Figurative Language
Simile
A simile is a direct comparison
between one thing and another
that is usually very different.
Similes use the words “like” or
“as” to show the comparison.
Example: The children jumped like jackin-the-boxes when they heard the noise.
Metaphor
A metaphor expresses one thing
by referring or comparing it to
another thing.
It suggests a comparison by
telling you that one thing is
something else.
Example: Mrs. Jones is a skyscraper in a sea
of sixth graders.
Metaphors usually use the linking
verbs to compare.
Examples of linking verbs used in
metaphors are:
am
is
are
was
were
be
been
become
Personification
A personification gives animals,
objects, or abstract ideas human
qualities.
Example:
The side of the cliff was crying as we drove by
on the way home.
(This can mean the rain was pouring off the cliff.)
Spongebob Squarepants is also an example of
personification.
Hyperbole
An hyperbole is a gross
exaggeration of something.
Example: Mrs. Remley gave us a
ton of homework last night.
Idiom
An idiom is an expression that
means something different from
what it actually says.
Example: She had a chip on her
shoulder.
Imagery
Imagery creates mental pictures
through sensory language-words
or phrases that appeal to the five
senses.
Onomatopoeia
An onomatopoeia is a word that
sounds the way it is spelled.
Example: zoom, hiss, buzz,
crackle, quack, plop, crinkle
Alliteration
An alliteration is the repetition of an
initial (beginning) sound in the
words of a line of poetry or in a
story.
(If it is used too much it sounds like a
tongue twister.)
Examples:
“bouncing baby boy”
“the raging, running rapids”
Examples
1. I have a dog that is as fat as a cow.
…. dog that is as fat as a cow is a/an…
a. onomatopoeia
b. idiom
c. simile
d. metaphor
THINK…
I see a comparison.
I see the word “as”.
Hyperbole is not a choice.
The dog has not become a cow.
2. It was just sour grapes that made Little May say, “I
didn’t want that ugly ribbon anyway!” when her 4-H
project didn’t win at the fair. … just sour grapes is a/an…
a. alliteration
b. personification
c. metaphor
d. idiom
THINK…
There is no comparison.
There are no adjacent sounds repeated.
No objects are behaving with human qualities.