4th Grade Language Arts

Analyzing Literature

Unit 4


Unit 4: Analyzing Literature

In this unit, we'll cover various topics to help you analyze literature correctly and efficiently, enhancing your reading experience and giving you thinking skills so you can answer any questions about books quicker.

Allusions

The definition of an allusion is a reference within a work (story, movie, etc.) to something famous outside of it. The reference could be to a famous person, place, event, story, or work of art, song, or pop culture.

What's the Purpose of an Allusion? Allusions let readers understand new information, characters, plot, setting, etc. by connecting it to something you already know.

Figurative Language

Ever seen a term that exaggerates or means something completely different from what it's actually saying? These can be called figures of speech, maybe you've even heard of metaphors before!

Figurative language refers to language that contains figures of speech, while figures of speech are the particular techniques.

Here is a bunch of figures of speech and their definitions, make sure to read through all of them because they're very important to know! If you need more practice, check this link out!

Compare and Contrast

When analyzing literature, it's key to understand how to compare and contrast. This is the skill where you take two works of literature and find similarities and differences between the two, often addressing similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

As we read and analyze we are thinking about the following questions...

  • What is this story about?

  • What is the theme of this text?

  • How is this theme similar to other stories we have read?

  • Can you see any patterns in the events in this story and other stories we have read?

  • How do the events of this text differ from other stories we have read?

  • How is a myth different from a story?

  • How is this version of the story different from the version from (country or culture)

Here's a useful Compare & Contrast practice link to try out your reading strategies and skills!

https://app.educationgalaxy.com/practice/practicetest.aspx?topicId=19316