Literary Response
and Analysis
Review of Dramatic Devices and Practice
Test Questions
29 February 2012
10 Days to CAHSEE!
Dramatic Devices
Have you been studying your literary
terms?
Dramatic Genres
Comedy – A dramatic work that is light and often humorous
in tone and usually ends happily, with a peaceful resolution of
the main conflict
Shakespeare’s comedies include A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
Much Ado About Nothing, and The Taming of the Shrew.
Tragedy – A dramatic work that presents the downfall
of a dignified character or characters who are involved in
historically or socially significant events. The events in a
tragic plot are set in motion by a decision that is often an
error in judgment. Succeeding events inevitably lead to
a disastrous conclusion, usually death.
Shakespeare’s tragedies include Romeo and Juliet,
Hamlet, Macbeth, and Julius Caesar.
Tragic Hero – The main character in a tragedy who
shows evidence of high rank and nobility of character, is
marred by a tragic flaw or a fatal mistake in judgment,
gains self-knowledge and wisdom, and comes to an
unhappy end.
Julius Caesar in Julius Caesar, Hamlet in Hamlet, Macbeth
in Macbeth, Oedipus in Oedipus Rex
How Do Characters Speak?
Dialogue – A conversation between two characters
Hamlet and his mother, Gertrude, exchange these words in Act III,
Scene 4 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet:
QUEEN: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
HAMLET: Mother, you have my father much offended.
QUEEN: Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.
HAMLET: Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.
 Dramatic
Monologue – A poem or part of a drama in which a
speaker addresses one or more silent listeners, often reflecting
on a specific problem or situation
Jay
Leno, David Letterman, and Conan O’Brien all perform a
monologue every night on their programs. Most Saturday Night Live
episodes also begin with a monologue in which the guest host speaks
to the audience.
 Soliloquy
– Long speech in which a character who is alone
onstage expresses private thoughts or feelings
In
Shakespeare’s Hamlet, he speaks the words “To be or not to be,
that is the question.” A more modern example of a soliloquy might
be when the characters in The Office speak directly to the camera
during an interview—no other characters are there and we learn
their private thoughts and feelings.
 Aside
– Words spoken directly to the audience or to another
character, but not overheard by others onstage
Shakespeare
is famous for asides in his plays. A more modern
example would be in Malcolm in the Middle, when Malcolm turns to
speak to the camera in the middle of a scene, but none of the other
characters can hear him.
Bringing a Play to Life
Foil – Character who serves as a contrast to another
character
In Don Quixote, the sensible, down-to-earth Sancho Panzo serves
as a foil for the romantic, deluded Don Quixote. Other examples of
foil characters would be Bart and Lisa Simpson in The Simpsons or
Michael and Dwight (or Jim and Dwight/Jim and Michael) in The
Office.
Scene Design – Describes what the stage should look like in
order to make the audience believe the story is happening in a
specific time and place (includes the set, or background;
lighting; costumes; and props)
The scene design for The Office would include an office with desks
(the set, or background), dim lighting, business attire (costumes),
and computers, coffee mugs, paper, etc. (props).
Props – Portable items that actors carry or handle onstage in
order to perform the actions of the play
When Romeo and Juliet kill themselves at the end of Romeo and
Juliet, the dagger that they use would be considered a prop.
Stage Directions – A playwright’s written instructions about
how the actors are to move and behave in a play. They explain
in what direction characters should move, what facial
expressions they should assume, and so on.
Stage directions are written in italics and surrounded by brackets:
[Most of the students raise their hands.].
Test Practice #1 - Drama
“The School Garden”
Test Practice Passage #1: “The School Garden”
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Using the Six-Step Strategy, read and annotate the
passage.
What is the main idea of the passage?
Go through each of the four questions, marking
them as either “Main Idea” questions or “Detail”
questions. Put them in the order that you would
answer them on the test (easiest to hardest).
• What kind of question is Question #1?
• What kind of question is Question #2?
• What kind of question is Question #3?
• What kind of question is Question #4?
What order should we answer the questions in?
Test Practice Passage #1: “The School Garden”
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Question #1 may look like a Main Idea question,
but it is actually a Detail question.
