Literary Response and Analysis
CAHSEE
F.L.T
Today, I will be able to…
• read and understand stories, poems, plays,
and essays
• analyze common literary devices and
figurative languages in texts
• identify character traits, conflicts, and
relationships, and analyze patterns and
themes
– So that I can pass the CAHSEE.
What is this strand all about…
20
• There are about _______
multiple-choice questions. It is
most tested strand on the CAHSEE.
the _______
• The questions will measure your
analytical
comprehension
_____________________________
and _____________________
skills.
• You will read passages that are followed by a series of
3
6
questions
____
to ____
multiple choice _______________.
difficult
• Some of these skills are more ________________________
than other.
• For example, some questions may simply ask you the
main
_________
idea, while others will ask you the meaning of
metaphor
symbol
particular _________________________
or ___________________
in a passage.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Personification
Definition: To give an animal, object, or idea
characteristics that are considered _________
human
Example: The branches groaned under the weight
of the snow.
Meaning: The author has given the tree the
human ability to groan.
Metaphor
Definition: A word or phrase that compares two
different things, but does not use the words like
or as
Example: The toddler was a tornado, ripping and
tearing through the house.
Meaning: The author compares the toddler to a
tornado
______________.
Simile
Definition: A phrase that compares two things
using the words like or as
Example: The discarded umbrella lay crumpled
like
_______
a dead bat.
Meaning: The author compares an umbrella to a
bat, using the word like.
Symbol
Definition: An object that stands for something
with greater meaning, often an abstract concept
Example:
aside.
She gave her heart to him and he cast it
Meaning: Heart is a symbol of devoted
__________.
love
Let’s examine the following figurative language
questions.
1. In this line from poem, the
word whispered suggests that
the wind is-
2. What is the meaning of the
phrase class clown in the
following sentence?
The wind whispered its secret to
me…
A. A. a movement of air.
B. a small gust.
C. a person.
D. a scent.
Mike was the class clown, always
telling a joke or a silly story in
science homeroom.
A.
Mike was a toy doll.
B. Mike was a circus performer.
C. Mike was a funny person.
D. Mike was the school mascot.
Reasoning for your answer:
Reasoning for your answer:
3. Which sentence is an
example of a simile?
A. The waves were rough and
frightening.
B. The waves turned into a
frothing, mad fury.
C. The waves became angry
and threatening.
D. The waves were like
grabbing, violent hands.
• Reasoning for your answer:
4. What kind of figure of
speech does the writer use
to help us visualize the
mob?
The large mob swarmed the
state capitol like angry bees.
A. metaphor
B. simile
C. idiom
D. symbol
Reasoning for your answer:
5. In the passage, what do pineapples symbolize to the narrator?
I always look forward to summer when pineapples are fresh and ripe.
After I take a bite of pineapple, I always remember the first time I
tried pineapple with my parents while on vacation as a young child.
A.
B.
C.
D.
warm weather
the grocery produce section
a childhood memory
backyard barbecues
Reasoning for your answer:
Elements of Fiction
• You need to be able to identify the tools such
setting
as plot, _______________,
characters,
narrator, and _______________in
works of
conflict
literature.
Plot
events
The sequence of _____________________
that make up a
story.
Setting; characters are introduced
• Exposition: ______________________________________
Rising Action
• _____________________:
the conflict begins.
the height of the action
• Climax: _________________________________________
Falling Action
• ______________________:
the conflict begins to get
resolved.
How the story ends
• Resolution: ______________________________________
Conflict
challenge
• A ___________
that the main character faces
in a story.
Types of conflict:
– Character vs. Character
– Character vs. Self
– Character vs. Nature/Technology
– Character vs. Society
Plot Chart: Babysitting Adventure
Exposition:
Rising Action:
Climax:
Falling Action:
Resolution:
Plot & Conflict questions
Which of the following BEST explains
Darius and Jose’s problem in the
story?
A. They needed money to get
hockey equipment.
B. Their brothers and sisters
started to get out of control.
