0416051000006609
SIBL0000416
Figurative Language
For each of the following phrases, identify which technique is being used (simile, metaphor,
personification, idiom, hyperbole) and then write what it mean. An example has been done for
you.
Example: That test was a piece of cake.
Example of: ___Idiom______________________________________________________
Means: ____The test was easy._____________________________________________
1. The spicy salsa set my mouth on fire!
Example of: _____________________________________________________________
Means: _________________________________________________________________
2. The fog blanketed the lake in the early morning.
Example of: _____________________________________________________________
Means: _________________________________________________________________
3. The clouds were like pillows floating in the sky.
Example of: _____________________________________________________________
Means: _________________________________________________________________
4. Many students say that school is a factory that works them too hard.
Example of: _____________________________________________________________
Means: _________________________________________________________________
5. He was told to “Break a leg” before going on stage.
Example of: _____________________________________________________________
Means: _________________________________________________________________
6. The sun slept behind a cloud.
Example of: _____________________________________________________________
Means: _________________________________________________________________
7. Carly was sweating bullets waiting to see her grade on the test.
Example of: _____________________________________________________________
Means: _________________________________________________________________
8. By volunteering to run the prom committee, you probably “bit off more than you can
chew”.
Example of: _____________________________________________________________
Means: _________________________________________________________________
9. It was as hot as the desert in the school today.
Example of: _____________________________________________________________
Means: _________________________________________________________________
10. The car is a dinosaur, so we may have to buy a new one soon.
Example of: _____________________________________________________________
Means: _________________________________________________________________
11. A pot of soup sat on the stove top bubbling and steaming _________________________
Which of the following phrases can be placed in the blank above so that the sentence
illustrates the use of a simile?
A) Loudly
B) Like a small volcano
C) Out of the pot and down the sides D) For several hours
12. All bundled up in his ski gear, Mason was __________________________________ .
Choose the metaphor that will correctly complete the sentence.
A) Uncomfortable and hot
C) Barely able to move
B) A big, round, walking parade balloon
D) As big as a gorilla
13. Tops of half-buried cars __________________________________ out from under the
snow.
Which of the following words can be placed in the blank to create personification?
A) Protruded
B) Stuck
C) Popped
D) Peeped
Read the following extract, and then answer the questions that follow.
It was lovely summer weather in the country. The yellow corn, green oats, and golden
haystacks in the meadows looked beautiful. The stork walking about on his long red legs,
chattered in the Egyptian language that he had learned from his mother. The cornfields and
meadows were surrounded by large forests with large brown tree trunks topped with
green leaves and bright blossoms. In the midst of the forests were deep pools of clear,
sapphire water.
Beside the forests was a river, and close by stood a pleasant old farmhouse. From the
house, one could see down to the water, where great thistles grew so high that under the
tallest dark green leaves, a small child could stand upright! This wild, secluded spot formed
a snug retreat in which a duck sat on a nest, waiting for her young brood to hatch.
The duck was beginning to tire of her task, for the little ones were a long time coming out
of their shells, and she seldom had any visitors. The other ducks much preferred swimming
in the river than climbing the slippery banks to sit under a thistle leaf and talk with her. She
shifted on the itchy twigs of her nest. Finally, she heard one shell crack, and then another
and another, and from each came a fuzzy creature that lifted its head and cried, “Peep!
Peep!”
“Quack, Quack,” said the mother as she stroked each soft, yellow duckling. They looked
about them on every side as the large green leaves. Their mother allowed them to look as
much as they liked, because green is good for the eyes. “How large the world is,” said the
young ducks, when they found how much more room they had now than while inside their
white eggshells.
“Do you imagine this is the whole world?” laughed their mother. “Wait till you have seen
the garden; it stretches far beyond that field, but I have never ventured such a distance.
Are you all out?” she continued, rising. “No, the largest egg lies there still! I wonder how
long this is to last; I am quite tired of it!” Then she ruffled her feathers and seated herself
again on the nest.
-The Ugly Duckling
1. How does the author help readers “visualize” the stork?
A) By telling about its nest and what it’s eating
B) By telling about the color of its feathers and eyes
C) By telling the size and color of its legs and how it’s talking
D) By telling what it does when it sees the duck
2. How does the author help readers visualize the meadow?
A) By explaining how each of the buildings is used
B) By describing the colors of plants and other things
C) By telling how old the trees are
D) By describing all of the fish
3. Read this sentence from the text: It was lovely summer weather in the country. Which
of the following best adds imagery to help readers visualize the setting?
A) It was lovely warm summer weather in the country.
B) It was a warm, summer day and the sun’s rays bathed the countryside in a soft, golden
light.
C) It was nice summer weather with plenty of sunshine all over the country.
D) It was a hot summer day, so hot that the city streets were streaming.
4. Read this sentence from the text: Beside the forests was a river, and close by stood a
pleasant old farmhouse. Which of the following best adds imagery to help readers visualize
the place?
A) Beside the trees runs a river, and not far away is an old farmhouse.
B) Beside the forests of trees was a long river, and close by the river there was a nice but
old farmhouse.
C) A bubbling river raced beside the forests, spilling its liquid over smooth white rocks
below a steep hill on which sat an old abandoned, red farmhouse.
D) Along the sides of the forests was a rocky river, and further down the path there was an
old white farmhouse.
5. What sounds does the author use to appeal to readers’ sense of hearing?
A) Cracking of the eggs
B) Peeping of the ducklings
C) Quacking of the mother duck
D) All of the above
6. How did the author appeal to the readers’ sense of touch? Give examples from the text
to support your ideas.
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________