Think about the literary terms that we just went
over. Would one of those tell us where the play
takes place?
Are the stage directions written in a different font
than the rest of the text?
Where in the play would stage directions about the
setting be located?
Go back to the text and find where the playwright
describes the setting.
Eliminate any answer choices that don’t match that
description.
Hold up the card with the letter of the correct
answer choice.
Test Practice Passage #1: “The School Garden”
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Question #2 is a Detail question, and more
specifically, a Literary Terms question. How you
can tell:
• The question or answer choices contain specific
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literary terms that you must know the meaning of in
order to answer the question.
What is the literary term used in the question?
What does it mean?
Use the meaning of the literary term “foil” to
eliminate answer choices that do not go with what
it means.
Even if you’re not sure what the literary term “foil”
means, you can still treat this like a detail question
by going back to the passage and reading the parts
in which Karl speaks, then eliminating answer
choices that don’t agree with what he does in the
passage.
Hold up the card with the letter of the correct
answer choice.
Test Practice Passage #1: “The School Garden”
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Question #4 is a Main Idea question. How you can
tell:
• The question is asking about attitudes and how they
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develop throughout the entire play.
Put “+” signs over positive words and put “-” signs
over negative words in the answer choices.
Does the class’s attitude start out positive and
become negative, or does it start out negative and
become positive? Eliminate answer choices that
don’t match.
You should have two answers left. Since this is a
Main Idea question, apply the attitude words in the
answers to the main idea.
Are the students “unenthusiastic” about the garden
and then become “supportive” about the garden?
Or are they “worried” about the garden and then
become “confident” about the garden? Eliminate
the one that doesn’t match.
Hold up the card with the letter of the correct
answer choice.
Test Practice Passage #1: “The School Garden”
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Question #3 is a Main Idea question. How you can
tell:
• The question is asking about a theme in the entire
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drama instead of just one part of the passage.
What is the passage about?
What is the main idea of each answer choice?
You should have said “a positive attitude” for A,
“friendship” for B, “a new idea” for C, and “working
towards a goal” for D.
Eliminate answers that the passage doesn’t talk
about.
You probably have more than one answer left over.
Now focus on the other ideas contained in the
answer choices. Eliminate any answer that doesn’t
seem to fit with your understanding of the WHOLE
passage.
Hold up the card with the letter of the correct
answer choice.
Test Practice #2 – Short Stories
“A Day Away”
Test Practice Passage #2: “A Day Away”
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Using the Six-Step Strategy, read and annotate the
passage.
What is the main idea of the passage?
Go through each of the nine questions, marking
them as either “Main Idea” questions or “Detail”
questions.
Put them in the order that you would answer them
on the test (easiest to hardest).
Now, go through and answer questions 1-9. Be
prepared to not only share your answers, but to
explain why they are correct.
Test Practice Passage #2: “A Day Away”
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Things you should have noticed for question #1:
• When a question asks about “main purpose,” you
know it will likely be a Main Idea question.
• You can eliminate any answer choices that are only
mentioned in parts of the passage.
• If you have it down to two choices, that’s okay.
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Remember that this question is asking about
something more specific than just the main idea—it’s
asking about the main purpose.
What is the author’s goal in writing this passage? Is
she just trying to “entertain” her readers? Or is she
trying to “persuade” you to do something?
“Purpose” questions are always asking, “Why did the
author write this?”
Things you should have noticed for question #2:
• What is the literary term in the question?
• What is a simile?
• What key word or words should you look for in the
answer choices?
Test Practice Passage #2: “A Day Away”
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Things you should have noticed for question #3:
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How do the words casual, wander, and gaze make you
feel?
The question is also telling us where these words appear.
Take another look at paragraph 3. What is the author
talking about in that paragraph?
Is she talking about being “determined?” Is she talking
about being “bewildered?”
Eliminate answers that don’t match what’s in paragraph
3.
With connotation questions, you can always use the
context to help you figure out the answer.
Things you should have noticed for question #4:
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Is the question asking what the author did, or why she
did it?
The phrase “MOST likely” is usually a tip-off.
