Figurative Language

Metaphors, Similes,
Personification, Idiom,
Hyperbole, and Allusion
 Metaphor

• When two seemingly unlike

objects are compared to each
other without using comparing
words such as ‘like’, ‘as’,
‘seems’, or ‘than’.
 Examples

• The bright sun is an orange that

could be picked right out of the
sky and eaten.

• What two objects are being

compared?
• What does this metaphor mean?
 Examples

• The teacher swooped in quickly

and snatched the note from the
student’s hand with her sharp,
greedy, talons.

• What two things are being

compared?
• What does this metaphor mean?
 Examples

• The large, round, bowling ball of

a defensive tackle sped down
the alley and crashed into the
quarterback.

• What objects are being

compared?
• What does this metaphor mean?
 Now it’s your turn!

• With your partner, create two of

your own original metaphors.
• Write down what objects are
being compared and what your
metaphor means.
• Share your metaphors with the
class.
 Simile

• Compares to seemingly unlike

objects using comparing words
such as ‘like’, ‘as’, ‘seems’, or
‘than.’
 Examples

• The bright glowing sun looked

as if it could be plucked right
out of the sky and eaten.

• What two objects are being

compared?
• What does this simile mean?
 Examples

• Turning, they ran to the front of

the building lined up in two long
lines, and marching like little tin
soldiers disappeared inside the
school.
• What objects are being
compared?
• What does this simile mean?
 Examples

• He just lay there in the

sunshine, all stretched out and
limber as a rag.

• What objects are being

compared?
• What does this simile mean?
 Time Out
by Jana Ghossein

Help! Oh how much my heart hurts!

My mouth is as dry as a desert. 
My throat is sore.
My voice is a goner.
My heart is beating as fast as a tiger. 
My hand is a rattling snake. 
My face is a tomato. 
Bye bye, boring life.
I cannot take it anymore.
I lay my head, 
upon my knee.
Now blow the whistle referee! 
 Now it’s your turn!

• With your partner, create two of

your own original similes.
• Write down what objects are
being compared and what your
simile means.
• Share your similes with the
class.
 Metaphor or Simile?

• Read the following examples of

metaphors or similes.
• Determine if the sentence is a
metaphor or a simile.
• Explain how you know.
• Be able to tell the class what
objects are being compared and
what the metaphor or simile means.
 Metaphor or Simile?

• By the time I had reached the

river, every nerve in my body
was drawn up as tight as a
fiddle string.
• Like a king in his own domain, it
towered far above the smaller
trees.
 Metaphor or Simile?

• “You had better get out of

there,” I said. “If that tree takes
a notion to fall, it’ll mash you
flatter than a tadpoles tail.”
• “The streets were a furnace,
and the sun an executioner.”
 Metaphor or Simile?

• The rain fell from the sky in

long, sharp needles and struck
me as I ran to shelter.
• We are all ants working
tirelessly, day to day for all
eternity, to fulfill the whims of
the queen.
 Personification

• Figurative language when a non-

human objects is given human
characteristics or traits.
 Examples
• The wind whistled a gloomy tune as
it blew through darkening forest.
• Thousands of blades of grass
massaged my back while I lay
staring at the cloudless sky.

• What is being personified?

• What does each personification
mean?
 Examples

• “Fear knocked on the door. Faith

answered. There was no one there.”
• "Pimento eyes bulged in their olive
sockets. Lying on a ring of onion, a
tomato slice exposed its seedy smile
. . .."

• What is being personified?

 Now it’s your turn!

• With your partner, create two of

your own original examples of
personification.
• Write down what objects are
being personified and what
human qualities they are given.
• Share your personification with
the class.
 Wind
By J. Kurnath

The wind dances in on

Trotting horses’ feet
It stops in a golden
Valley looking about through
Fiery eyes, and then rages past
At a mighty gallop.
 Create Your Own
Nature Personication Poem

• Directions:
• Line 1   Title + (How it arrives or
begins) 
• Line 2   Tell what it does 
• Line 3   Tell how it does it 
• Line 4   Tell where it is 
• Line 5 Tell how it leaves 
 Hyperbole

• An extreme exaggeration or
overstatement.
 Examples
• I am so hungry I could eat a horse.
• I have a million things to do.
• I had to walk 15 miles to school in the
snow, uphill.
• I had a ton of homework.
• If I can’t buy that new game, I will die.
• He is as skinny as a toothpick.
• This car goes faster than the speed of
light.
 Appetite

• In a house the size of a postage stamp

lived a man as big as a barge.
His mouth could drink the entire river
You could say it was rather large
For dinner he would eat a trillion beans
And a silo full of grain,
Washed it down with a tanker of milk
As if he were a drain.
 Thanksgiving

• A mountain of baby carrots,

a turkey the size of a cow.
a river full of gravy
a dog that says meow
Every pie known to man
and gallons full of ice cream.
By the time my dinner is over
I surely won’t be lean.