10 Literary Devices Review Games for Grades 6–12

Literary devices review games can turn a list of definitions into something students actually use when they read. In Grades 6–12 English, the essential move is from recognition (“That is personification”) to interpretation (“It makes the empty hallway feel threatening”). These ten classroom activities review figurative language, imagery, symbolism, irony, sound devices, and foreshadowing without requiring an elaborate setup.

The activities work with your current short story, poem, novel, or teacher-written examples. Most take 10–20 minutes. For a larger collection of activities across literature, grammar, and writing, see our English Classroom Review Games guide.

What should students know before the game?

Review the difference between identifying a technique and explaining its effect. A strong answer contains three parts: name the device, point to the evidence, and explain what it contributes to meaning or mood. Model one answer on the board before introducing points.

Example: “The clock scolded the empty room.” Device: personification. Evidence: the clock is given the human action “scolded.” Possible effect: the language creates a tense or disapproving atmosphere. Students may suggest a different tone if they explain how the wording produces it.

10 literary devices review games for Grades 6–12

1. Device Swap: make the same idea sound different

Setup: Write a plain sentence such as “The rain was heavy.” Teams rewrite it using a device you assign: simile, metaphor, personification, or imagery. For example, “Rain drummed impatiently on the roof” personifies rain; “Rain fell like handfuls of gravel” uses a simile. Teams read their revisions aloud and describe how each choice changes tone or imagery.

Stretch: Ask students to defend which device best suits an anxious narrator. You are assessing a rhetorical choice, not simply whether the sentence is poetic.

2. Effect Evidence Court: argue the impact

Setup: Present a short original example: “A sea of umbrellas spread across the station.” Team A identifies the metaphor; Team B explains why “sea” might emphasize number, movement, or scale; Team C can challenge a weak interpretation using the actual words. Award the most points for a grounded explanation.

Teacher move: If an answer says “it makes the reader interested,” ask “Interested in what, and which word creates that effect?” Specific reasoning earns credit.

3. Irony Lab: three types, three explanations

Setup: Prepare scenarios and ask teams to classify dramatic, situational, or verbal irony, then justify the label. Dramatic example: readers see a character hide a letter while another character confidently believes it has been mailed. Verbal example: someone looks at a soaked picnic and remarks, “What perfect weather.” Situational example: a highly advertised silence retreat holds a loud opening ceremony.

Watch for: An unexpected event is not automatically effective irony. Require students to identify the relevant expectation and how the outcome or wording contradicts it.

4. Foreshadowing Timeline

Setup: After reading a short story, give teams cards showing early details and later events. Students pair an early clue with a later payoff, place the cards in story order, and explain how the earlier detail shapes expectations. A detail can feel suspicious without becoming genuine foreshadowing; invite students to distinguish proof from speculation.

High-school extension: Ask whether a clue changes meaning on rereading or functions as a red herring.

5. Sound Devices Studio

Setup: Give teams a short original line, such as “Silver shoes shuffled softly,” or “Clang! The gate swung shut.” Students locate alliteration or onomatopoeia, revise a word, then explain whether the revision changes the sound and pace. Read versions aloud so learners can actually hear the difference.

Extension: Compare a harsh consonant pattern with a soft one in two teacher-created lines. Ask students what emotional effect is plausible, while reminding them that sound patterns need context.

6. Literal or Figurative? The Counterexample Challenge

Setup: Mix literal statements with figurative ones. Example: “The road was covered in ice” versus “The road was a ribbon of glass.” Teams sort cards, identify the figurative technique when present, and write one deliberately tricky nonexample. They exchange cards and explain why the choice is or is not figurative.

Why it helps: Students often memorize examples without understanding the boundary of a term. Constructing a near miss makes the definition more precise.

7. Device Auction: which evidence is strongest?

Setup: Give teams ten imaginary tokens. Display three short quotations or original examples that might support a claim about atmosphere or characterization. Teams bid on the strongest evidence; after bidding, they must justify the purchase. A quotation containing obvious imagery is not necessarily strongest if it does not support the assigned claim.

Scoring: Reward the accuracy of reasoning and relevance of evidence rather than who spends the most.

8. Wrong Answer Clinic

Setup: Show a deliberately flawed explanation: “The sentence ‘The sun smiled at us’ is a simile because it compares the sun to a person.” Groups correct the label (personification) and explain why a human action assigned to the sun differs from a comparison using like or as. Ask teams to improve the original response instead of simply crossing it out.

Extension: Include explanations that identify the right term but offer an unsupported effect. Students must repair the reasoning.

9. Symbol or Detail? Evidence Detective

Setup: Present three recurring details from a shared text, or a teacher-written micro-story about a locked gate, a borrowed key, and an empty chair. Teams argue which details could develop symbolic meaning, citing repetition, context, and character reaction. Do not demand that every object be symbolic: allow a team to conclude that there is insufficient evidence.

