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English lesson plan · 12th grade (Year 13 in England) · 45 minutes

Advanced figures: metonymy, synecdoche, apostrophe, conceit, allegory, bathos

Vocabulary

CCSS L.11-12.5.ACCSS RL.11-12.4England: A-level English LiteratureEngland: AP LiteratureEngland: GCSE English Literature

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Advanced figures: metonymy, synecdoche, apostrophe, conceit, allegory, bathos.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Euphemism, oxymoron, paradox and understatement; Naming language techniques (GCSE)

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: Word cards, A thesaurus or dictionary, A short text with the target words, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 5 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Euphemism, oxymoron, paradox and understatement; Naming language techniques (GCSE)). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Which figure of speech matches this description? Softening an unpleasant truth with gentler words. (paradox / euphemism / oxymoron / understatement) → euphemismPrompt: Ask: does it soften, combine opposites in two words, seem self-contradictory as a whole idea, or downplay?
  2. Which technique matches this description? Deliberate exaggeration for effect. (simile / hyperbole / pathetic fallacy / juxtaposition) → hyperbolePrompt: Recall the key test for each technique: like/as? human actions? weather? s-sounds? exaggeration? contrast?
  3. Which figure of speech is used here? It was a bittersweet farewell. (paradox / oxymoron / understatement / euphemism) → oxymoronPrompt: Two contradictory words side by side → oxymoron; a whole statement that seems impossible → paradox.

Hook · 5 min

  • Show an interesting word in a sentence and ask what it might mean from the clues around it.
  • Share the objective: Advanced figures: metonymy, synecdoche, apostrophe, conceit, allegory, bathos. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 10 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Which figure of speech matches this description? A sudden, often comic, drop from the serious to the trivial.
  • Step 1: Advanced figures substitute (metonymy, synecdoche), address (apostrophe), compare ingeniously (conceit), encode ideas (allegory) or deflate (bathos).
  • Step 2: bathos: A sudden, often comic, drop from the serious to the trivial.
  • Step 3: So the answer is: bathos
  • Answer: bathos
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 10 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Which figure of speech matches this description? An elaborate, surprising comparison between two very different things, often extended. (bathos / apostrophe / metonymy / conceit) → conceitPrompt: Part for whole → synecdoche; associated thing → metonymy.
  2. Which figure of speech is used here? The Crown has announced this year's honours list. (metonymy / synecdoche / conceit / allegory) → metonymyPrompt: Is a part standing for the whole, or a related thing standing for something else?

You do: independent practice · 10 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 5 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Which figure of speech is used here? Throughout the poem, the speaker's heart is a house with locked rooms, dusty stairs and one window left open. (conceit / allegory / bathos / apostrophe) → conceitPrompt: Is a part standing for the whole, or a related thing standing for something else?
  2. Type the figure of speech (in English) that matches this description. Using a part to stand for the whole (or the whole for a part). → synecdochePrompt: Part for whole → synecdoche; associated thing → metonymy.

Watch out for

  • Picking a "bigger" synonym that doesn't fit the meaning.
  • Ignoring the clues in the rest of the sentence.

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Euphemism, oxymoron, paradox and understatement.
  • Use concrete materials: word cards.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-12.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Advanced figures: metonymy, synecdoche, apostrophe, conceit, allegory, bathos

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    Type the figure of speech (in English) that matches this description. Using a part to stand for the whole (or the whole for a part).

    Answer

  2. Question 2

    Which figure of speech is used here? Oh cruel sea, why did you take him from us?

    • A. metonymy
    • B. conceit
    • C. allegory
    • D. apostrophe

  3. Question 3

    Which figure of speech matches this description? An elaborate, surprising comparison between two very different things, often extended.

    • A. bathos
    • B. apostrophe
    • C. conceit
    • D. synecdoche

  4. Question 4

    Type the figure of speech (in English) that matches this description. A sudden, often comic, drop from the serious to the trivial.

    Answer

  5. Question 5

    Which figure of speech is used here? A novel about farm animals who overthrow their farmer, only to be ruled by greedy pigs, represents a political revolution gone wrong.

    • A. apostrophe
    • B. allegory
    • C. bathos
    • D. synecdoche

  6. Question 6

    Which figure of speech matches this description? A whole story whose characters and events stand for ideas, often moral or political.

    • A. bathos
    • B. synecdoche
    • C. metonymy
    • D. allegory

  7. Question 7

    Which figure of speech is used here? She finally bought her own set of wheels.

    • A. allegory
    • B. synecdoche
    • C. conceit
    • D. bathos

  8. Question 8

    Which figure of speech matches this description? Referring to something by a closely associated thing, not a part of it.

    • A. synecdoche
    • B. conceit
    • C. metonymy
    • D. bathos

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Answer key: Advanced figures: metonymy, synecdoche, apostrophe, conceit, allegory, bathos

  1. 1. synecdoche

  2. 2. D. apostrophe

  3. 3. C. conceit

  4. 4. bathos

  5. 5. B. allegory

  6. 6. D. allegory

  7. 7. B. synecdoche

  8. 8. C. metonymy