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8th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 2 of 12

Literary Devices

Irony, symbolism and point of view

What your child practices

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

Maine Learning Results learning standard: Reading 7; Reading 9 · irony, symbolism and point of view

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Simile (like or as), metaphor (is), personification (human traits) and hyperbole (exaggeration) are figurative language.
  2. Irony is a gap between what is said or expected and what is real. Foreshadowing hints at later events.
  3. A symbol stands for a bigger idea. Second person speaks to the reader as you.

Example: “Her words were daggers.” Which device is this? Words are compared to daggers without like or as. That makes it a metaphor. Answer: Metaphor

Literary Devices in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 2 of 12 in 8th grade English Language Arts, after Close Reading and before Word Study.

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: 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.

  1. Question 1

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    The fire station burned down on Tuesday.

    • Simile
    • Hyperbole
    • Alliteration
    • Irony

  2. Question 2

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    Her laughter was a wind chime in the quiet house.

    • Hyperbole
    • Metaphor
    • Foreshadowing
    • Simile

  3. Question 3

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    The thunder boomed and the rain splashed onto the roof.

    • Simile
    • Symbolism
    • Irony
    • Onomatopoeia

  4. Question 4

    The narrator knows things the characters do not. What is the point of view?

    Maya crossed the bridge, thinking of home. Far away, a storm was gathering that neither she nor the village knew about.

    • Second person
    • Third person limited
    • First person
    • Third person omniscient

  5. Question 5

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    The pilot, who was afraid of flying, wrote a book called Fearless Skies.

    • Simile
    • Onomatopoeia
    • Personification
    • Irony

  6. Question 6

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

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

    • Flashback
    • Symbolism
    • Hyperbole
    • Alliteration

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