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Do the “right” thing!
(Greek for “character”)
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Emotional appeal (Greek for “suffering” or
“experience”)
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Often contain expert testimony
Often contain statistical information
Suggest that the product is the “logical” or
“right” choice
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Refers to the “timeliness” of an argument.
“What’s hot now”
A short story typically with animals
conveying a moral.
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Usually passed down from generation to
generation
Told to teach a lesson about something
Animals, plants, or nature can talk and act like
humans-personification!
Most famous fables were written by Aesop in
620 B.C. that is over 2,000 years ago!
A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head
resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came
upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and
haste to get away, ran across the Lion's nose.
Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge
paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.
"Spare me!" begged the poor Mouse. "Please let
me go and some day I will surely repay you.
The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse
could ever help him. But he was generous and
finally let the Mouse go.
Some days later, while stalking his prey in the
forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter's
net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with
his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and
quickly found the Lion struggling in the net.
Running to one of the great ropes that bound him,
she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion
was free.
"You laughed when I said I would repay you,"
said the Mouse. "Now you see that even a
Mouse can help a Lion."
The moral of the story is:
A good deed or act of kindness is never
wasted.
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A story, poem, or picture that can be
interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning about
human life or politics
Dr. Seuss is a famous allegorist
Many of his stories are loved by kids but also
have a hidden message for adults
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBCUkdd57qc
"The Sneetches" is a favorite Dr. Seuss story for all kids
who have read it. It tells the story of some silly
creatures who spend their all their days thinking about
how special/terrible they are because of the star they
have/don't have on their bellies. A opportunistic
person comes along and gets them to spend all their
money changing their belly stars. In the end they learn
that the stars didn't really matter after all because they
were more alike than different. Readers understand
immediately how brilliantly Dr. Seuss has illustrated
the ridiculousness of racism and the harm it can cause
through this beautiful allegory.
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Repetition is a literary device that repeats the
same words or phrases a few times to make an
idea clearer or stand out.
It could be a word, a phrase or a full sentence
or a line of poetry repeated to emphasize its
significance in the entire text.
When we read “The Tell-Tale Heart” it helps
intensify the mood and makes the main
character sound insane!
Giving human qualities to an animal, object, or
abstract thought or idea
Examples:
 Lightning danced across the sky.
 The wind howled in the night.
 The car complained as the key was turned.
 Rita heard the last piece of pie calling her name.
 My alarm clock yells at me every morning.
 The avalanche devoured anything standing in its
way.
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“When well-appareled April on the heel
Of limping winter treads.”
There are two personification examples here.
April cannot put on a dress, and winter does not
limp and it does not have a heel on which a
month can walk. Shakespeare personifies the
month of April and the winter season by giving
them two distinct human qualities.
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Imagery means to use figurative language to
represent objects, actions and ideas in such a
way that it appeals to our physical senses.
The word imagery is associated with mental
pictures
Involves the senses- sight, touch, taste, and
sound
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It was dark and dim in the forest.
The children were screaming
and shouting in the fields. –
“Screaming” and “shouting”
He whiffed the aroma of brewed
coffee.
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The girl ran her hands on a
soft satin fabric.
The fresh and juicy orange
are very cold and sweet.
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way…
As you read through the poem, he paints a wonderful
picture of daffodils such as that you can almost picture
them in the breeze.
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mood is a literary element that evokes certain
feelings or vibes in readers through words and
descriptions
it creates an emotional situation that surrounds
the readers
developed through setting, theme, tone
and diction (word choice)
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“There was no moon, and everything beneath
lay in misty darkness: not a light gleamed from
any house, far or near all had been
extinguished long ago: and those at Wuthering
Heights were never visible…”
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If Frozen were a horror film!
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"an opinion about life or human nature
or society that the writer shares with
the reader.
Usually the theme of a work of literature can be
stated in one word, such as “love” or “solitude.”
A work of literature can, and often does, have
more than one theme.
The theme is generally not stated explicitly in
the text, but instead is expressed through the
characters’ actions, words, and thoughts.
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“Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above
all those who live without love.”
