Transcript Poetic and Literary Devices in TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean
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Directions: Tell students to number 1-20 on a piece of paper and write down the correct answers for the following slides. You may want to give them a copy of the poetic and literary devices from slides 4-5. If you have clickers, you may want to use those instead of paper.
Literary and Poetic Devices in TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean
TAKE ME THERE is the story of a young man named Dylan Dawson who can’t read or write, but dreams of being a poet. After a tragic accident that sends him fleeing from the law and a violent LA gang, he goes looking for his father who is in prison on Texas. He wants to find out if badness is in his blood, or if it is something he can outrun.
Literary & Poetic Devices
Allusion: A reference to a famous person, place, or event in life or literature.
Metaphor: A comparison in which one thing is said to be another. Ex. Love is a battlefield.
Simile: a figure of speech involving a comparison between unlike things using like, as, or as though. Ex. Love is like a battlefield. She acts as though love were a battlefield. Love is as dangerous as a battlefield.
Devices Continued
Personification: giving human qualities to animals or objects. Ex. The moon laughed at me.
Alliteration: The repetition of the initial consonant. There should be at least two repetitions in close proximity. Ex.
P
eter
P
iper
p
icked a
p
eck of
p
ickled
p
eppers.
Assonance: the repetition of similar vowel sounds that are not followed by a similar consonant (because that would be an exact rhyme.) Ex. The hoops of doom.
EXAMPLES from TAKE ME THERE
#1 p. 7 of TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Metaphor B. Simile C. Allusion D. Assonance
Happiness is swimming in the ocean of her eyes .
ANSWER – A. Metaphor
Using the word in the story.
is to compare “happiness” (an abstract idea) to “swimming in the ocean of her eyes” is a metaphor that helps the reader know what happiness means to Dylan at this point
# 2 p. 18 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Metaphor B. Simile C. Allusion D. Alliteration
“Her name is Baby Face .” “Like the gangster,” Jess asked, and I felt like an idiot again. Why did I ever name my dog after a bank robber?
ANSWER – C. Allusion
This is an example of allusion because Dylan named his dog Baby Face, alluding to the famous bank robber, Baby Face Nelson.
#3 p. 26 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Metaphor B. Simile C. Allusion D. Personification
By the time I turned around and headed home, the sun was setting over the ocean, a huge ball of fire sinking into the sea, leaving streaks of red and gold like a melting candle.
ANSWER – B. Simile
Using the work like to compare the sunset streaks to a melting candle is what makes this a simile. (Note: This passage also contains an implied metaphor, by suggesting that the sun is a huge ball of fire without using is in the comparison, but that was not the section that was highlighted. When you take a test, pay close attention to what is being asked.)
#4 p. 35 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Metaphor B. Simile C. Allusion D. Personification
Words are like people trouble.
, I think. Put too many of them too close together and they cause
ANSWER – B. Simile
Using the word like to compare crowded words with a crowd of people is a simile that helps us understand the kind of trouble Dylan has with words.
#5 p. 48 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Metaphor B. Simile C. Allusion D. Personification
THE ROAD Life isn’t a destination.
It’s a journey .
But you gotta be heading somewhere or you’re just a mouse going round.
Even if the place you wind up isn’t the place you were bound.
ANSWER – A. Metaphor
To say that life is a journey is a metaphor because “a journey” is being compare with the more abstract idea of “life.”
Extended Metaphor
This example becomes an extended metaphor when it goes on to compare lack of direction in life to being like a mouse going nowhere. If life is a journey, then what kind of life does a mouse on a wheel have?
#6 p. 97 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Metaphor B. Simile C. Allusion D. Personification
She was trembling like a kitten left out in the rain , and I suddenly realized what she wanted. What she needed.
Answer – B. Simile
Drawing a comparison between Jess’s trembling and a kitten using the word Jess is.
like is an example of simile that shows the reader just how frightened
#7 p. 109 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Metaphor B. Simile C. Allusion D. Personification
TIME Time goes round and round the spinning clock, until the fateful day time folds its tired hands and stops.
Answer – D. Personification
Time is not human. It cannot “fold its tired hands.” That is something only a person could do, so this is an example of personification.
#8 p. 146 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Metaphor B. Simile C. Allusion D. Personification
Her lips were like fire .
