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9th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 2 of 12

Literary Elements

Irony, motif, tone and mood

What your child practices

Recognizing devices such as irony, symbolism, motif, allusion and foils in short excerpts, and describing tone and mood.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 9.4; 9.5 · irony, motif, tone and mood

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Tone is the author’s attitude. Mood is the feeling the reader gets.
  2. A motif is a repeated image or idea. A symbol stands for a bigger idea. A foil is a character who contrasts with another.
  3. An allusion refers to a well-known story or person. Irony is a gap between what’s expected and what happens.

Example: “Fog crept between the gravestones, and somewhere a gate creaked.” What is the mood? Fog, gravestones and a creaking gate feel dark and uneasy. The reader waits for something to happen. Answer: eerie and suspenseful

Literary Elements in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 2 of 12 in 9th grade English Language Arts, after Close Reading and before Grammar & Style.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    Whispering winds wove wildly through the willow trees.

    • Alliteration
    • Irony
    • Simile
    • Onomatopoeia

  2. Question 2

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    Smoke curled from the chimney like a lazy gray cat, stretching toward the sky.

    • Hyperbole
    • Metaphor
    • Allusion
    • Simile

  3. Question 3

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    He was a modern-day Romeo, sneaking messages to a girl across town.

    • Foreshadowing
    • Simile
    • Allusion
    • Hyperbole

  4. Question 4

    What is the tone?

    The scientist wrote that the data “suggest a modest increase, though more research is needed.”

    • boastful
    • angry
    • dramatic
    • cautious and objective

  5. Question 5

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    I've been waiting here for ages, and my feet have grown roots.

    • Hyperbole
    • Simile
    • Symbolism
    • Irony

  6. Question 6

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    The city never sleeps; it hums all night.

    • Foil
    • Personification
    • Simile
    • Hyperbole

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