this level students will be introduced to personification, the bestowing of human qualities on animals, ideas, or things, onomatopoeia, use of words that mimic the sounds they describe; imitative harmony, and hyperbole, obvious and deliberate exaggeration; an extravagant statement. The expectation of the objective is to find examples of the literary devices.

4.3.R.4 Students will find examples of literary devices:

● simile

● metaphor

● personification

● onomatopoeia

● hyperbole

imagery

● symbolism*

● tone*

*Students will find textual evidence when provided with examples.  
While students continue to master finding examples of similes, metaphors, personification, onomatopoeia, and hyperbole, they will be introduced to imagery, multiple words or a continuous phrase that a writer uses to represent persons, objects, actions, feelings, or ideas descriptively by appealing to the senses, symbolism, the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities, and tone, writer or speaker’s attitude toward a subject, character, or audience conveyed through the author’s choice of words and detail. Tone can be serious, humorous, sarcastic, objective, etc. Students will find examples of literary devices in grade-level texts. For symbolism and tone, students will be provided examples and they will have to find evidence in the text. For example, students are given a list of symbols in a text. They will find the meaning of the symbol in the text. 

5.3.R.4 Students will evaluate literary devices to support interpretations of literary texts:

● simile

● metaphor

● personification

● onomatopoeia

● hyperbole

● imagery

● symbolism*

● tone*

*Students will find textual evidence when provided with examples.  

Students will not only identify the devices found in the text; they will also be able to explain the impact that a device has on the text.


They should start to ask themselves questions as they read the text and analyze the devices. How does this device add to the meaning of the text and contribute to my understanding? Does it serve to emphasize an image, a sound, or a feeling? Does it change the intensity or mood of the work? Does it reveal something about the speaker of the poem?


Students should think about what the author wished to express and consider how each device the author used contributed to that purpose.


Students should also be able to make inferences about why the author chose to use a specific device.   

6.3.R.4 Students will evaluate literary devices to support interpretations of literary texts:

● simile

● metaphor

● personification

● onomatopoeia

● hyperbole

● imagery

● symbolism*

● tone*

*Students will find textual evidence when provided with examples.  

7.3.R.4 Students will evaluate literary devices to support interpretations of literary texts:

● simile

● metaphor

● personification

● onomatopoeia

● hyperbole

● imagery

● symbolism

● tone

irony*

*Students will find textual evidence when provided with examples.  

At this level, students are being introduced to the literary device irony. Irony is the use of words expressing something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning of the words. There are three types of irony.

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

  • Situational: A fire station burns down.

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


As students gain more practice in interpreting texts at higher levels, they will realize that there are often different ways of interpreting the same work.

  

8.3.R.4 Students will evaluate literary devices to support interpretations of literary texts:

● simile

● metaphor

● personification

● onomatopoeia

● hyperbole

● imagery

● tone

● symbolism

● irony  

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

● simile

● metaphor

● personification

● onomatopoeia

● hyperbole

● imagery

● tone

● symbolism

● irony  

The elements listed change from grade to grade.  One change is that devices that are added onto the objective’s list; any addition indicates that students need to be extending their knowledge/recognition of different devices, but some elements are not explicitly listed in the higher grades.  While the elements listed should be the focus for each grade, students should still be able to demonstrate the knowledge and skills from previous grade levels.


As students evaluate these literary devices, they should be moving beyond identification and on to evaluation and interpretation.  Finding a metaphor in a passage or poem is not enough at this level. Students must now use literary devices for analysis; they should be articulating how it contributes to the text; or specifically with this standard, how it supports an interpretation of the text.


The standard is extended even more by asking students to compare literary devices across texts which involves synthesizing how authors use literary devices in multiple texts.  (Synthesizing is creating original thoughts, perspectives, and understanding by reflecting on a text(s) and merging elements from texts and pre-existing schema.) 

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

figurative language

● imagery

● tone

● symbolism

● irony  
At this level, figurative language is introduced for the first time.  Figurative language is 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. 

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

● imagery

● tone

● symbolism

● irony  
Some previously listed elements, such as figurative language, are no longer explicitly listed by the 11th grade. While the elements listed should be the focus for each grade, students should still be able to demonstrate the knowledge and skills from previous grade levels.  The listed elements should be analyzed with further depth and students should be able to discuss the nuances of them. For example, analyzing tone more deeply and specifically, moving away from simple descriptions like “happy” and “sad.” 
12.3.R.4 Students will evaluate literary devices to support interpretations of texts, including comparisons across texts.  Elements are not specifically listed in the twelfth grade. This implies that students should have a working knowledge of all key literary elements and have more autonomy in which ones they analyze. 
 

 

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