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9th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 2 of 12

Literary Elements

Irony, motif, tone and mood

What your child practices

Recognizing devices such as irony, symbolism, motif, allusion and foils in short excerpts, and describing tone and mood.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: Reading 7; Reading 8 · irony, motif, tone and mood

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Tone is the author’s attitude. Mood is the feeling the reader gets.
  2. A motif is a repeated image or idea. A symbol stands for a bigger idea. A foil is a character who contrasts with another.
  3. An allusion refers to a well-known story or person. Irony is a gap between what’s expected and what happens.

Example: “Fog crept between the gravestones, and somewhere a gate creaked.” What is the mood? Fog, gravestones and a creaking gate feel dark and uneasy. The reader waits for something to happen. Answer: eerie and suspenseful

Literary Elements in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 2 of 12 in 9th grade English Language Arts, after Close Reading and before Grammar & Style.

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

    What is the tone of this sentence?

    The report notes that the experiment was performed on three separate occasions and that the results were consistent.

    • emotional and personal
    • angry
    • playful and silly
    • formal and objective

  2. Question 2

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    Throughout the novel, the sound of a ticking clock returns whenever Marcus makes a hard choice.

    • Allusion
    • Foil
    • Hyperbole
    • Motif

  3. Question 3

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    The reader has seen the thief hide in the barn, but the farmer hums happily as he walks inside.

    • Foil
    • Dramatic irony
    • Allusion
    • Verbal irony

  4. Question 4

    What is the tone of Noor's words?

    “Oh, wonderful,” Noor sighed, staring at the third flat tire of the week. “Just what I needed.”

    • sarcastic
    • sincere
    • grateful
    • confused

  5. Question 5

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    Silence hung in the room like a heavy winter coat, and every word fell into it and disappeared.

    • Simile
    • Metaphor
    • Allusion
    • Hyperbole

  6. Question 6

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    Whispering winds wove wildly through the willow trees.

    • Alliteration
    • Irony
    • Onomatopoeia
    • Simile

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