Grade 8 Literary Devices Advanced word search, scramble and crossword

Grade 8 Literary Devices Advanced word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this advanced literary devices puzzle set for my 8th graders during our reading unit. The kids could identify basic devices like simile and metaphor, but they kept mixing up the more advanced terms like synecdoche, metonymy, and anaphora when we started analyzing poetry and prose more deeply. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like allegory, alliteration, allusion, anaphora, apostrophe, conceit, diction, euphemism, flashback, foreshadowing, hyperbole, imagery, irony, juxtaposition, metaphor, metonymy, motif, onomatopoeia, oxymoron, paradox, personification, simile, symbolism, synecdoche, and syntax . I also included a few like "tone" and "mood" because they kept coming up in our class discussions . Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the terms finally stick.

The PDF is four pages. Three puzzles plus one answer key page. The word search works well for quiet time after recess or independent practice. The scramble gets them talking because they argue about the spelling of "synecdoche" (it's a tricky one) or whether a metaphor and a conceit are the same thing (they're not—they always have opinions about it) . The crossword I use for partners or as a review, and I usually have a literary terms anchor chart nearby for the kids who need the visual support to see the definitions and examples . I added a couple simple book and magnifying glass drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 8th through 10th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers write a sentence using two literary devices on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.