Literary Elements in “The Scarlet Ibis”
Tone / Imagery / Similes & Metaphors
1. What is the tone? What text evidence supports your answer?
2. Find 3 examples of imagery from the text. Provide a quote for each one and explain
how it appeals to the senses.
3. Find 3 similes; explain what 2 things are being compared and what the comparison
means.
4. Find 3 metaphors; explain what 2 things are being compared and what the comparison
means.
Irony
1. Find and explain at least 2 examples of irony in the story.
Character Development
1. Give specific evidence from the text (quotes) that develop these characters. Tell
whether each is static or dynamic:
a. Brother
b. Doodle
Elements of the Plot (You can just list them, or you can draw a plot diagram – whichever you prefer.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Setting (time and place - give as much information as you can find or infer
Conflict(s) (internal/external)
Rising Action - 3 significant events that move the plot along
Climax - the turning point
Falling Action/Resolution
Foreshadowing
1. Find at least four instances of foreshadowing. Give specific evidence from the text
(quotes), and explain how and what event it foreshadows.
Theme
1. Consider this quote from the story: "I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing,
a seed that bears two vines, life and death." Using evidence from the text, write a welldeveloped paragraph (no less than half a page) that develops this notion of pride as one of the
themes of "The Scarlet Ibis."
Symbolism
1. Consider this quote from the story: "For a long, long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying,
sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of the rain." In a well-developed paragraph (no
less than half a page), explain how the scarlet ibis is an appropriate symbol for Doodle.