Georgia 8.T.SS.2.a
The Standard
Analyze how figurative language, connotative language, and/or literary device choices are used strategically to achieve specific purposes for target audiences. (I)
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 identify figurative language, loaded words, and literary devices in a text. They explain how each choice shapes meaning, influences a target audience, and supports the author’s purpose.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students accurately identify a device or loaded word and describe the response it may create. They cite specific language and explain why it fits the author’s purpose and intended audience.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often name a device but do not explain its effect. They may treat connotations as fixed or claim a phrase affects every audience in the same way. Some confuse the author’s purpose with the text’s topic.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Read “The city coughed awake beneath a blanket of smog” from a teen environmental campaign. Explain how one language choice supports the campaign’s purpose and audience.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs printed song lyrics and two highlighters; mark figurative phrases in one color and audience effects in the other.
Write: “Why might an author call protesters ‘a wave’ rather than ‘a crowd’ when addressing young activists?” Cite one word.
Play Purpose Match: students pair device cards with audience and purpose cards, then defend each match using a sentence frame.
Compare two public service posters on the same issue and explain how each slogan targets a different audience.
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