Verbal and Dramatic Irony

Pair each device with a short story students read aloud first. Use Foreshadowing or Flashback? and Tone vs Mood to check that students can tell close terms apart.

Name verbal or dramatic irony in 10 excerpts, like lovely beach weather in freezing rain, and explain. Verbal irony is when a character says the opposite of what they mean; dramatic irony is when the reader knows something a character does not. The directions on the page read: Read each excerpt. Circle Verbal or Dramatic to name the kind of irony. Then explain your choice on the lines. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 6th Grade figurative language, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with literary devices. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

A symbol is an object, person or place that stands for a bigger idea. In The Brass Key, the key Mei wears stands for her grandfather's trust and the family baking tradition.

It is when what happens is the opposite of what was expected. A contest for the quietest reader whose winner cheers so loudly she must step outside is ironic, but ice cream melting in the sun is not.

An archetype is a type of character that shows up in stories from many cultures, like the hero, the mentor or the trickster. Character Archetypes describes 8 types and matches 10 sketches to them.