Style 12 - 3-Sentence Quotation Exercise: Literary Devices in Current Title
Literary Core Skill:
Consider the use of literary devices in various titles.
Resources: Socratic List questions 14a – 16i; TC Syllabus section 2.
Elements of Fiction:
Assignment Type:
Description:
In this worksheet, students identify and explain the most important literary device in the current story with a “3-sentence quotation” featuring an interpretive statement in the follow-up sentence and correct citation format. Explanations should link the device and its usage to some idea of the author’s purpose or theme of the work.
Each 3-sentence quotation includes:
1) A “setup sentence,” which describes the situation in which the quotation occurs and makes brief reference to the prompt or assignment,
2) A direct quotation from the story, enclosed in quotation marks and followed by a author/page-style citation at the end of the sentence but before final punctuation, and
3) A “follow-up” sentence, in which the student explains how the quotation answers the prompt or assignment.
The advantages of this formula are numerous: it requires close and thoughtful reading; it anticipates the proper procedure for handling textual evidence in essay writing; it produces relatively short assignments which nevertheless efficiently demonstrate the student’s mastery of the assignment; and it is extremely easy to grade.
Grading Rubric:
Equal parts credit for a) clean grammar, syntax, punctuation, and spelling; b) conformity to the “3-sentence quotation” formula; and c) plausibility of interpretation.
Completed Example Assignments:
