Literary Devices / Figurative Language

1. Literary Devices / Figurative Language Silly Sheets

2. Silly Sheet • On the LEFT SIDE of the red margin line, you are going to list each literary device. • Spread the words out evenly by skipping 2-3 spaces between words. • NOTE: Leave 2-3 spaces at the bottom of the paper after the last word. • DO NOT CROSS THE RED LINE. Stay in the margin. • DO NOT GO ONTO THE BACK OF THE PAPER.

3. Simile Metaphor Personification Allusion Irony Foreshadow- ing Imagery DO NOT cross this line. Break the word if necessary. Skip more lines if you can. Use the whole paper but leave 2-3 lines at the bottom for the last word.

4. Next to each word, write the definition. • Like this: • Simile A comparison between two unlike things using the words “like” or “as.” • Metaphor A comparison between two unlike things that does NOT use the words “like” or “as.” • The definitions are on the following slides.

5. Simile • A simile is a comparison between two unlike objects using the words “like” or “as.”

6. Metaphor • A comparison between two UNLIKE things that DOESN’T use “like” or “as.” • The author simply says that one thing IS another instead of saying that it’s LIKE that thing.

7. Personification • The author talks about an object as if it were a person or an animal. • The author often does this by giving the object feelings or having an animal talk or reason. • Notice that Personification makes an object seem like a person.

8. ALLUSION • Allusion is when an author refers to something famous in the text but doesn’t offer any explanation. • The author assumes that you know and understand the reference.

9. Person • The allusion could be to a famous person (Michael Jordan or Shakespeare)…

10. character • A fictional character like Spiderman, Santa Claus, or the Grinch…

11. event an important event (The Civil War, the Super Bowl, Hurricane Katrina)

12. book • Or even another book, such as… • Romeo and Juliet • The Bible • The Little Engine that Could

13. IRONY • You expect something to happen, but the opposite happens. • OR – a weird coincidence.

14. FORESHADOWING • The author gives us clues to what is going to happen later in the story.

15. Imagery • Using details and descriptions in order to create a sensory experience for the reader. • Imagery involves one or more of your five senses (hearing, taste, touch, smell, sight).

16. FOLD YOUR PAPER TO THE RED LINE.COVER THE DEFINITION BUT NOT THE WORD.LIKE THIS: • SimileA comparison between two unlike things using the words “like” or “as.” • Metaphor A comparison between two unlike things that does NOT use the words “like” or “as.” Fold the right edge of your paper to the red line. Cover this part – the definition.

17. On the blank space you created by folding, write an example next to each word. Like this: • Simile The box is as light as a feather. • MetaphorHer eyes were diamonds, glittering in the moonlight.

18. Simile Examples • "Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.” (Carl Sandburg) • Her eyes shone like diamonds. • The box is as light as a feather.

19. Metaphor Examples • Her eyes were diamonds, glittering in the moonlight. • His face was ice, frozen into place and showing no trace of emotion.

20. Personification Examples • The flame danced in the breeze. • The clock ticked away happily. • The moon smiled down on me.

21. Personification and Metaphor Example: • The house was an eerie face, staring at me from across the street.

22. Allusion Examples • He’s so honest, George Washington would be proud. • His speech reminds me of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

23. irony Examples • Kidnappers are so frustrated with the boy that they pay his father to take him back. • OR – A person who always plays the same lottery numbers forgets to play them, and they win!

24. Foreshadowing Example • I looked back at the beach as we drove away. Little did I know that the next time I would visit the ocean, all my peaceful memories would be shattered forever.

25. Imagery Examples • Visual: the clouds were low and hairy...like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes. • Auditory: the roar of trees, the crack of branches, beating on a box • Smell: musk from hidden grapevine springs • Taste: the blueberries as big as your thumb...with the flavor of soot • Tactile (touch): Mary touches the harp-like morning-glory strings and plays some tenderness.

26. Adding clues • Fold the paper one more time to cover up the examples you just wrote, but keep the word showing. • Draw a clue to help you remember what the word means. • Artistic ability isn’t important, as long as the clue helps you to remember what the word means.

27. Quiz Yourself • Fold the words back in the opposite direction so that you have a thin strip with the words on one side and the clues on the other. • Try to remember what each word means without even looking at the clue. • If you need the clue, flip the strip over. • If you still don’t know, open one flap of the paper and use the example to help you. • If you still don’t know, open the paper all the way and read the definition. • Keep quizzing yourself on the ones you are getting wrong until you know all of the words without even looking at the clues.