Standing at the finish line, Ana suddenly remembered the first time she tried to run a lap, three years earlier, gasping and red-faced before she was even halfway around the track.
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.
Maine Learning Results learning standard: Reading 6; Reading 8 · irony, foreshadowing and symbolism
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Foreshadowing hints at what will happen later. A flashback jumps back to an earlier time.
- A symbol is an object that stands for a bigger idea.
- 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 Maine
In the Maine Learning Results, 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.
- 7th grade guide for Maine parents
- Printable 7th grade English Language Arts sheet
- Maine report cards explained
Source: Maine Department of Education
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
A scene interrupts the present action to show something that happened earlier. What is this called?
- Foreshadowing
- Symbolism
- Flashback
- Personification
Flashback
Hint: The story “flashes back” to the past.
Question 2
A character says the opposite of what they really mean. What is this called?
- Hyperbole
- Verbal irony
- Situational irony
- Dramatic irony
Verbal irony
Hint: Verbal means spoken in words. The irony is in what the character says.
Question 3
In a story, a dove appears whenever the characters make peace. What device is the dove an example of?
- Hyperbole
- Flashback
- Onomatopoeia
- Symbolism
Symbolism
Hint: The dove stands for a bigger idea: peace. An object that represents an idea is a symbol.
Question 4
Which literary device does this excerpt use?
- Onomatopoeia
- Personification
- Foreshadowing
- Flashback
Flashback
Hint: The story jumps back three years to show an earlier scene. That's a flashback.
Question 5
Put the parts of a plot in order, from beginning to end.
- Falling action: events after the turning point
- Rising action: the conflict builds
- Resolution: the conflict is settled
- Climax: the turning point
- Exposition: characters and setting are introduced
Exposition: characters and setting are introduced → Rising action: the conflict builds → Climax: the turning point → Falling action: events after the turning point → Resolution: the conflict is settled
Hint: Picture a mountain: the story introduces its people, climbs as the conflict builds, peaks at the turning point, then comes down to an ending.
Question 6
When the audience knows something that a character does not, it is called…
- Situational irony
- Dramatic irony
- Foreshadowing
- Verbal irony
Dramatic irony
Hint: Think of a play (a drama) where the audience can see what the character can't.