Name: ___________________________
Passage Analysis (Color Marking) Practice
Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game”
Directions: Using the provided passage(s), complete the following passage analysis using close reading skills.
The color does not matter to me, but a variety does. Make sure you have at least four different colors for this
assignment.
1. Using a highlighter, mark the elements in the passage that reflect the setting of the story. Remember that
setting includes both time and place, as well as cultural or societal influences. Whatever color you choose
for this, come back and highlight the bolded word setting in the directions to serve as a color-coded key.
2. Using a different color highlighter, mark the elements of the passage that reflect developments in the major
character represented in this passage. Development includes ways that the character thinks, feels, and
acts. Also, consider the character traits the character possesses as revealed through the author’s writing.
Again, whatever color you choose for this, come back and highlight the bolded word character in the
directions to serve as a color-coded key.
3. Using a different color highlighter, mark examples of figurative language the author uses in this passage.
Again, whatever color you choose for this, come back and highlight the bolded word figurative language in
the directions to serve as a color-coded key.
4. Using a different color highlighter, mark the elements of the passage that reflect the overall theme
represented in this passage. For our purposes, theme will be a single word illustrating a general topic on
which an author is commenting. For example, a theme could be poverty. When discussing this theme, you
would consider the general message about theme the author is presenting. Perhaps the author is focusing
on the impact of poverty on the family unit, or the ways in which poverty impacts the development of a
child. Again, whatever color you choose for this, come back and highlight the bolded word theme in the
directions to serve as a color-coded key. State the theme and the aspects of it that the author explores here:
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On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph discussing the theme of the passage.
● Identify the theme in a topic sentence
● Include textual evidence (direct quotations of at least two phrases) to show the development of the
theme
Answer
the questions How does the author develop the theme? What effect does the theme have
●
on the reader? Remember, this is a commentary, so it will comment on the text (like we do in our
class discussions)
On the same paper as the theme paragraph, write a paragraph commenting on the author’s use of figurative
language.
● Identify the type of figurative language used in a topic sentence
● Include textual evidence (direct quotations of at least two phrases) to show the use of
figurative language
● Answer the questions Why does the author use figurative language? What effect does the
figurative language have on the reader? Remember, this is a commentary, so it will comment
on the text (like we do in our class discussions)