Go Figure!

Figurative Language

Eng II, Eng II H, Creative Writing

Mrs. Lippel

What is figurative language?

Whenever you describe something by comparing it with something else,

you are using figurative language.

Types of Figurative Language

Simile Metaphor Personification Onomatopoeia Hyperbole Imagery Alliteration Assonance Consonance

Simile A figure of speech which involves a

direct comparison between two unlike things, usually with the words like or as. Example: The muscles on his brawny

arms are strong as iron bands.

Metaphor A figure of speech which involves an

implied comparison between two relatively unlike things using a form of be. The comparison is not announced by like or as. Example: The road was a ribbon wrapped

through the dessert.

Personification A figure of speech which gives the

qualities of a person to an animal, an object, or an idea. Example: “The wind yells while blowing."

The wind cannot yell. Only a living thing can yell.

Onomatopoeia

The use of words that mimic sounds. Example: The firecracker made a

loud ka-boom!

Hyperbole An exaggerated statement used to

heighten effect. It is not used to mislead the reader, but to emphasize a point. Example: She’s said so on several

million occasions.

Imagery Language that appeals to the senses.

Descriptions of people or objects stated in terms of our senses.

• Sight • Hearing • Touch • Taste • Smell

Alliteration Repeated consonant sounds occurring at

the beginning of TWO or MORE neighboring words within a sentence.

Example: She was wide-eyed and wondering while she waited for Walter to waken.

Assonance Repeated vowel sounds occurring in the

middle of words within neighboring words

Example: Men sell the wedding bells.

Consonance Repetitive middle sounds produced by

consonants within neighboring words.

Example: The rain screams pitter patter

Example:

Time for you to try a few of your own…. Take out a piece of paper….

Simile

For the following similes, write down the 2 things that are being compared:

1.) The sun was as hot as fire. 2.) The moon was like a new dime. 3.)The sea was as blue as a sapphire 4.) George speaks like an orator. 5.) The cold wind cut like a knife.

Simile: Used in poetryA Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes

What happened to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

Like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore-

And then Run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over-

Like a syrupy sweet?

Write your own Simile

Write 5 of your own similes as follows: 1.) about your hair 2.) about your least favorite class 3.) about your favorite food 4.) about your best friend 5.) about your current mood

Metaphor

What are the 2 things being compared in the following metaphors?

1.) Friend are flowers in the garden. 2.) The classroom was Bedlam! 3.) He is a pig. 4.) John is a regualr good samaritan. 5.)The sea was as sheet of silk.

Identify the metaphors …..

My family lives inside a medicine chest:

Dad is the super-size band aid, strong and powerful but not always effective in a crisis.

Mom is the middle-size tweezer, which picks and pokes and pinches.

David is the single small aspirin on the third shelf, sometimes ignored.

And I am the wood and glue which holds us all together with my love.

Write a metaphor about your family Include every member of your family

including yourself, your pets, etc….

Personfication..Which sentences have it? 1.) Walking desks took over town. 2.) I listen to the wind. 3.) The dog stares carefully at me. 4.) The snake loves food. 5.) Moon dances around my fear. 6.) The bear reads my mind. 7.) Ronnie Johnson smiles at the fox. 8.) Wind whispers like a tree in the breeze. 9.)A rock smiles when people sit on it. 10.) Cars dance across the icy road.

Personification in poetry…

The Sky is Low by Emily Dickenson

The sky is low, the clouds are mean,

A traveling flake of snow

Across the barn or through a rut

Debates if it will go.

A narrow wind complains all day

How some one treated hime;

Nature, like us, is sometimes caught

Without her diadem.

Write your own. Personify the following… 1.) The wind 2.) The microwave 3.) The camera 4.) The rain 5.) The backpack

Alliteration isn’t always a tongue twister…The memories flash like dusk heat lightening,

Or the fireflies that flit and flare

But grow rusty like the screen door sighing

With creaks and groans in the hot night air.

Alliteration…create your own Write alliteration using the following letter…

1.) F 2.) L 3.) T 4.) M 5.) C

Onomatopoeia isn’t always about “Bam” and “Boom” Find the onomatopoeia…

1.) The old floor creaked.

2.)The old engine chugged down the rickety track.

3.) The trucks’ brakes squeaked in the distance.

4.) Edwin’s guitar strings twanged the sad melody

5.) The tennis ball whistled by my ear.

6.) The fire crackles as we sat nearby.

7.) The snake hissed at its prey.

Try some of your own….

Think about sounds that common object make and come up with 5 of your own…

Hyperbole: Where is it?

I woke up this morning and my feet were killing me! All day long I worked my fingers to the bone getting my lessons together. I was dying to try out a new lesson plan with my students and really wanted it to be fun. By the end of the day I was so tired I couldn’t even move.

Create your own in response to each statement…1.) Don’t you think the TV is too loud?

The TV is so loud_________

2.) Look at all of the rain!

It’s raining so hard_______

3.) Look at that poor dog, he can hardly walk.

That dog is so old________

4.) Is that a mosquito bite?

My arm is so swollen___________