Literary Elements Analysis in On Being Brought from Africa to America

Activity Overview

When teaching poetry, it is often helpful to refresh or introduce students with technical words. Terms like “metaphor", "stanza", "alliteration", "personification", "imagery", "rhyme scheme", "apostrophe", and "assonance" are a few important terms.

After you have read the poem, ask your students to do a scavenger hunt using the Storyboard Creator. Give them the list again and have them create a storyboard that depicts and explains the use of each literary element in the poem! They will have an absolute blast and gain mastery of the words.

Examples of Literary Elements

	DESCRIPTION	EXAMPLE
Heroic Couplet	A set of two rhyming lines typically found at the end of the poem	"Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain/ May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train."
End Rhyme	Words at the end of a line that rhyme with words at the end of other lines.	"land” & “understand”; “too” & “knew”; and “eye” & “die"
Personification	Giving human-like characteristics to non-human objects or abstract ideas	In the poem Wheatley personifies “mercy” by saying it brought her to America. Mercy did not physically carry her across an ocean, but it was metaphorically responsible for her journey.

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Template and Class Instructions

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Student Instructions

Create a storyboard that shows four examples of literary elements in "On Being Brought from Africa to America".

Click "Start Assignment".
Identify use of literary elements in the text.
Put the type of literary element in the title box.
Give an example from the text in the description box.
Illustrate the example using using a combination of scenes, characters, and items.

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Lesson Plan Reference

Grade Level 6-12

Difficulty Level 2 (Reinforcing / Developing)

Type of Assignment Individual

Type of Activity: Figurative Language

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Rubric

(You can also create your own on Quick Rubric.)

Literary Elements Rubric

Create a storyboard that shows different literary elements from the story.

	Proficient	Emerging	Beginning
Identification of Literary Elements	All literary elements are correctly identified.	Most literary elements are correctly identified.	Few literary elements are correctly identified.
Illustration	Illustrations show attention to the details of the story and demonstrate connection to the literary elements.	Illustrations demonstrate connection to the literary elements.	Illustrations show little connection to the literary elements.
Description of Literary Elements	Descriptions clearly explain what the literary elements do to enhance the story.	Most descriptions tell what the literary elements do to enhance the story.	Descriptions are unrelated to the literary elements.
Spelling and Grammar	Spelling and grammar is mostly accurate. Mistakes do not get in the way of understanding.	Spelling is very inaccurate and hinders full understanding.	Text is very difficult to understand.