“Why’s It Say It?” questions are always Main Idea
questions, so remind yourself of the main idea of the
passage.
If an answer choice is only related to a minor detail that
is just mentioned once, you can eliminate it.
Which answer choice matches up best with the idea
that’s discussed everywhere in the passage?
Test Practice Passage #2: “A Day Away”
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Things you should have noticed for question #5:
• Anytime a question asks about the “tone” of the
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passage or the author’s attitude,” begin by
considering whether it’s generally positive or
negative.
Is the author’s attitude in the second half positive or
negative?
Eliminate any answer choices that do not match the
author’s positive or negative feeling toward the
subject.
Look at the remaining answer choices. What is the
author discussing in the second half of the passage?
How does she write about it? How does she sound?
Things you should have noticed for question #6:
• What is the literary term in the question?
• What is “figurative language”?
• Do any of the answer choices contain phrases that the
author doesn’t mean to be taken literally?
Test Practice Passage #2: “A Day Away”
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Things you should have noticed for question #7:
• This question refers to the author’s main argument,
so remind yourself of the main idea of the passage.
• How would the point of view of “those who disagree”
most likely relate to the author’s main point?
• Which answer choices don’t disagree with the
author’s main point? Eliminate them.
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Things you should have noticed for question #8:
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Things you should have noticed for question #9:
• What is “motivation”?
• Does it describe what a person does, or why a person
does something?
• What kind of answer choices can you eliminate?
• What is the passage’s main idea?
Test Practice #3 – Poems
“I’ve Watched”
Test Practice Passage #3: “I’ve Watched”
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Using the Six-Step Strategy, read and annotate the
passage.
What is the main idea of the passage?
Go through each of the three questions, marking them as
either “Main Idea” questions or “Detail” questions.
Put them in the order that you would answer them on the
test (easiest to hardest).
Now, go through and answer questions 1-3. Be prepared
to not only share your answers, but to explain why they
are correct.
Review Points:
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Couplet – A couplet is two back-to-back lines that go
together—like a “couple.” They usually rhyme. (Lines 7-8)
Stanza – A stanza is basically a “chunk” of the poem—a
group of lines that “stands alone.” In this poem, each
stanza is 4 lines (but a stanza can have any number of
lines). (Lines 13-16)
Note that poems often use sentence structure, so you can
still read for sentences’ main ideas. In this poem, each
stanza is 1 sentence.
Test Practice Passage #3: “I’ve Watched”
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Things you should have noticed for question #1:
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This is a Literary Terms question. You can tell because the question
or answer choices contain specific literary terms that you must know
the meaning of in order to answer the question.
What is the literary term used in the answer choices?
What does it mean?
Are most of the stanzas about nature and is one about people? If
not, eliminate answer choice “A.”
Are most of the stanzas observations and is one a conclusion? If not,
eliminate answer choice “B.”
Is one of the stanzas an introduction and are most explanations? If
not, eliminate answer choice “C.”
Is one of the stanzas about poetry and are most about nature? If
not, eliminate answer choice “D.”
Things you should have noticed for question #2:
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Even though this question doesn’t directly ask for the main idea of
the passage, this is a Main Idea question. It’s asking for the overall
theme of the poem. Some answer choices describe things that
happen in individual stanzas, but the question is asking for what
“this poem” is about.
Do some of the answer choices only go with certain stanzas of the
poem? If so, eliminate them.
Are you left with an answer choice that relates to all of the stanzas?
That’s your answer.
Test Practice Passage #3: “I’ve Watched”
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Things you should have noticed for question #3:
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Even though this is a poetry passage, not a prose passage
divided into paragraphs, this is a “Why’s It Say It?”
question. It’s asking for the meaning of something in a
specific part of the passage. You only need to figure out
what it says in the specific part of the passage the question
is asking about to figure out which answer choices are
wrong.
Read the part of the passage mentioned in the question
(twice if you need to).
Find where it talks about fishermen’s “knowledge of the
sea.” What does it say about it?
Look at the answer choices. Find ones that do not relate to
what the passage says about the fishermen’s “knowledge of
the sea.” Eliminate them.