Figurative Language Instruction
- 1. By Ms. S
- 2. Figurative Language – sayings not to be taken literally, or seriously.
- 3. COMPARE one thing to another to help to describe. EXAGGERATE to make a point. GIVES something non-human, or inanimate, person-like qualities.
- 4. Simile – A comparison of two things using the words “like” or “as” to connect those two things. Example: “You are as beautiful as a summer day.” This statements compares a person’s beauty to the beauty found in a summer’s day, using the connector word “as”.
- 5. ON YOUR WORKSHEET: Question #2: Write about it! What comes to your mind when you think of a beautiful summer’s day? Did you know? The comparison between a person’s beauty and a summer day originally came from William Shakespeare’s famous 14-line poem, “Sonnet Number 18”. The actual line is: “Shall I compare thee (you) to a summer’s day? Thou (you) art (are) more lovely and more temperate (gentle).
- 6. Example: “Life is like a box of chocolates.” This statement is using the word “like” to compare the unexpectedness and randomness of life to the unexpectedness and randomness of grabbing a piece of chocolate from a box. You never know what you’re going to get!
- 7. ON YOUR WORKSHEET: Question #3: Write down or describe a type of candy you might really enjoy picking out of a box of chocolates and compare that to something you might really enjoy happening in your life. Now write down or describe a type of a candy that you would want to spit out if you picked it and compare that to something not-so- good happening in your life.
- 8. Example: “Life is a roller coaster ride.” This statement is simply comparing the ups and downs of life to the ups and downs of a roller coaster ride WITHOUT using the connector word.
- 9. Example: “I’ve seen that movie a million times.” This statement is just saying that the person has seen the movie many, many times, but we all know that its nearly impossible for this person to have seen any movie a million times. REMEMBER: THE WHOLE POINT OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IS FOR IT NOT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY!
- 10. ON YOUR WORKSHEET: Think of a movie you feel like you’ve seen a million times.
- 11. This one is easy to remember because of the word “person” in the name! Example: “My heart cried.” This statement just means the person was sad, but they used personification to help get their point across. Doesn’t it paint a much better picture than if they had just said “I am sad”?
- 12. ON YOUR WORKSHEET: Come up with your own example of personification.