Literary Elements Review for Whirligig

1. Literary Elements Review for Whirligig • “She wore a gold necklace, fine as spider’s silk…” (Fleischman). • simile • “The brakes sighed” (Fleischman). • personification • “He felt himself a departing sailor…” (Fleischman). • metaphor

2. “…recent past” (Fleischman). • oxymoron • “We never know all the consequences of our acts. They reach into places we can’t see. And into the future, where no one can” (Fleischman). • theme • “…Mrs. Zamora…a heavyset redhead in an India print skirt…Her wavy hair flowed exuberantly over her shoulders; the rest of her seemed only half-alive” (Fleischman). • characterization

3. “…murderous machine…” (Fleischman). • alliteration • “The headaches, like a wrecking ball working on his skull…” (Fleischman). • simile • “Why not Hunk o’Love and my phone number?” (Fleischman). • allusion • “I think we can rule out the Pilgrims. How should I know?” (Fleischman). • tone

4. “He was a leper now” (Fleischman). • metaphor • “He played on, chewing up the minutes…” (Fleischman). • idiom • “You’re incredibly intelligent, funny, loyal, another Marie Curie…” (Fleischman). • allusion • “I’m sure it’s because of the whirligig…all unseen forces” (Fleischman). • symbol

5. “Either I say yes or freeze to death arguing” • hyperbole • “Hadn’t Hercules likewise performed his labors to cleanse himself…” (Fleischman). • allusion • “He disliked being seen in his neighborhood, where the glances he drew were too long or too short...their blind assumption that he was one of them made him wince inside” • Internal conflict • “Every site was a separate country…every family was a universe” (Fleischman). • metaphor

6. “Sunset flared orange on the water” (Fleischman). • imagery • “A teacher lives forever through his students” • aphorism • “…he saw the summer triangle following him…” (Fleischman). • personification • “He considered giving the whale her face, then painting her in the belly as Jonah…” • Allusion

7. “…a shearwater. I wished that I could be that…live alone, far away…very peaceful” (Fleischman). • symbol • “…he spoke over and over, then wailed miserably…” (Fleischman). • tone • “…then caught a flash of movement and turned. Behind him, a scruffy teenager had a hand on his backpack...realized they were a team” (Fleischman). • External conflict