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9th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 5 of 12

Literary Devices

Allusion, analogy, juxtaposition, flashback

What your child practices

Spotting allusion (a reference to something well known), analogy, juxtaposition (contrasts side by side) and flashback in short original excerpts, and explaining why a writer chooses them.

Alaska content standards learning standard: RL.9-10.5; L.9-10.5 · allusion, analogy, juxtaposition and flashback

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. An allusion is a reference to something well known, like a famous story or person.
  2. An analogy explains by comparing two things alike in important ways. Juxtaposition puts contrasts side by side.
  3. A flashback interrupts the story to show an earlier time.

Example: A writer says, “Her generosity was Robin Hood–like.” What device is this? Robin Hood is a famous legend. Referring to a well-known character is an allusion. Answer: allusion

Literary Devices in Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 5 of 12 in 9th grade English Language Arts, after Word Detective and before Digital Smarts.

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

    A character says she opened the box “like Pandora,” and a reader who knows the Greek myth understands that something unwise was released. What is this device?

    • allusion
    • flashback
    • analogy
    • juxtaposition

  2. Question 2

    “Learning to code is like learning to cook: you start with simple recipes and slowly build your own.” What is this device?

    • juxtaposition
    • analogy
    • allusion
    • flashback

  3. Question 3

    “Dealing with homework is like climbing a hill: each step is small, but you slowly reach the top.” Which device is this?

    • juxtaposition
    • analogy
    • flashback
    • allusion

  4. Question 4

    What does the writer set side by side in the first and third paragraphs?

    Lunch Rush

    In the cafeteria, a hundred voices bounced off the walls. Trays clattered. Somebody laughed too loudly.

    At the corner table, Ravi sat with an untouched sandwich and watched the door. The noise rushed past him like traffic past a bus shelter.

    In the quiet hallway outside, Lena's sneakers squeaked once, twice. She paused, and then went in.

    • a sandwich and a tray
    • a loud cafeteria and a quiet hallway
    • the past and the future
    • two different schools

  5. Question 5

    “A library is to a town what a heart is to a body.” What is this device?

    • allusion
    • flashback
    • juxtaposition
    • analogy

  6. Question 6

    What is the main effect of the comparison to a bus shelter?

    Lunch Rush

    In the cafeteria, a hundred voices bounced off the walls. Trays clattered. Somebody laughed too loudly.

    At the corner table, Ravi sat with an untouched sandwich and watched the door. The noise rushed past him like traffic past a bus shelter.

    In the quiet hallway outside, Lena's sneakers squeaked once, twice. She paused, and then went in.

    • It makes the cafeteria seem calm
    • It tells us the ending
    • It shows he is late for a bus
    • It shows how still and apart Ravi feels

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