C. Jose’s parents didn’t trust them.
D. They didn’t have any confidence
in themselves.
Reasoning for your answer:
Which of the following is the BEST
inference of what will happen
next?
A. Darius and Jose raise enough
money to buy their brothers
and sisters new hockey
equipment.
B. Their brothers and sisters start
to get out of control again.
C. Jose’s parents are proud of Jose
for his hard work.
D. Jose and Darius’s parents ask
the boys to babysit again.
Reasoning for your answer:
Setting
place
The time and _______
that
a story takes place.
Which of the following BEST
describes the setting of
“Babysitting Adventure”?
A. a school cafeteria
B. a suburban home
C. an isolated farmhouse
D. a restaurant
Reasoning for your answer:
Character
• Those who participate in
a ______________.
a story
• The main characters are
protagonist .
also called _________
• The secondary characters
are called
__________________.
subordinate
• Protagonist: the character
who faces the main
_________and
is involved
conflict
in the climax and
resolution of the story.
• Subordinate: all the
__________
characters.
other
• Who are the protagonists
in “Babysitting
Adventure”?
Character Motivation
Definition: each main character in a story has
______________for
his or her actions. They
reasons
are often motivated by their own
conflicts
______________
and _________________
relationships
with other characters.
Character Motivation
INTERNAL MOTIVATION
A character may be
motivated
_________by his goals or
______________
conflicts
internal
External Motivation
A character may also be motivated
by the actions of the ________
other
characters in the story.
To determine a character’s
motivation, you may want to ask
yourself the following questions:
– What is the character’s goal?
– Why is the character acting that
way?
– What is the character reacting to?
Reread “Babysitting Adventure” to answer the
following questions.
How do you think Darius’s and Jose’s parents react to the
boys’ babysitting?
A. Both sets of parents are impressed.
B. Jose’s parents upset and Darius’s parents are supportive.
C. Jose’s parents are angry and Darius’s parents are sad.
D. Darius’s parents are happy and Jose’s parents are mad.
Reasoning for your answer:
Another Example for character motivation
What motivates Darius to seize control of his siblings and
start giving orders to “Babysitting Adventure”?
A. He had a bossy nature.
B. He wanted his parents to trust his babysitting skills.
C. He was angry with his sister.
D. Jose didn’t seem to care, so he had to do something.
Reasoning for your answer:
Characterization
Definition: description of character’s _________________,
traits
motivations, and conflicts.
An author can introduce a character to the reader in several ways:
– What the character says about himself
– What the narrator and other characters say about the character
– The character’s own actions
To get to know a characters as your read a story, you may want to ask
the following questions as you read:
– How would I introduce this character to one of my friends?
– Could I be friends with this character? Why or why not?
– What is the character going to do next?
Read the excerpt from the story “Family Ties” and answer
the characterization questions that follow.
Which of the following BEST
describes the relationship
between the narrator and Ms.
Gretch?
A. Ms. Gretch is the narrator’s
grandmother.
B. Ms. Gretch is the narrator’s
landlady.
C. Ms. Gretch is the narrator’s
neighbor.
D. Ms. Gretch is the narrator’s
landlady but acts like her
grandmother.
Reasoning for your answer:
What kind of person is Roger in
the story?
A. Roger is troubled and distant
from his family.
B. Roger is a criminal.
C. Roger is a dedicated son.
D. Roger is happy and distant.
Reasoning for your answer:
Which of the following characteristics of Ms.
Gretch is emphasized most in the passage?
A. her artistic nature
B. her love and generosity
C. her frugality
D. her confidence
Reasoning for your answer:
Point of View
narrator
Definition: the use of a ____________or
outside observer
____________________
that tells the story.
TYPES OF POINT OF VIEW
character
First person: a narrator who is also a _____________
in the story.
sees
They tell the story as he or she______________
it, and how he or she
feels
____________
about the action in the story.