Stretch: Ask how an object’s possible meaning changes over the course of the narrative.

10. Technique-to-Theme Bridge

Setup: Students receive an original brief passage and an arguable claim. Example: “The old map curled at its edges, but Mara smoothed it out every morning.” Teams identify relevant imagery or symbolism, then explain how the detail might connect to persistence, memory, or hope. Stronger answers distinguish a plausible interpretation from a proven one.

Final move: Ask students to write a two-sentence analytical response beginning “The writer uses ___ to suggest ___.” Require a detail from the passage in the explanation.

Eight ready-to-use literary device question prompts

Prompt 1: Identify the technique in “The city yawned awake at sunrise.” What human action is assigned to a nonhuman subject? Teacher note: Personification; “yawned” creates a waking-city image.

Prompt 2: “Her thoughts were tangled headphones.” Identify the device and explain the implied comparison. Teacher note: Metaphor; the comparison suggests confusion or difficulty sorting thoughts.

Prompt 3: “The leaves rustled like whispered gossip.” Identify the device and discuss the mood it creates. Teacher note: Simile; possible secretive or uneasy mood.

Prompt 4: “Tap, tap, tap—the branch struck the window.” Which device imitates a sound? Teacher note: Onomatopoeia in “tap.”

Prompt 5: An audience knows that a character’s guide is secretly working for the villain, but the character trusts the guide. Which type of irony is this? Teacher note: Dramatic irony.

Prompt 6: A character calls a terrible rehearsal “our finest performance yet.” Which type of irony might this be, and what context confirms it? Teacher note: Verbal irony if the praise intentionally means the opposite.

Prompt 7: A door described as “never quite closing” appears repeatedly before a betrayal. Could it be foreshadowing? Explain the evidence and its limits. Teacher note: Plausible but depends on the full story.

Prompt 8: Which sentence provides better evidence for a claim that a narrator feels trapped: “The window was open” or “Beyond the window, the fence cut the sky into squares”? Defend the answer. Teacher note: The second gives more concrete evidence for restriction, though context matters.

A 35-minute literary devices review lesson

First 5 minutes: Begin with two independent retrieval prompts: define personification and write an example of verbal irony. Collect quick responses to see what needs review.

Next 15 minutes: Play Device Swap and Wrong Answer Clinic in pairs or teams. Give one point for naming the device and one for explaining how the example works.

Next 10 minutes: Run Irony Lab or Symbol or Detail? with longer reasoning time. Students should cite or describe the exact detail that supports their answer.

Last 5 minutes: Give a new sentence and ask each student to identify a device and explain its effect in two sentences. Use answers to decide what to reteach.

How to adjust the games for middle and high school

Grades 6–7: Focus on simile, metaphor, personification, imagery, and common sound devices. Use shorter examples, speak the sentence aloud, and give students an explanation frame.

Grades 8–9: Introduce irony, foreshadowing, tone, and symbolism. Emphasize the difference between finding a device and explaining its contribution to meaning.

Grades 10–12: Invite ambiguity, multiple techniques in a single passage, tone shifts, thematic interpretations, and stronger analysis of rhetorical effects. Assess the quality of the justification, not only the label.

How to run an AI-powered literary devices review

For a digital version, Plot Twist! can generate question varieties from a teacher-provided topic or teaching materials and turn them into a shared-screen team board game. Use instructions such as: “Grades 8–9 English; focus on identifying devices, explaining effects, and distinguishing examples from nonexamples; avoid mere definition recall.” Review the questions before using them as evidence of student understanding.

The game is designed for two to seven teams, and teachers can choose teacher marking or AI-assisted evaluation. The first game is free, so you can assess whether the question styles fit your students.

Related resources for teaching literary devices

For extra examples and vocabulary, use the literary devices glossary. For a larger set of review strategies, browse our English Review Games hub or the ELA retrieval-practice guide. The IES learning and study practice guide explains why retrieval and deeper explanatory questions are worthwhile approaches.

Frequently asked questions

What is the fastest literary devices game to prepare?

Wrong Answer Clinic is one of the quickest: choose four common mistakes from student work or invent four flawed explanations, then have students diagnose and correct them.

Should literary device games give points for speed?

Speed can add excitement, but it should not replace explanation. Offer substantial points for identifying textual evidence and explaining effect; allow a short thinking interval before answers.

Can one passage contain more than one literary device?

Yes. More advanced rounds should allow overlapping techniques and ask which one is most important for the particular interpretation.

How do I know whether students actually learned the devices?

Follow the team game with a fresh individual task: identify a technique, quote or point to the relevant wording, and explain its effect. Look for students who still only name terms.

Make the device do something

The strongest review question is not just “What technique is this?” but “Why might an author choose this technique here?” That shift makes a fast classroom game a stepping-stone to stronger literary analysis.