English 9: Literary Device Project
Literary terms/devices are the language of literature, and they are the reference points we use in English class to discuss literature. Based on my
experience, you have been introduced to these terms and you have probably been using them for several years. (No worries, if they are new to you; you
will have plenty of opportunities to learn them and use them.)
It’s important that you are able to identify the way authors use these devices, but it’s more important that you understand why the author is using the
device and how it is creating meaning. To review and to you give you a chance to familiarize yourself with these terms and how they create meaning, you
are going to engage in the Literary Device Project. For each term listed, I have offered you the definition and an example that comes from class or other
commonly read texts. Your job is to now start looking for these devices in your world. And specifically, I want you to look at the music you listen to. You
will find lots of examples of musicians using literary devices to create meaning in their songs. So, here’s what you will do:
Find at least two examples of each literary device in different songs.
For each example, write the lyrics that use the device and then explain what the musician really means (what meaning is created through the device). For
example, in “Love Story” by Taylor Swift, when she sings: “Cause you were Romeo – I was a scarlet letter,” she is making an allusion to The Scarlet Letter,
indicating that she is something that is shameful and would be a source of public humiliation (at least in the eyes of the father).
Literary Device
Definition
Example from
our class
Your examples from songs
Include the lyrics that use the
device
Include an explanation of what
the line really means or how it is
an example of the device
Your examples:
Personification
Giving an object human characteristics;
describing a thing as if it were a person
From “The Scarlet Ibis”: The smell of flowers
“drifted across the cotton field and through every
room of our house, speaking the softly the names of
our dead.” (Flowers can’t speak.)
Your examples:
Simile
A comparison between two things
using “like” or “as”
From “Abuela Invents the Zero”: “He hands her over
to my parents like she was a package sent airmail.”
(comparing abuela to a package using “like”)
Your examples:
Metaphor
A direct comparison between two
things
From “The Scarlet Ibis”: “pride is a
wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears
two vines, life and death.” (comparing pride
to a vine)
Your examples:
Foreshadowing
Hints or clues in the story about what
will happen later
The storm in “The Scarlet Ibis”
foreshadows Doodle’s death; it tells us
something bad is coming
Your examples
Symbol
An object in a story that represents
something else, like a character or an
idea
In the title “Abuela Invents the Zero”
the zero is a symbol that represents
how Connie made her grandmother
feel
Your examples
Theme
An author’s opinion or message about a reallife issue that s/he shows readers in a story
A theme in the Harry Potter books is to
be tolerant and to end bigotry
(prejudice).
Your examples:
Conflict
The source of tension (the problem) in a story. There are
four types of conflict:
1. character vs. self
2. character vs. character
3. character vs. society
4. character vs. nature
In “The Most Dangerous Game,” Rainsford is in conflict
with the sea (character vs. nature) when he falls off the
boat, and then he is in conflict with Zaroff (character vs.
character) on the island
Irony
A contradiction of some sort. There are
three types of irony:
Verbal
Situational
Dramatic
Irony examples may be difficult to find in songs, so you may include examples from books,
movies, or other examples that you encounter in your world.
Verbal Irony
Your examples:
Verbal irony—a contradiction between
what someone says and what they
mean
When there is a raging storm and someone
says, “Nice weather,” they are using verbal
irony.
Situational Irony
Situational irony—a contradiction
between what a writer sets you up to
expect and what actually happens
Situational Irony in “The Most Dangerous Game”
comes up when Rainsford says there are only two
classes in the world, the hunters and the hunted.
This seems true, but then Rainsford ends up being a
hunter who gets hunted.
Your examples:
Your examples:
Dramatic Irony
Dramatic irony—a contradiction
between what the characters in a story
know and what readers know
In scary movies, there is always a scene where the
audience knows where the killer is, and the character
is going to enter that room. This dramatic irony
creates the suspense for the audience.
Point of View/ Narrator
The narrator is who tells a story. There
are four types of narrators:
First Person
Second Person (not used very often)
Third Person Limited
Third Person Omniscient
When writing in second person, the author uses the word
“you,” which makes the reader become the main
character. This can make the narrator seems very
intimately connected and detached at the same time.
