Have you ever watched a political speech and felt your heart beat a little faster, and your opinion either solidify or begin to slightly change? Rhetorical devices can be a strong tool in an effective and powerful speech. A short lesson...

Students review connotation and denotation and stylistic devices in poetry. They read the lyrics to a song as it is being played and then discuss the meaning of the song. As a class, students read poems, share their thoughts, and...

This sequence of slides leads pupils through an editing process designed for horror or suspenseful stories.  The prompts tell your class to look at their writing style; including hints such as varying sentence length, using premier...

Jump back into expository writing and analysis at the start of a new school year! Start with a review of an authors' stylistic choices in diction, syntax, treatment of subject matter, and figurative language. Writers choose a text to...

High schoolers are able to define given literary terms, such as metaphor, simile, imagery, personification, symbolism, etc. They are able to identify the use of literary elements in a given text. Students are able to interpret weather...

Learners know the meaning of a given list of figures of speech and stylistic devices. They identify examples of these terms in the music and songs with which they are familiar. They examine how to apply the knowledge of these terms to...

The AP Literature and Composition exam is all about close reading. Test takers are presented with a passage and asked to analyze how an author uses literary devices to create a desired effect. Prepare your students for the exam with a...

Wonderful worksheets and activities complementing six sequential lessons are what you'll find in this unit on folklore. Pupils create folktales using literary devices and included story starters, compare and contrast different...

Read the descriptive paragraph (included) with your middle schoolers, and have them study the stylistic elements included. They'll look for vivid verbs, alliteration, assonance, similes, and personification. Before writers craft their...

Students practice analysis of poetry by analyzing song lyrics using a worksheet to guide the analysis process. They work in small groups to assess the stylistic and literary devices used in the song lyrics then they find a published...

Learners analyze a poem and the use of stylistic devices in the poem. They make connections between the techniques of the poem and its meaning.

Learners watch and respond to a Bill Moyers Now video on the Chilean author, Isabel Allende. They brainstorm a list of recent events that might inspire writers and choose one to write about in poetic, diary, or short story form.

Students write an essay evaluating split character traits on major characters in Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment. In this lesson students are guided through discussion questions, group assignments, and vocabulary work. The lesson...

Students use the Internet and video to discover how find evidence in poetry in order to discover the theme(s) of the poems. They are able to define poetic devices like simile, metaphor and repetition. Students identify themes in...

Identifying an author’s choice, especially choices that concern craft and literary devices, is a difficult skill to teach. Here's an activity that will make your job easier. The resource breaks down how to teach the skill to novice,...

Students engage in a lesson plan about symbolism while reviewing the work of Edgar Allen Poe. They review the definition of symbolism and use it to list the symbols in his work. They write a journal about how the author uses many...

Young scholars investigate dialect in poetry as an indication of a people's culture in literature. They write a poem about dating in this era.

Learners apply inquiry and problem solving approaches in science. They design a device (invention) that solves a special problem.

Learners read and demonstrate competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process via the novel "Finding Buck Henry." They recognize complex elements of plot. Students analyze devices used to develop characters in...

Discover how writers express identity in their writing. Learners explore how issues of identity surface in the literature of minority writers. Scholars watch a video, read and discuss biographies, conduct research, engage in creative...

Learners explore world literature through completing several varied exercises. In this compare and contrast lesson students compare and contrast stories and how time and culture impacts the stories.

Examine the power of persuasion and have learners consider how it influences events in their own lives. After reading and analyzing informational texts to understand the author's purpose, class members take a written test and craft a...

Students study the internment camps and the trials of the Nisei. They compare the post-Pearl Harbor US with post-9/11 US and evaluate the decision of Korematsu v. US. They synthesize the material and write an assent/dissent opinion on...

Twelfth graders discuss a fictional text that they are given, they identify passages, which highlight the author's style, language naances and textual ambiguities. Pupils brainstorm possible topics for an analytical essay, they are...