TUESDAY
What is Figurative Language?
Whenever you describe something by comparing it with something else, you are using figurative language. Figurative Language is the use of words that go beyond their ordinary meaning. It requires you to use your imagination to figure out the author's meaning. For example, if someone tells you that it is raining cats and dogs, you know that there are not actually cats and dogs falling from the sky. You know it really means that it is raining very hard.
There are many different ways to use figurative language. These ways are called “figures of speech”. Here are a few of the most common ones:• Hyperbole
• Simile
• Metaphor
• Personification
• Idioms
• Symbolism
Hyperbole
An exaggeration that is so dramatic that no one would believe the statement is true. Tall tales are hyperboles.
Example:
He was so hungry, he ate that whole cornfield for lunch, stalks and all.
A hyperbole is usually meant to be humorous or funny. The sentence, "I can eat a million ice cream cones", is an exaggeration of the true fact that the speaker likes ice cream cones. Writers and poets use hyperbole to get a point across or to be funny. Read the two stanzas below from the poem, "No Difference", by Shel Silverstein and see if you could identify the hyperboles.
Small as a peanut,
Big as a giant,
We're all the same size
When we turn out the light.
Rich as a sultan,
Poor as a mite,
We're all worth the same
When we turn out the light.
Silverstein is using hyperbole to exaggerate people's size and wealth to be humorous and to make a point.
“Small as a peanut, Big as a giant” – “Rich as a sultan, Poor as a mite”
PRACTICE #1 (ANSWER KEY ON PAGE 13)
Circle the hyperbole used in each sentence.
1. When I grow up, I’m going to make tons of money.
2. I ran like the wind when they chased me home!
3. I will be 100 years old before I know how to work this thing.
4. Carly was sweating bullets waiting to see her grade on the test.
5. My sister Carla is as light as a feather.
WEDNESDAY
Simile
A simile is a comparison of two unlike things using the words like or as. For example, in the sentence, "The lion purred like a kitten," the lion's purring is compared to that of a kitten's. Similes give the reader a new way to see or understand something and can create a strong mental picture.
Read the poem below and notice the similes in italics.
"Simile: Willow and Ginkgo" by Eve Merrriam
The willow is like an etching,
Fine-lined against the sky.
The ginkgo is like a crude sketch,
Hardly worthy to be signed.
The willow's music is like a soprano
Delicate and thin.
The ginkgo's tune is like a chorus
With everyone joining in.
Metaphor
A metaphor is a comparison of two different things to show a likeness between them. Metaphors do not use the words like or as when making comparisons, as do similes. Sometimes, they say that one thing is another, such as "her teeth are pearls". Metaphors also suggest a comparison. For example, in the line, "The fog comes in on little cat feet", from "The Fog" by Carl Sandburg, the fog is being described as if it were a cat.
PRACTICE # 2
A. On a separate sheet of paper, complete each SIMILE below with an appropriate ending. You must complete all of the similes to that they make sense.
1. Pearls as big as
2. The kids are as busy as a/an
3. The light is as bright as
4. Skin as smooth as
5. Rocks sharp as
6. The class was wild like
7. He was big like
8. The fish was small as
9. I am hungry like a
10. Her face was round as
B. Read the descriptive paragraph below and, on a separate sheet of paper, write all the metaphors you find and describe the comparison.
Autumn is a season of dust. Into the dust crumble memories of powerful ocean tides hitting a sea of sand, early morning walks on a white crescent of beach, and sun scorched hills where the beauty of the summer slowly unfolds. But autumn, too, will bring her own memories. The foliage is a painting come to life and the music of the falling leaves will serenade us into winter.
