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Grade 8 · English Language Arts · Unit 5 of 12

Literary Devices

Irony, symbolism and point of view

What your child practises

Naming devices like simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, irony, foreshadowing and symbolism in short excerpts, and identifying a narrator's point of view.

Alberta Curriculum learning outcome: General Outcome 2 · literary devices such as symbolism and irony

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?

    Sam, who had never been late to school, won the prize for “Most Likely to Be Late.”

    • Situational irony
    • Foreshadowing
    • Alliteration
    • Verbal irony
    Show answer

    Situational irony

    Hint: The result is the opposite of what we would expect.

  2. Question 2

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    The sunflowers bowed their heads at the end of the day.

    • Personification
    • Hyperbole
    • Irony
    • Simile
    Show answer

    Personification

    Hint: Flowers can't bow. Giving human actions to plants is personification.

  3. Question 3

    Which point of view is used?

    You open the box and your hands begin to tremble.

    • First person
    • Second person
    • Third person omniscient
    • Third person limited
    Show answer

    Second person

    Hint: Speaking to “you” is second person.

  4. Question 4

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    Years later, standing by the lake, Dana could still hear her grandmother singing in the boat that summer long ago.

    • Foreshadowing
    • Hyperbole
    • Flashback
    • Irony
    Show answer

    Flashback

    Hint: The story jumps back to an earlier time. That is a flashback.

  5. Question 5

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    The silent snow fell softly on the sleeping street.

    • Onomatopoeia
    • Hyperbole
    • Irony
    • Alliteration
    Show answer

    Alliteration

    Hint: Several words begin with the same “s” sound: silent, snow, softly, sleeping.

  6. Question 6

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    Every time Ana feels hopeful, a bright yellow bird lands on her windowsill.

    • Hyperbole
    • Symbolism
    • Alliteration
    • Flashback
    Show answer

    Symbolism

    Hint: The bird stands for something bigger than itself: hope.

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