J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series contains the major
theme of good versus evil. Even more important than
this, though, is the theme of love. Over the course of
the series, Harry Potter learns that he is alive because
of his mother’s love, and the sacrifice she made for
him. This love, in J. K. Rowling’s conception, is so
powerful that it resists the ultimate evil. And, indeed,
Lord Voldemort is evil precisely because he is both
unable to feel love and unable to grasp its significance.
In this quote from the final installment of the series,
Dumbledore tells Harry that living without love is the
greatest hardship of all.
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Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing
with imaginative content such as futuristic
settings, futuristic science and technology,
space travel, time travel, faster than light travel,
parallel universes and extraterrestrial life.
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Hunger Games (book/movie)
Divergent (book/movie)
Alien (movie)
Terminator (movie)
Star Wards (movie)
The Giver (book/movie)
I Robot (book/movie)
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Why do author’s write?
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To entertain (to laugh, cry, explore, etc.)
To teach (lessons, morals, or specific information)
To persuade or convince (try to get you to think a
certain way or do something)
To express themselves-be creative
Joe had been fishing for over two hours without a
single bite. Suddenly there was a nibble at the end
of his fishing line. He stood up on the boat and
leaned out too far. Just then there was a sharp
yank on the line. Joe fell overboard and landed
head first into the water. Joe and his friends
laughed and laughed.
The giant panda is a bearlike animal that has
thick white fur with black markings on its ears,
limbs, shoulders, and around its eyes. The giant
panda feeds on bamboo forests at high altitudes
in western China. It also eats bulbs, roots, eggs,
and some small mammals. The cubs are born in
late winter. The giant panda is an endangered
species and is protected by the Chinese
government.
It's New! It's Refreshing!
It's Slurpy Soda!
This is the best soda in the world! If you drink
this soda you will jump higher, run faster and be
smarter in school. Try one today!
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If you know how to figure out author’s
purpose you will be able to:
Recognize bias and decide whether a source of
information can be trusted.
 Bias is prejudice in favor of or against one thing,
person, or group compared with another, usually in
a way considered to be unfair
 Understand why an author says things in a specific
way or includes some facts and not others
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is the emotional and imaginative association
surrounding a word
represents the various social overtones, cultural
implications, or emotional meanings associated
with a sign or meaning of a word
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is the strict dictionary meaning of a word
Words that "denote" a core meaning are those
that are generally used and understood by the
users and the audience to represent an object or
class of objects, an act, a quality, or an idea
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Connotation- name ‘Hollywood’ connotes such
things as glitz, glamour, tinsel, celebrity, and
dreams of stardom
Denotation- the name ‘Hollywood’ denotes an
area of Los Angeles, worldwide known as the
center of the American movie industry.
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The media were swarming around the pileup
on the innerbelt to capture every conceivable
injury for the evening news. •
The journalists were on the scene at the
innerbelt crash to document the incident for the
evening news.
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Photographers stood patiently along the
walkway, awaiting the arrival of the Oscar
nominees.
The paparazzi lined the walkway anxiously
poised to snap the Oscar nominees.
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America's Midwest is often referred to as the
heartland by Washington congressmen.
America's Midwest is often referred to as
flyover country by DC politicos.
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It is a device that we employ in our day-to-day
speech
It is the exaggeration of ideas for the sake of
emphasis
For instance, when you meet a friend after a
long time, you say, “Ages have passed since I
last saw you”
hyperbole has a humorous effect created by
an overstatement
My grandmother is as old as the
hills.
 Your suitcase weighs a ton!
 She is as heavy as an elephant!
 I am dying of shame.
 I am trying to solve a million
issues these days.
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In American folk lore, Paul Bunyan’s stories are
full of hyperboles. In one instance, he exaggerates
winter by saying:
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“Well now, one winter it was so cold that all the geese
flew backward and all the fish moved south and even the
snow turned blue. Late at night, it got so frigid that all
spoken words froze solid afore they could be heard.
People had to wait until sunup to find out what folks
were talking about the night before.”
Freezing of the spoken words at night in winter
and then warming up of the words in the warmth
of the sun during the day are examples of
hyperbole that have been effectively used by Paul
Bunyan in this short excerpt.
