Georgia 12.T.SS.2.b
The Standard
Use literary devices, figurative language, rhetorical language, and/or rhetorical appeals to create a variety of effects, as appropriate to intended purpose and target audience. (C)
Georgia's K-12 English Language Arts Standards · Texts (T) · Structure & Style
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students choose techniques such as metaphor, repetition, irony, or ethos to shape a reader’s response. They match those choices to the audience, purpose, and genre, then explain the intended effect.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can write the same message for two audiences and change the language strategically. The student can explain how each choice builds trust, urgency, humor, sympathy, or another intended response.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often add figurative language only to sound impressive, even when it distracts from the purpose. They may label any emotional wording as pathos or name a device without explaining its effect.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Write a 100-word appeal asking classmates to support a school change. Underline two deliberate language choices and label each intended effect.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups sentence strips from a bland speech; have them add repetition, imagery, and contrast, then arrange the strongest version.
Write two versions of a school policy message, one for students and one for parents, then explain three changed choices.
Play an effect match game using cards labeled with techniques, audiences, and desired responses; students compose a line for each combination.
Compare a company’s social media apology with its formal press release, then revise one sentence to better fit each audience.
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Printable 12.T.SS.2.b Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 12.T.SS.2.b, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- 9.T.SS.2.b
The 9th Grade version of this standard.
- 6.T.SS.2.b
Use figurative language or literary devices for intentional effects when creating texts to achieve specific purposes or appeal to the target audience. (C)
- 10.T.SS.2.b
The 10th Grade version of this standard.
- 11.T.SS.2.b
The 11th Grade version of this standard.
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