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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.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 9.1.5.1; 9.1.8.1 · literary devices and the structure of a text

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 Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic 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: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

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 device does the paragraph beginning “She was suddenly eight again” show?

    The Key

    Noor held the brass key in the palm of her hand and felt the cold go up her arm.

    She was suddenly eight again, standing on her grandmother's porch in the rain. Back then, the key had belonged to a gate that never seemed to open. Her grandmother had said, “Some things are only locked until you are ready.”

    Now Noor stood in front of the same gate, older and quieter. The garden beyond it was overgrown. Beside the broken fountain, a single new tulip stood bright red.

    • allusion
    • flashback
    • juxtaposition
    • analogy

  2. Question 2

    What does the bright tulip beside the broken fountain suggest?

    The Key

    Noor held the brass key in the palm of her hand and felt the cold go up her arm.

    She was suddenly eight again, standing on her grandmother's porch in the rain. Back then, the key had belonged to a gate that never seemed to open. Her grandmother had said, “Some things are only locked until you are ready.”

    Now Noor stood in front of the same gate, older and quieter. The garden beyond it was overgrown. Beside the broken fountain, a single new tulip stood bright red.

    • The gate is locked forever
    • The garden is dangerous
    • Noor wants to leave
    • A sign of new life in a place that has been neglected

  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

    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?

    • juxtaposition
    • allusion
    • analogy
    • flashback

  5. Question 5

    Why might an author use an analogy in an explanation?

    • To avoid explaining anything
    • To hide the main idea
    • To explain an unfamiliar idea through a familiar one
    • To make the text rhyme

  6. Question 6

    Why might a writer use a flashback?

    • To repeat the same event
    • To skip the ending
    • To give background that explains a character's present choices
    • To confuse the reader on purpose

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