I
me
The pronouns ______,
________,
and ________
are used.
you
Example:
I got off the train in San Francisco with Julia ready to start our
adventure. We weren’t sure where we were going to live or how we
were going to support ourselves, but we knew we were ready to
take on our exciting new life.
outside
Third person: a narrator who is an ___________
observer
not
and _____a
character in the story.
he
she
they
The pronouns ______,
______,
and _______
are used.
Example:
Jessica and Julia arrived in San Francisco on a Monday
morning. They got off the train loaded with suitcases
and bags. Their smiles showed excitement and
anticipation as they stood in the middle of the train
station deciding where to go.
Third-person omniscient: a narrator who is an outside observer of the
read
action in the story who also has the ability to ___________
the
thoughts and the emotions of all the characters in the story.
he
she
they
The pronouns ______,
______,
and _______
are used.
Example:
Jessica and Julia arrived in San Francisco early in the morning. They
were both very excited about starting a new life, but Julia was
especially nervous about finding a place to live. Julia had two job
interviews set up for the next day, but Jessica had none. As Jessica
loaded her arms with luggage, she worried about finding a job in
this large new city.
Reread “Babysitting Adventure” to answer the
following question.
From whose point of view is the story told?
A. Darius
B. Jose
C. third-person point of view
D. third-person omniscient
Reasoning for your answer:
Elements of Poetry
poem
• A ____________is
a text that uses words
artistically in order to create a mental
picture
message
____________and
convey a _____________.
• Poets rely on special tools called
poetic
____________
devices.
• You may be required to identify the meaning
figurative language and ____________
poetic
of ___________
devices.
Imagery
Definition: a word or
phrase that creates a
picture
mental ____________
in the readers’
mind
___________
that
appeals to the
five
___________
senses.
Five senses:
taste
1. _______________
touch
2. _______________
3. _______________
smell
sight
4. _______________
hear
5. _______________
Repetition
repeat
Definition: _____________
words or phrases in
poems to emphasize an idea or ____________
the theme
of the poem.
In Mending Walls, the poet repeats two lines:
– “Good fences make good neighbors.”
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall”
– _________________________________________
Symbolism
• _______________
are
Symbols
objects that stand for
something of greater
meaning.
• Poets use
_______________to
symbols
emphasize the theme of
the poem.
Read the following lines from the poem.
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I
tell him.
What does the author convey from these
sentences?
A. what each person grows on his land
B. the purpose of the wall
C. that there is no purpose for the
wall because the neighbors do not
pose a danger to each other
D. what each neighbor thinks about
the wall
Which of the following lines is an example of
personification?
A. He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors’
B. Before I built a wall I’d ask to know / What I was
walling in or walling out
C. My apple trees will never get across / And eat the
cones under his pines
D. The gaps I mean, No one has seen them made or
heard them made / But at spring mending-time we
find them there
Reasoning for your answer:
Allegory
• In an allegory, the setting, events,
____________,
and objects in the story are
characters
___________
symbols for something of greater
meaning.
• Fables are stories in which animals, plants,
and objects are given __________
traits in
human
order to illustrate a _______________.
These
moral
are examples of _____________.
allegory
Elements of Drama
– Drama is a form of literature that is meant to be
_______________on
stage.
performed
– Drama has the same elements of fiction and poetry
conflict
such as plot, _____________,
characters, figurative
language, and setting, but the story is created
differently.
– When you read drama on page, it is not organized in
paragraphs instead, it is a series of
________________;
___________
for the actors and directions to the
lines
director
______________
of the play.
Read the excerpt from the following scene of a play and use the sidebars
to identify the elements of drama.
Dialogue
Soliloquy
speech
Definition: a ______________
between two or more characters
on the stage.
Definition: a long _____________
speech
given by a character in a
drama that is not directed at
anyone in the play.
The use of dialogue helps to
move
_____________
the plot of the
drama forward and
____________
characters. Also,
create
characterization for the
provides _____________
characters in the play in two
ways: allowing the characters to
describe _______________
themselves
through what they say, and
allowing characters to talk about
each other.
_______
It is meant for the ____________
audience
and usually gives the audience
information about the
character’s _____________
or
background
motivations
What is the purpose of Georgiana’s soliloquy in
the passage?