Answer – B. Simile
Comparing lips to fire using the word like is an example of a simile.
#9 p. 186 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Alliteration B. Simile C. Allusion D. Personification
He had a smial a mile w ide.
In prizen w ite w uz clad.
The momint that he lukked at me, I new he wuz my dad.
Answer – A. Alliteration
The words w ide, w ite, and w uz all start with the w sound. This is an example of alliteration.
#10 p. 196 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Metaphor B. Simile C. Allusion D. Personification
“Those people at the state house in Austin act like they’ve forgotten how he died, but I haven’t forgotten and that boy sure hasn’t forgotten. Blood never forgets.
Do you hear me? Blood…never…forgets!
”
Answer – D. Personification
Blood can’t remember or forget. That is only something that a person can do, so this is an example of personification.
#11 p. 201 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Metaphor B. Simile C. Allusion D. Personification
Levida has exchanged my two rear tires with replacements that look like they came off one of her farm vehicles. They are huge, in contrast to the tires in front , and make my car look like a giant beetle with its butt in the air .
Answer – B. Simile
This passage uses the word comparison between a car and a beetle. This is an example of simile.
like to make a
#12 p. 209 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Metaphor B. Simile C. Allusion D. Personification
Blood is a river.
One drop follows another.
Answer – A. Metaphor
To say that blood is a river is a metaphor. It becomes an extended metaphor when the poem goes on to describe one drop following another.
The poem continues on the next slide.
#13 p. 209 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Personification B. Assonance C. Alliteration D. Metaphor
Until they all r ea ch the bottom of the d ee p blue s ea .
Answer – B. Assonance
The answer is assonance because the vowel sounds in r ea ch, d ee p, and s ea are all the same.
#14 p. 227 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Simile B. Assonance C. Alliteration D. Metaphor
People look at me and say I’ve g o t it all, but when you’re standing at the t o p you’ve g o t a l o ng, l o ng way to fall.
Answer – B. Assonance
The answer is assonance because the vowel sound in g o t, t o p, and l o ng are all the same.
#15 p. 251 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Simile B. Assonance C. Alliteration D. Metaphor
There will never be another girl like Jess, and the weight of this truth settles on me like a foot on the back of a drowning boy.
Answer – A. Simile
Using the word truth to the weight of a foot is an example of simile.
like to compare the weight of
#16 p. 296 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Metaphor B. Simile C. Allusion D. Personification
These are the words of the cuckoo ’s song, as he asks us who will right these wrongs.
The cuckoo sings and the cuckoo wails, for the dead who cannot tell their tales.
Answer – D. Personification
The answer is personification because birds can’t ask questions. Only a person can do that.
#17 p. 296 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Metaphor B. Assonance C. Alliteration D. Personification
These are the words of the cuckoo’s song, as he asks us who will right these wrongs.
The cuckoo sings and the cuckoo wails, for the dead who cannot t ell their t ales.
Answer – C. Alliteration
The answer is alliteration because the words t ell and t ales both start with a t sound. The word “their” is not part of the alliteration because th is a different sound.
#18 p. 300 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Simile B. Assonance C. Alliteration D. Metaphor
He spends the afternoon in prayer until they br ing his final br ead.
Then take him to a back room where they strap his legs, his arms, his head down in the heart of Texas.
Answer – C. Alliteration
The phrase “ br ing his final br ead” contains two words that start with br . This is an example of alliteration.
#19 p. 301 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Simile B. Assonance C. Alliteration D. Metaphor
Every clock is a bomb die.
, ticking away at the minutes of our lives, counting off the seconds before we
Answer – D. Metaphor
To say that a clock is a bomb is a metaphor because it draws a comparison between time and something dangerous, showing us how Dylan feels about time at this point in the story.
#20 p. 316 TAKE ME THERE by Carolee Dean A. Metaphor B. Assonance C. Alliteration D. Allusion
In the heart of Texas nighttime falls, and there is silence in the WALLS , for there will be no mercy here.
No second chance. No words of cheer.
Answer – D. Allusion
The Penitentiary in Huntsville, TX where executions are carried out is called the Walls Unit. Locals refer to it as “The Walls” because of the tall red brick walls surrounding the prison.
This is an allusion to a real place.