Subscribe

7th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 1 of 13

Literary Devices

Irony, foreshadowing and symbolism

What your child practices

Recognizing the tools writers use: figurative language, foreshadowing, flashback, symbolism and the three kinds of irony (verbal, situational and dramatic), plus the parts of a plot.

Alaska content standards learning standard: RL.7.3; RL.7.5 · irony, foreshadowing and symbolism

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Foreshadowing hints at what will happen later. A flashback jumps back to an earlier time.
  2. A symbol is an object that stands for a bigger idea.
  3. Irony: verbal (saying the opposite of what you mean), situational (the opposite of what’s expected happens), dramatic (readers know what a character doesn’t).

Example: A fire station burns down. What kind of irony is this? You’d expect a fire station to be the safest place from fire. The opposite of what you expect happens. Answer: Situational irony

Literary Devices in Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 1 of 13 in 7th grade English Language Arts, before Tone & Mood.

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: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

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?

    Before the bell, the classroom was a beehive of noise and motion.

    • Metaphor
    • Flashback
    • Onomatopoeia
    • Simile

  2. Question 2

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    Since his best friend moved away, Sam has carried a broken compass in his pocket. Its needle spins and spins, never settling on a direction.

    • Symbolism
    • Hyperbole
    • Flashback
    • Onomatopoeia

  3. Question 3

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    The pond was glassy and still, the air smelled of pine, and the dock felt cool and damp beneath our bare feet.

    • Imagery
    • Hyperbole
    • Foreshadowing
    • Flashback

  4. Question 4

    How does foreshadowing usually affect a reader?

    • It proves that the narrator is lying.
    • It explains events that already happened.
    • It makes the story shorter.
    • It builds suspense by hinting at what might happen.

  5. Question 5

    A writer gives hints about events that will happen later in a story. What is this called?

    • Foreshadowing
    • Symbolism
    • Flashback
    • Imagery

  6. Question 6

    In a story, a dove appears whenever the characters make peace. What device is the dove an example of?

    • Symbolism
    • Onomatopoeia
    • Flashback
    • Hyperbole

More 7th grade