How to Run
- Project the title and a short instruction: "10 devices, 10 clues, 5 minutes."
- Read clue 1 aloud. Give 10 seconds of thinking time. Students write on a mini-whiteboard or shout out.
- Reveal the answer on the board. Keep the pace brisk.
- Repeat for all 10 clues.
- Finish with a 30-second recap: students share one device they got right and one they want to remember.
The Ten Clues
Clue: A comparison using 'like' or 'as'.
Answer: Simile
Clue: Two words that contradict each other placed side by side (e.g. 'bitter sweet').
Answer: Oxymoron
Clue: Giving human qualities to something that isn't human.
Answer: Personification
Clue: A word that sounds like what it means (e.g. 'buzz').
Answer: Onomatopoeia
Clue: Deliberate, dramatic exaggeration for effect.
Answer: Hyperbole
Clue: A line of poetry that runs on to the next without punctuation.
Answer: Enjambment
Clue: Weather or setting that reflects a character's emotions.
Answer: Pathetic fallacy
Clue: A hint early in a text about something that will happen later.
Answer: Foreshadowing
Clue: A question asked for effect, not an answer.
Answer: Rhetorical question
Clue: A recurring image, object, or idea in a text.
Answer: Motif
Differentiation Ideas
Support
- • Give a word bank of all 10 answers on the board
- • Allow pair work
- • Read each clue twice
- • Start with the five easiest devices
Stretch
- • After each answer, the student who got it gives a quotation example
- • Swap to rarer devices (zeugma, anaphora, litotes)
- • Add a bonus round of trickier devices
- • Challenge: use three of the devices in a single sentence
Use in Classroom - Tips
- Keep the pace: The magic of a speed round is momentum. Don't over-explain between clues.
- Use mini-whiteboards: Shouting out can leave quieter students behind. Whiteboards keep everyone in.
- Celebrate: A quick cheer or a high-five for the first to get each answer keeps energy high.
- Link to the lesson: Choose your 10 devices so at least two will appear in the main activity.