A. to describe how Mr. Harriman looks
B. to let the audience know that Georgiana is
uneasy about Mr. Harriman
C. to explain why Georgiana wants a roommate
D. to explain Mr. Harriman’s strange behavior
Reasoning for your answer
Asides
Definition: a short remark in
the _____________
of
presence
other characters, but is
meant only for the
_______________.
audience
What character traits do Mr.
Harriman’s asides reveal
about him?
A. He is stern and
hardworking.
B. He is funny and not very
serious.
C. He is relaxed and warm.
D. He is deceitful and
uneasy.
Reasoning for your answer:
Theme
message
Definition: the _____________
of
a story or poem that the
author is trying to convey.
The theme _____________
all of
connects
the elements of the passages
and gives them a single
__________
purpose of conveying a
_______________
message
to the
reader.
The following questions may help
you identify the theme of a
passage:
• How do characters _______?
act
Do they set a good example or
a bad example, and what can a
reader learn from their actions
and consequences?
• Does the action in the story
__________
highlight a particular
message?
• How does figurative language
____________
emphasize a message?
gloomy
• Is the setting ____________
or
happy?
Reread “Family Ties” to answer the question.
Which of the following themes is developed in the
story?
A. Neighbors should be friendly.
B. Family are the people who are closest to you
rather than people related by blood.
C. Renting an apartment is better living in a house.
D. Landladies should be generous.
Reasoning for your answer:
Tone and Mood
Two of the puzzle pieces that can help you understand
theme
the __________
of a story, play, or poem are
__________
tone
and mood.
Mood
feeling
The __________________
that is conveyed to a reader while reading a
story or poem. (How the words make you feel.)
Ask yourself the following question:
– What emotions does this poem make me feel?
For example, what is the mood of the following sentence? How do the
words help create the mood?
The gleeful kids sang with delight as they danced around the
radiant campfire and roasted scrumptious marshmallows.
The mood of the sentence is _____________________.
happy
Tone
attitude
the _______________
that a piece of writing expresses to the reader.
(How the speaker feels.)
Ask yourself the following question:
• What is the author trying to tell me about her attitude?
For example, what is the character’s tone in the following sentence?
How do the words help create the tone?
I knew you would lose the keys! I never should have trusted you!
What do you expect me to do now?”
The tone of the sentence is _______________________.
angry/resentment
Reread Mending Wall and answer the following
question.
Which pair of words BEST describes the tone of
this poem?
A. happy and carefree
B. awe and amazement
C. frustration and annoyance
D. anger and distrust
Reasoning for your answer
Author’s purpose
– Author’s usually with a particular _____________
goal
in mind.
– This goal is what the author intends the reader to
take ___________
from the text.
away
– There are four main purposes: to
describe
inform,_____________,
persuade, and
_________________.
narrate
Inform or describe
Example: Instruction manuals, newspaper
articles, biographies
nonfiction
Characteristics: ___________________,
facts,
statistics, data
Author’s Goal: to tell the reader about a
particular topic
Persuade
Example: Newspaper, editorials,
______________,
advertisements
speeches
Characteristics: Opinions, examples, supporting
facts and data
Author’s Goal: to convince the reader to do or
believe something
Narrate
Example: Fiction, poetry
Characteristics: Figurative language, hyperbole
emotion
Author’s Goal: To create _______________
within the reader
Reread Mending Wall to answer the following
question.
In addition to the chart, you can
ask the following questions as
you read a text in order to
identify the author’s purpose:
• What does the author want
me to take away from the
_______________?
text
• Why is the
_________________
writing
author
this?
characteristics
• What ____________________
of the specific purpose does
the author include?
What is the author’s main
purpose in the poem?
A. to entertain his neighbor
B. to describe the relationship
between two neighbors
C. to inform his neighbor about
building a wall
D. to persuade people to build
walls
Reasoning for your answer:
Summary
Write what you learn with this strand in 3-5
sentences.
Are you ready?
Review!
Quiz!