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It is an emotional discharge through which one
can achieve a state of moral or spiritual
renewal or achieve a state of liberation from
anxiety and stress
Catharsis is a Greek word and it means
cleansing
In literature it is used for the cleansing of
emotions of the characters
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“Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
In “Romeo and Juliet”, Romeo commits suicide by
drinking the poison that he thinks Juliet had tasted
too. The audience usually finds themselves crying
at this particular moment for several reasons. One
because losing a loved one is a feeling that all of us
share. Watching or reading such a scene triggers
the memories of someone we have lost (either by
death or by mere separation) and because we are
able to relate to it, we suddenly release the
emotions that we have been repressing.
“Here’s to my love! [Drinks] O true apothecary!
Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die. [Falls]”
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is a brief and indirect reference to a person,
place, thing or idea of historical, cultural,
literary or political significance
It does not describe in detail the person or
thing to which it refers
It is just a passing comment and the writer
expects the reader to spot the allusion and
grasp its importance in a text
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“This place is like a Garden of Eden.” – This is
a biblical allusion to the “garden of God” in the
Book of Genesis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POJ7sris
SlA
Watch the video and complete the end activity
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Gangsta’ Paradise – Coolio
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As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I take a look at my life and realize there’s nothing left.
Cause I’ve been blastin’ and laughin’ so long that
Even my mama thinks my mind is gone.
The allusion here is quite easy to spot: the
shadow of death alludes to Psalm 23 or the
Psalm traditionally read at funerals.
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Shadrach – Beastie Boys
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“And the man upstairs, I hope that he cares.
If I had a penny for my thoughts I’d be a millionaire.
We’re just 3 M.C.’s and we’re on the go –
Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego!”
This song is another that is chock-full of
allusions. This is one of the more obvious ones
– to the Old Testament by referencing
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
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Your homework is to find a song that contains
an allusion to history, literature, or some pop
culture reference.
Write down the lyrics that contain the allusion
Then write a short paragraph that tells what is
being alluded to/explain the allusion
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is a story often believed to be true and in
which the characters are usually considered
historical by some.
Examples include Robin Hood and King
Arthur
Legends resemble folktales in content; they
may include supernatural beings, elements of
mythology, or explanations of natural
phenomena, but they are associated with a
particular place or person and are told as a
matter of history
is produced by using a word that suggests
two or more meanings or by exploiting
similar sounding words having different
meanings
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Romeo: “Not I, believe me. You have dancing
shoes with nimble soles; I have a soul of lead”
(Romeo and Juliet)
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Writing to expose and criticize foolishness and
corruption of an individual or a society by
using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule
The intention is to improve humanity by
criticizing its issues
The fictional characters actually stand for real
people- expose their corruption
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Hubris is an excess of confidence: a boxer who
shouts "I'm the greatest!" even though he's
about to get pummeled by a much stronger
opponent is displaying a lot of hubris.
Hubris is from Greek, where it meant "excessive
pride, violating the bounds set for humans"
and was always punished by the gods
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Odysseus shows his hubris when he and his
men are trying to escape from the Cyclops
They drug the monster until it passes out, and
then stab him with a timber in his single eye.
Cyclops, now blinded, removes the gigantic
boulder blocking Odysseus’ escape, and waits
for the men to move, so he can kill them.
The men escape from the cave to their boat by
tying themselves under flocks of rams, so they
can easily slip by.
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Odysseus, now proud after beating the giant, starts
to yell at him, instead of making a silent escape.
But Odysseus shows hubris by saying that if they
were to meet again, he would “take your life” and
“hurl you down to hell!” The Cyclops now
extremely angry with Odysseus, prays to his
father, Poseidon, to make Odysseus “never see his
home”
Because of Odysseus’ hubris after blinding the
Cyclops, Poseidon grants the prayer, and it takes
Odysseus 20 years to return home at the cost of the
lives of all his men.
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a character trait that brings about the downfall
of the protagonist
ironically, in some works, this "flaw" is the
character's greatest strength taken to an
extreme.
It may be a lack of judgment or self-knowledge,
but most often it is pride or hubris.
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Katniss is just a regular teenage girl living in a
harsh post-Apocalyptic world where once a
year children are forced to fight to the death.
She would have continued to lead this harsh
life if it were not for her tragic flawoverprotectiveness
She is so protective of other, particularly her
sister, that she sacrifices her life for her sisters
to go into the Hunger Games