Figurative Language

1. Figurative Language

2. What is Figurative Language? • It is writing that uses the “non-literal” meaning of words or phrases to create a special effect for readers. • It makes writing more interesting to the reader.

3. Figurative Language • Simile • Metaphor • Personification • Hyperbole • Onomatopoeia • Alliteration • Idiom

4. Simile • A simile is a phrase that compares two very unlike things using the words “like”, “as” or “than”.

5. Simile My pillowis like a fluffy cloud. That girl is as pretty as a flower. My teacher is meaner than a snake!

6. Metaphor • A metaphor also compares two very different things, but it does not use like, as, or than. It just calls one thing the other.

7. Metaphor • My pillow is a fluffy cloud. • That girl is a pretty flower. • My teacher is a mean snake! - Not really!!!

8. Make sure you are comparing two very different things! • My teacher is like a mean snake is a good simile because a teacher and snake are two very different things. • However, they share a quality. What is that quality or characteristic?

9. Similes and Metaphors • Why is the following NOT a good metaphor? Make it better. The car alarm was like a loud siren.

10. Hyperbole It is an exaggeration usually used to create humor or to make a point. • My cat weighs a ton! • I’m so hungry I could eat a whole cow! • That teacher is killing me with homework!

11. Personification • It is to give human qualities to something that is not human. The rainbow smiled at us. The tree reached out with boney fingers. The wind whispered in my ear.

12. Idiom It is a phrase that can not be understood by the individual words in it. I am tickled pink. It came right out of the blue. Its on the money. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

13. Onomatopoeia It is when words are used to imitate sounds. • CRASH! SMASH! BASH! • “SQUEEK!” Said the mouse. • The train went CHUG, CHUG, CHUG down the street.

14. Alliteration It is when words use the same beginning sound in a phrase or piece of writing. • The goofy girl went glittering down the street. • My Aunt Kora made cookies before the concert.

15. Imagery • It is writing that appeals to one or more of the reader’s five senses. • Imagery uses figurative language to create a picture in the mind of the reader. • What are the 5 senses?

16. The 5 Senses • Sight • Sound • Taste • Touch • Smell

17. Imagery Example “the old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same – I guess those couldn’t get any uglier – but their bodies had shriveled into leathery brown hag bodies with bat’s wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws. Their handbags turned in fiery whips. “ The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan To what sense does this excerpt appeal? What words are used to appeal to the senses? Do you see any figurative language?

18. Now You Try! Together we will read “The Jacket” by Gary Soto. See if you can identify some figurative language!

19. Figurative Language Examples Look at the first paragraph from “The Jacket.” Identify the 2 similes. • danced like a champ. • bitter as a penny