Analyzing Word Choice in Literature
This worksheet helps grade 9 students analyze author's word choice, its impact on meaning, tone, and mood, and how it contributes to the overall text.
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Analyzing Word Choice in Literature
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Read the following passages carefully and answer the questions that follow. Pay close attention to the author's specific word choices and their effects.
Passage 1: Excerpt from 'The Raven' by Edgar Allan Poe
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore— While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. “’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door— Only this and nothing more.”
1. What is the effect of Poe's use of words like 'dreary,' 'weak,' and 'weary' in the first line?
They create a sense of excitement and anticipation.
They establish a melancholic and somber mood.
They indicate the speaker's physical health.
They suggest a fast-paced narrative.
2. The word 'quaint' in the passage suggests that the lore is and perhaps a little .
3. How does the repetition of the word 'rapping' contribute to the atmosphere of the poem?
Passage 2: Excerpt from 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee
Jem was twelve. He was difficult to live with, inconsistent, moody. His appetite was appalling, and he told me so many times to stop pestering him I thought he'd go crazy. He was growing. A tiny fuzz was beginning to show on his upper lip, and he was developing an interest in girls, which he had hitherto scorned. But by the end of August, the interest was dwindling. He had to spend most of his time in the treehouse, which was his headquarters, and he was losing patience with the world.
4. The word 'appalling' used to describe Jem's appetite suggests it was small and dainty.
True
False
5. Analyze the impact of the phrase 'losing patience with the world' on the reader's understanding of Jem's character at this point in the novel.
Use the words below to complete the sentences.
6. The literary device that refers to the emotional associations of a word is .
7. The dictionary definition of a word is its .