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9th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 5 of 14

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.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 9-10R5; 9-10L5 · allusion, analogy, juxtaposition and flashback

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 New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 5 of 14 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: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

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

    “Dealing with homework is like climbing a hill: each step is small, but you slowly reach the top.” Which device is this?

    • flashback
    • juxtaposition
    • analogy
    • allusion

  2. Question 2

    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?

    • allusion
    • analogy
    • flashback
    • juxtaposition

  3. Question 3

    What is the effect of describing the shiny screw beside the pile of dust?

    The Old Radio

    The old radio crackled once and went silent. Kenji turned the dial, and for a moment he was back in his grandfather's workshop, sawdust on his sleeves, listening to a hockey game on a rainy night.

    Now the workshop was cold and bare. On the empty bench, a single shiny screw sat beside a pile of dust. Like a compass without a needle, the room had lost its direction.

    • It adds a new narrator
    • It sets a small bright detail against neglect
    • It moves the story to the past
    • It shows that the radio works

  4. Question 4

    Why might an author use an analogy in an explanation?

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

  5. Question 5

    A story shows a child's cheerful drawing next to a hospital waiting room. What is the effect?

    • It adds a new narrator
    • It makes the setting vanish
    • The contrast makes the reader feel the emotion more
    • It explains the plot with a list

  6. Question 6

    What is the main effect of the comparison to a bus shelter?

    Lunch Rush

    In the cafeteria, a hundred voices bounced off the walls. Trays clattered. Somebody laughed too loudly.

    At the corner table, Ravi sat with an untouched sandwich and watched the door. The noise rushed past him like traffic past a bus shelter.

    In the quiet hallway outside, Lena's sneakers squeaked once, twice. She paused, and then went in.

    • It shows he is late for a bus
    • It tells us the ending
    • It shows how still and apart Ravi feels
    • It makes the cafeteria seem calm

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