Figurative Language

1. Figurative Language The Metaphor

2. Objectives By the end of class today, I will be able to: • recall the purpose and types of figurative language • identify the two things being compared in a metaphor • analyze poetry that uses metaphor to make a direct comparison describing one item as if it were another • write an extended metaphor

3. Why use figurative language? • Poetry needs emotion, but we need to create emotion with words, the creation which is called imagery. • To enhance the emotion of any writing, we can use figurative language. • Using metaphors or similes is one way to strengthen emotion.

4. Figurative Language

5. Simile vs. metaphor • The metaphor is first cousin to the simile. Like the simile, it compares two objects but does not use like or as. • Simile: Her cheeks are like polished apples. • Metaphor: Her cheeks are polished apples.

6. More Examples of Metaphor Write the two things being compared in each metaphor. • You are the sunshine of my life. • The giant’s steps were thunder as he ran toward Jack. • The pillow was a cloud when I put my head upon it after a long day. • The bar of soap was a slippery eel during the dog’s bath.

7. Creating Metaphors Complete the following metaphors: • Love is __________________________. • The sunset was ___________________. • The circus clown was _______________. • My days at school are _______________.

8. Read “Aunt Leaf” on p.790-791 • What names did the speaker give her invented great-great-aunt? • How did the speaker call to her “aunt”, and how did the “aunt” respond? • Describe the adventures the speaker had with her “aunt”. • Read “Fog” on p.792 • What might the poet want the reader to discover by focusing on fog in this way? • Identify and explain the figurative language that Carl Sandburg uses in “Fog”. • Describe the setting of “Fog”. • What are three things the fog does? • Read “Life” on p.793 • Identify and explain the figurative language used in “Life”. • In your own words, describe what happens in “Life”.

9. Metaphor Poem: “My Family Is a …” Instructions – Write an extended metaphor for your family. • Choose an object or a unit to compare your family to • Include and describe each member of your family with a metaphor and supporting details Please type and illustrate.

10. The Medicine Chest My family lives inside a medicine chest: Dad is the super-size band aid, strong and powerfulbut 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.Muffin, the sheep dog, is a round cotton ball, stained and dirty, that pops off the shelf and bounces in my way as I open the door.And I am the wood and glue which hold us all together with my love.

11. Fifth of July My family is an expired firecrackerset off by the blowtorch of divorce. We layscattered in many directions.My father is the wick, badly burntbut still glowing softly.My mother is the blackened paper fluttering down,blowing this way and that, unsure where to land.My sister is the fallen, colorful parachute,lying in a tangled knot, unable to see the beauty sheholds.My brother is the fresh, untouched powder thatwas protected from the flame. And I,I am the singed, outside papers, curled awayfrom everything, silently cursingthe blowtorch.

12. Objectives By the end of class today, I will be able to: • recall the purpose and types of figurative language • identify the two things being compared in a metaphor • analyze poetry that uses metaphor to make a direct comparison describing one item as if it were another • write an extended metaphor