Literary Devices Guide

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Name: ________________________________________________
Period:_____________________

Lets Start with: Narrator, Setting, and Dialect

Quick Review:
Narrator: The person who is telling the story
Types:
o First Person: the story uses the pronoun I when telling the story and
takes part in the story
o Third Person: the narrator is an outside observer to the story and tells
the story using the characters names or the pronouns he, she, and
them
Who is the narrator of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Setting: When and where the story, play, poem, or novel takes place
What is the setting of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Something New:
Dialect: _______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Give one example from the text of dialect (include page number):
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Inferences: Reading Between the Lines

What is an inference?
________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Where do we see inferences used?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Example: _____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
Why do authors use inferences in their writing?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

What can you infer from the Snoopy comic above?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

What is a simile?

Simile vs. Metaphor

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
What is a metaphor?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
* * *How can you tell the difference between similes and metaphors? * * *
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Find a simile and a metaphor in the lyrics below. Circle the simile and underline the
metaphor.
And Ill be gone, gone tonight
The fire beneath my feet is burning bright
The way that Ive been holding on so tight
With nothing in between
The story of my life
I take her home
I drive all night to keep her warm
And timeis frozen (the story of, the story of)
The story of my life
I give her hope
I spend her love
Until shes broke
Inside
The story of my life (the story of, the story of)
And I been waiting for this time to come around
But baby running after you is like chasing clouds

Symbolism
What is a symbol?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

What do you think the mockingjay is a symbol of in the Hunger Games book/movie series?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Why do you believe authors use symbols in their writing? What message is the author
trying to tell his or her readers by using symbols?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Foreshadowing: Searching for Clues in Literature

What is foreshadowing?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
What do you believe is being foreshadowed in the image below? Explain your answer by
using clues from the image.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Why do authors use foreshadowing in their writing? What feelings do you think authors
are trying to provoke in their readers by using foreshadowing?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Allusions: Connecting the Novel to the World

What is an allusion?
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
What famous character from literature is being referenced to in the image on the left?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Where can we find allusions?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
After identifying the allusion in the previous passage, create your own using the lines
below. Be sure your references are school appropriate!
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Why do you think authors use allusions in his or her writing?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Theme: Identifying the Major Message of the Novel

What is a theme?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Some examples:
Money cant buy happiness.
Dont judge people based on their appearances.
Lets think back to when we read Frankenstein, what themes do you remember identifying
in the novel? Remember that themes are not just one word, they area sentence.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
How to we identify the theme(s) of a novel?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
What is the purpose of themes? Do themes only apply to the story that you find them in OR
do they extend to the real world?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________