Curated OER
Ethos, Logos, and Pathos in Civil Rights Movement Speeches
Examine three speeches while teaching Aristotle's appeals. Over the course of three days, class members fill out a graphic organizer about ethos, pathos, and logos, complete an anticipatory guide, read speeches by Martin Luther King Jr.,...
Curated OER
Connotation and Denotation: How Word Choice Affects a Paragraph
Review the terms denotation, connotation, diction, and mood in paragraph writing. After defining the terms, middle schoolers practice writing examples of both connotation and denotation. They complete a connotation and denotation...
Curated OER
What's In a Name?
Introduce your language arts class to connotation, denotation, and diction. Middle schoolers identify and differentiate between the connotative and denotative meanings of words by analyzing the fictitious sports team names....
9/11 Memorial & Museum
Exploring Afghani Culture through Literature
Hosseini Khaled's The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns are the anchor texts in a semester-long course that explores Afghani culture and traditions.
K12 Reader
Choose the Correct Homophone
It's a known secret that English can be a difficult language to learn, and homophones don't make it any easier. Help your young readers tackle these tricky words with this simple fill-in-the blank exercise in which...
Curated OER
All Summer in a Day Vocab
While working with Ray Bradbury's "All Summer in a Day," take some time to consider vocabulary. This exercise lists eight sentences from the story in which Bradbury uses words in interesting or different ways. Pupils read the sentence...
Mailbox Education Center
On the Hunt: Understanding Figurative Language
Young writers hunt for examples of figurative language in their reading. The hunt requires pupils to cite their sources, record a quoted example for each type of figurative language, and an explanation of what they think the...
Curated OER
Where the Red Fern Grows Chapter 8-9 Worksheet
Find out how much your learners picked up from a couple of chapters of Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. Pupils answer six plot and character analysis questions and tackle similes. The worksheet is adaptable; assign it in class...
Curated OER
Where the Red Fern Grows Chapter 16-17
Find out how much your class understood of the listed chapters of Wilson Rawls' novel. Class members respond to eight plot and character questions before looking closely at an instance of personification from the text. The resource is...
University of Victoria (Canada)
U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary and Rhetorical Terms: An Alphabetical List
This is an alphabetical list of literary and rhetorical terms; each includes a definition and examples.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Imagery and Figurative Language (Grade 8)
In this lesson, students learn how to make complex inferences and use textual evidence such as imagery and figurative language to support understanding.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Imagery and Figurative Language (Grade 6)
This lesson focuses on the use of imagery and figurative language in writing to aid understanding and create images in the mind.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Exploring the Power of Allusion
Something seems familiar here: Students learn how allusion invites more into a text. Using "The House On Mango Street" students will learn about allusion by paralleling events from both the Bible and from Greek mythology.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Literary Nonfiction
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, you will learn how to analyze literary nonfiction, especially speeches, by making inferences and drawing conclusions based on evidence in the text. The...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Understanding and Analysis of Literary Text: Allusion
A learning module that teaches students about allusion as a literary device in five mini-lessons: Introduction, Allusion Defined, Allusion in Speeches, Allusion in Writing, Test Your Understanding.
City University of New York
Cuny Brooklyn: Literary Terms
Site gives definitions of many literary terms including "characterization."
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania: Repetition
Explains the role of repetition in poetry. Gives several examples of poems that use repetition as a literary device.
Ted Nellen
Cyber English (By Ted Nellen): Metaphor
This is a glossary entry for the term "Metaphor" including a definition and links to simile, personification, hyperbole, anology, and other figures of speech.
Ted Nellen
Cyber English (By Ted Nellen): Personification
This is a glossary entry for the term "Personification" including a defintion and two literary examples.
Ted Nellen
Cyber English (By Ted Nellen): Simile
This is a glossary entry for the term "Simile" including a definition and examples in a cartoon and in literary works. Links are provided to more information and examples.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Death Personified
In this lesson, students will personify an object within a poem. They will focus on voice and word choice in order to fully convey their message.
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: Figure of Speech
Wikipedia provides a detailed definition of figure of speech, and then includes hyperlinks to different types of figures of speech.
Curated OER
Mc Graw Hill: Part 1 Reading: Literature: Understand Literary Allusions
Understanding literary allusions can help in your understanding of readings. Learn about literary allusions on this site.
NPR: National Public Radio
Npr: A Series of Unfortunate Literary Allusions
Can you spot the many literary allusions made in the famous "Series of Unfortunate Events" books? This article points them out and explains them.