Literary Devices
VC2E4LE04 · Literature · Reading
explore the use of literary devices and deliberate wordplay, including grammar, in prose and poetry, and the ways that they shape meaning
1. Learning goal
Parent-friendly goal:
Explain how literary devices and wordplay shape meaning.
2. What your child needs to know
- A simile compares using like or as.
- Alliteration repeats starting sounds.
- Rhyme and rhythm can make poetry musical.
- Wordplay uses language in a clever or surprising way.
3. Simple explanation
Writers sometimes bend or play with language to make ideas stand out.
Poetry Sounds
4. Examples
Simile
The moon was like a silver coin.
Alliteration
soft sand slipped through Sam's fingers
5. Worked example
Explain a device
- Name the device.
- Quote or describe the example.
- Ask what picture, sound or feeling it creates.
- Explain how it adds meaning.
6. Common mistakes
- Finding a device but not explaining its effect.
- Calling every comparison a metaphor.
- Missing sound patterns when reading silently.
7. Parent teaching tips
- Read poems aloud so your child can hear rhythm and sound.
- Collect favourite phrases from books and discuss why they work.
8. Quick practice
Which device is in 'busy bees buzzed'?
Answer: Alliteration.
The starting b sound is repeated.
What does a simile use?
Answer: Like or as.
A simile compares one thing with another using like or as.
9. Extension challenge
Write four lines of a poem using one simile and one example of alliteration.