7th grade Literary Devices Study Guide 2024

Question 1

Allusion

Answer 1

A reference to (mention of) a literary, or historical person, place, or thing.Ex “orwellian,” “Big brother,” “Garden Of Eden.”

Question 2

Diction

Answer 2

The authors word choice intended to convey a certain effect. When discussing diction consider all of the vocabulary used, the appropriateness of the words, and the vividness and specificity of the language.

Question 3

Dramatic Irony

Answer 3

A literary device by which the audiences or readers understanding of events or individuals in a work surpasses that of its characters.

Question 4

Foil

Answer 4

A character who is presented as a contrast to a second character so as to point or show to advantage some aspect of the second character.

Question 5

Foreshadowing

Answer 5

The use of hints or clues in the narrative (story) to suggest future actions.

Question 6

Hyperbole

Answer 6

Deliberate, extravagant and often outrageous. E.g. “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse”

Question 7

Imagery

Answer 7

Imagery is a literary device used in poetry, Novels, and other writings that uses vivid vivid description that appeals to readers senses to create a image or idea in their head.

Question 8

Literary Conflicts (4)

Answer 8

Conflict: a struggle between to opposing forces

Person v.s. Self : a internal conflict
Person v.s. Person : external conflict
Person v.s. Nature : external conflict
Person v.s Society : external conflict

Question 9

Metaphor

Answer 9

Comparison of two unlike things, not using “like” or “as” e.x. Mrs. Hanners is as mean as the devil.

Question 10

Mood

Answer 10

The feeling or atmosphere that an author creates in their reader.

Question 11

Personification

Answer 11

A kind of metaphor that gives inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characteristics.

Question 12

Scapegoat

Answer 12

Someone who is punished or blamed for people’s mistakes or wrongdoings.

Question 13

Simile

Answer 13

A comparison of two unlike things using “like” or “as”.

Question 14

Situational Irony

Answer 14

A literary technique in which a expected outcome doesn’t happen or the opposite happens.

Question 15

Style

Answer 15

The writer characteristic way of using language/diction.\

Question 16

Suspense

Answer 16

The quality of a fictional writing that makes the reader or audience uncertain or tense about the outcome of events.

Question 17

Symbolism

Answer 17

This is the idea that things represent other things.

Question 18

Tone

Answer 18

The writer’s attitude towards a subject/character/audience as conveyed through the author’s choice of words and detail.

Question 19

Verbal Irony

Answer 19

This happens whenever a speaker tells us something that differs from what they mean.