Literary Devices in Fiction and Nonfiction
Unit Plan
Literary Devices in Fiction and Nonfiction
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Grade Levels
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Related Academic Standards
- Assessment Anchors
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Eligible Content
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Big Ideas
- Comprehension requires and enhances critical thinking and is constructed through the intentional interaction between reader and text
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Concepts
- Acquiring and applying a robust vocabulary assists in constructing meaning
- Essential content, literary elements and devices inform meaning
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Competencies
- Analyze and evaluate author’s/authors’ use of literary elements within and among genres
- Analyze and evaluate author’s/authors’ use of conflict, theme and /or point of view within and among texts
- Analyze connections between and among words based on meaning, content, and context to distinguish nuances or connotations
- Articulate connections between and among words based on meaning, content, and context to distinguish nuances or connotations
- Evaluate the presentation of essential and nonessential information in texts, identifying the author’s implicit or explicit bias and assumptions
- Interpret and analyze the effect of literary devices within and among texts (e.g. personification, simile, alliteration, metaphor, symbolism, imagery, hyperbole, foreshadowing, flashback, allusions, satire, and irony)
Objectives
In this unit, students analyze the role of literary devices in literature, focusing particularly on sensory appeal, metaphor, and irony. Students will:
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analyze the ways in which literary devices and techniques are used to appeal to the senses.
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examine the relationship between the use of sensory details and author’s purpose.
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identify the characteristics of several effective metaphors.
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examine the effect of metaphor upon the literary work in which it appears.
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analyze the author’s purpose for employing irony in several literary works.
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increase their familiarity with techniques for creating sensory details, particularly with metaphor, by collecting and analyzing effective examples.
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demonstrate their understanding of techniques for creating sensory details, particularly metaphor, by creating their own.
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demonstrate their understanding of irony by analyzing an example independently.
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respond to the examples and work of other students in both written and oral form.
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revise their writing after responding to the work of others and receiving responses to their own work.
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evaluate their own writing, using criteria from the rubrics created by the class.
Essential Questions
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How does interaction with text provoke thinking and response?
Related Unit and Lesson Plans
Related Materials & Resources
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Materials haven't been entered into the unit plan.Formative Assessment
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Short Answer Item:
Materials:
“The Open Window” by Saki (H. H. Munro)
http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/openwin.html
Read Saki’s short story “The Open Window.” Then write a paragraph analysis of the use of irony and its effect on the story, applying what you have learned during this unit. Be sure to include the following:
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the author’s purpose.
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an identification and explanation of the type of irony.
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at least two observations about the effect of irony on the form of the story.
Short-Answer Key and Scoring Rubrics:
Points
Description
3
Student writes a paragraph analysis of the story “The Open Window,” including the following requirements:
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an identification of author’s purpose (e.g., to amuse, showing the pitfalls of accepting a situation or stranger’s honesty without question)
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an identification and explanation of the type of irony used (situational: the reader is as taken in as Framton and is shocked to find that there is no tragedy, but the niece is an accomplished liar)
- at least two observations about the effect of irony on the form of the story (e.g., Framton is shown to be a bundle of nerves, so it is easy to believe he would be easy prey. The people and their situation are entirely unknown to him. Details of the “tragedy” dovetail with the real situation, and Vera takes full advantage of that. The truth of the situation is revealed to the reader only with Vera’s final tall tale about the rapidly departing Framton.)
2
Student writes a paragraph analysis of the story “The Open Window,” including two of the requirements.
1
Student writes a paragraph analysis of the story “The Open Window,” including one of the requirements.
0
Student does not include any of the requirements.
Performance Assessment:
Student work for the unit should be assessed according to the rubric that follows.
Performance Assessment Scoring Rubric:
Points
Description
5
Student received credit for all of the required assignments:
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selecting and recording examples of the effective use of sensory details (Lesson 1)
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explaining how literary devices are used to appeal to the senses (Lesson 1)
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selecting and recording at least three examples of metaphor (Lesson 2)
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explaining the effect of each metaphor on the work in which it appears (Lesson 2)
- submitting a paragraph explaining which story uses irony most effectively, giving reasons and citing evidence from the story to support the opinion (Lesson 3)
4
Student received credit for four of the required assignments.
3
Student received credit for three of the required assignments.
2
Student received credit for two of the required assignments.
1
Student received credit for one of the required assignments.
0
Student received credit for none of the required assignments.
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DRAFT 10/14/2010