Your examples (second person):
First Person Narrator
Your examples:
First person—a character in the story
tells the story; the narrator says, “I”
and talks about his or her life.
“Abuela Invents the Zero” it told from
Connie’s perspective, a character inside the
story; therefore, the point of view is first
person.
Your examples:
Third Person Limited Narrator
Third person limited—someone who is not in the
story tells the story, saying “he” and “she” about the
characters. This narrator is limited to knowing the
thoughts and feelings of ONE character in the story
(inside one character’s head).
The Harry Potter series is written with the
narrator outside the story with access to Harry’s
internal thoughts and feelings; therefore, the
point of view is third person limited.
Third Person Omniscient Narrator
Your examples:
Third person omniscient-- someone who is not in the story
tells the story, saying “he” and “she” about the
characters. This narrator can tell us what every character
in the story is thinking and feeling—can get inside
anyone’s head
“The Most Dangerous Game” is narrated from
outside the story, and we have access to
thoughts and feelings of Zaroff and Rainsford,
therefore the point of view is third person
omniscient.
Characterization
The way an author develops a character and the things we
use to form opinions about characters. Authors use many
techniques for doing this:
1. how a character looks
2. what a character says
3. what a character does
4. how the character interacts with other characters
5. what other characters say about the character
6. what the narrator tells us about the character
In “Abuela Invents the Zero” the way Connie acts (what she
does) in church made you form an opinion about her. Some
thought she was selfish; some thought it was understandable
that Connie was embarrassed.
Your examples:
how a character looks
what a character says
what a character does
Your examples:
Antagonist
The character in the story who creates
conflict for the protagonist
In the “Hunger Games,” the capital, as
well as other tributes, serve as the
antagonist.
Your examples:
Protagonist
The hero in the story; usually the main
character
In the “Hunger Games,” Katniss is the
protagonist.
Flashback
Your examples:
A break in the story that moves back to
a previous time to reveal information
The beginning of “The Scarlet Ibis” sets
up a flashback to tell the story of
Doodle.
Mood
The feeling created in the reader by the
story. The author works to create this
feeling though events, characters, and
word choice (diction).
The mood of “The Most Dangerous
Game” is eerie.
Your examples:
Tone
Your examples:
The author’s attitude toward the subject (will be
expressed through the narrator). How the author
approaches the theme is developed through the tone.
May be described as formal, informal, detached,
sarcastic, serious, sad, ironic, playful, regretful, etc.
The narrator remembers Doodle with
fondness and recognizes his mistakes, so
the tone of “The Scarlet Ibis” is regretful.
Your examples:
Diction
The words an author chooses to use to
convey meaning.
The diction in the first paragraph of “The Scarlet
Ibis,” dead, not yet been born, rotting brown,
rank untenanted an empty cradle, graveyard,
dead, creates a melancholy (sad) mood.
Your examples:
Allusion
A reference to a historical person, place, event,
literary work, piece of art, etc. Shakespeare
makes allusions to mythological figures
throughout the play.
Chateau - Thierry, Amiens, and Soissons are
allusions used in “The Scarlet Ibis” to help
establish the setting (time) and America’s
involvement in war (death).
Plot / Plot Triangle
A standard pattern of events in a story. The plot triangle has five parts:
1. Exposition: the opening, sets the mood, tells setting, characters
2. Rising action: this begins with conflict—a conflict begins and gets the
tension in the story building
3. Climax: the turning point in a story, usually the highest point of tension.
After the climax, the conflicts will be resolved
4. Falling action: the time when we see the resolution of the conflicts
5. Resolution: the end of the story
In “The Scarlet Ibis,” the plot triangle looks like this:
1. Exposition: the opening is sad and has images of death.
The narrator says that at this time of year, he
remembers Doodle.
2. Rising action: Doodle is born with disabilities. The
narrator struggles with his shame about his brother,
and Doodle struggles to learn to walk and run.
3. Climax: these conflicts reach their peak in the storm,
when the narrator runs away from Doodle.
4. Falling action: the narrator returns to Doodle and finds
him dead
5. Resolution: the narrator says Doodle is a scarlet ibis
that should be sheltered from rain