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9th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 2 of 14

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.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: E1.8(E); E1.8(F) · 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 Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 2 of 14 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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

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 does the description suggest about her feelings?

    “Congratulations,” she said, her smile not reaching her eyes. “I'm sure you worked very hard.”

    • She is confused.
    • She is sleepy.
    • She may be jealous or insincere.
    • She is truly delighted.

  2. Question 2

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    The sun was a coin of pale gold, flipped into the sky.

    • Metaphor
    • Simile
    • Hyperbole
    • Onomatopoeia

  3. Question 3

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

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

    • Motif
    • Allusion
    • Foil
    • Hyperbole

  4. Question 4

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    The doctor caught the flu the week before the health conference.

    • Verbal irony
    • Motif
    • Alliteration
    • Situational irony

  5. Question 5

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    The fire station burned to the ground on the night of the town's biggest fire-safety fair.

    • Alliteration
    • Metaphor
    • Verbal irony
    • Situational irony

  6. Question 6

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    The audience knew the killer was hiding in the cellar, but the detective strolled calmly toward it.

    • Dramatic irony
    • Motif
    • Verbal irony
    • Foil

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