Name_____________________________________

Mrs. Arresto & Mrs. Shapiro: Short Stories

Date___________________
Literature Section #7

Figurative Language is language expanded beyond its ordinary literal meaning. It

uses comparisons to achieve new effects, to make things clearer, or to express a
fitting relationship between things that are unlike each other. Figurative language
compares two things that are different in enough ways so that their similarities,
when pointed out, are interesting, unique and/or surprising.
Types of Figurative Language
Simile: A comparison in which the words like or as are used to point out a
similarity between two basically unlike things.
Examples:
Mrs. Smith was as busy as a bee this afternoon as she organized the office
(comparing Mrs. Smiths level of energy to a fast-flying bee).

Jenny is like a ray of sunshine when she enters the room because she is
always smiling (comparing Jennys presence to that of the sun-warm and
comforting).

Metaphor: A figure of speech that involves an implied comparison between two

basically unlike things
Examples:
Time is a thief. (Time isn't really stealing anything, this metaphor just
indicates that time passes quickly and our lives pass us by-it compares time to
a thief who steals things).

My brother is a pig when he eats. (He isnt really an actual pig, but his
table manners are similar to a pigs-implying that he is a messy eater.)

Hyperbole: An exaggeration or overstatement used for dramatic effect.

Examples:
Your suitcase weighs a ton! (the effect of the hyperbole is to emphasize
how heavy the suitcase is, but it doesnt actually weigh a ton).

We had to read a million pages for social studies last night! (The teacher
did not actually assign one million pages for homework. The effect of this
hyperbole is to exaggerate the length of the assignment.)

Personification: A figure of speech in which human characteristics are assigned to

nonhuman things.
Example:
The leaves whispered in the wind. (Leaves dont talk. This description is
used to mimic the sound that a soft breeze would make. The word
whispering replaces the verb rustling which is the actual movement they
would make.)

Figurative Language is often used to create IMAGERY in

writing.
When you consider what words suggest, you form pictures and sense impressions in
your imagination. These pictures or sense impressions are called images. When
writers present what can be seen, heard, touched, tasted, smelled, as well as what
can be felt inside (joy, pain, fear), they are using images or imagery. The use of
vivid sensory description (imagery) is a vital element in writing; images help to
create or re-create an experience so that readers can respond as participants in the
event.
Imagery: Words or details that appeal to the sense of sight, sound, touch, smell,
taste, and to internal feelings.
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.
As the lights dimmed in the movie theater, I could make out only the shadowy
figures of latecomers as they squeezed between rows, dodging feet and knees and
whispering excuse mes. Next to me, my friend Stephanie crunched on her popcorn,
pausing only to wipe the greasy butter from her mouth before taking another noisy
slurp of her cherry coke. The buttery aroma of the popcorn made my stomach
growl, so I opened a pack of chocolate-covered raisin candies. I sucked the creamy
milk chocolate away and then slowly chewed the sweet raisin. Behind us, a young
boy began kicking the back of my seat. The thump, thump, thump of his kicks sent
a dull ache from my lower back up to my head. An elderly woman in front of us
coughed uncontrollably. After she fumbled in her purse, I heard the crinkle of a
candy wrapper, and soon the aroma of peppermint drifted around her. Suddenly
the blare of music shook the seats, and the screen sprang to life in a burst of
rainbow colors. Now the real entertainment would begin.
1. What sounds are presented?

2. What visual images (things you can see) appear in the passage?

3. What image(s) appeals to the sense of taste?

Practice with Figurative Language

Directions: Read each sentence carefully, and determine what type of
figurative language is being used. Use the word bank below to write the correct
answers on the line. DO NOT use abbreviations!
hyperbole

metaphor

personification

simile

_____________________ 4. My little sister is a monster when she hasnt had a nap.

_____________________ 5. Her teeth are like shiny, white pearls.

_____________________ 6. We waited on line for an eternity at the movies.

_____________________ 7. The sun hugged us with his warm, gentle rays.

_____________________ 8. You are the sunshine of my life.

_____________________ 9. The sun played hide-and-seek with the clouds.

_____________________ 10. The rain sings a sad song.

_____________________ 11. The rain sings a sad song.

_____________________ 12. All the world is a stage.

_____________________ 13. I was sick as a dog on the day of the test.

_____________________ 14. We nearly died laughing at her joke.

_____________________ 15. School is a prison to him.

Figurative Language in Poetry

Directions: Read each poem, and answer the questions that follow.
Summer Grass
Carl Sandburg
Summer grass aches and whispers
It wants something: it calls and sings; it pours
out wishes to the overhead stars.
The rain hears; the rain answers; the rain is slow
coming; the rain wets the face of the grass.

16. What poetic device does the poet use to describe what the summer grass
wants?

17. What does the summer grass want?

Fog
Carl Sandburg
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over a harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
_____ 18. Lines 1-2 contain an example of what poetic device?
A. simile
B. onomatopoeia
C. metaphor
D. personification
_____ 19. Lines 3-4 contain an example of what poetic device?
A. simile
B. hyperbole
C. metaphor
D. personification