
Figurative language is not intended to be
interpreted in a literal sense. Appealing to the
imagination, figurative language provides new
ways of looking at the world. It always makes
use of a comparison between different things.
Figurative language compares two things that
are different in enough ways so that their
similarities, when pointed out, are interesting,
unique and/or surprising.
Simile, Metaphor, Alliteration,
Personification, Hyperbole, Idioms,
Onomatopoeia, Imagery, Irony, Rhyme
EAMPLE

The girl ran as fast as
lighting.
WHAT IS BEING
COMPARED




The tropical sun was
hot like an oven.

The girl and lighting
Lighting is very fast.
You can make a picture in
your mind of how fast she
is running.
The tropical sun to an
oven. An oven is really
hot. You can see in your
mind how hot the sun
really is!



The girl slept on the soft blanket. It was
red. Her room was very hot. She rolled onto
something sharp.
Look for words that you can compare things to.
The girl slept on the soft blanket. It was
red. Her room was very hot. She rolled onto
something sharp.
Soft
Red
Hot
Sharp
Cotton
Feather
Cloud
Rose
Fire Engine
Apple
Fire
Oven
Sun
Pencil
Needle
Knife
The blanket was as soft as
cotton.
 The blanket was red like an
apple.
 The room was as hot as an oven.
 The object was sharp like a
needle.

The girl slept on a blanket
that was as soft as
cotton. It was red like an
apple. Her room was as
hot as an oven. She rolled
onto something sharp like
a needle.





1. The bed was as hard as a _________.
2. Papa ran like___________.
3. The puppy was as soft as____________.
4. An alligator swam toward us like a_______.
5. The table was as sharp as___________.
The bed was as hard as nails.
Answer: Very Hard
 Jessica swam like a fish.

Answer: ___________

The mud was like glue.

Answer: ____________

The house was as black as the night.


Answer: ___________
Makes a comparison between two
unlike things
By
Suggesting that one thing is
something else.
 What
two things are being
compared?
AND

It could mean that the feeling of love is beautiful like a rose, or that
the person is like a rose in some way. What do you think?
It could mean that the feeling
of love is beautiful like a rose,
or that the person is like a rose
in some way. What do you
think?
AND

Repetition of the first consonant
sound at the beginning of words
Example
Peter Piper picked a pickled pepper.
We lurk late. We shoot straight.
Stan the strong surfer saved
several swimmers on
Saturday.
Tiny Tommy Thomson takes
toy trucks to Timmy’s on
Tuesday.
Assonance:
The repetition of internal
vowel sounds. Doesn't have to
rhyme!!
Princess Kitty
will kiss Timmy
T. Tippers’s lips.




Gives human characteristics to something that
is not human
The flowers danced in the wind.
The friendly gates welcomed us.
The hurricane’s winds are yelling while
blowing outside my window.
Onomatopoeia: When a word’s pronunciation
imitates its sound.
Examples
Buzz
Hiss
Beep
Fizz
Woof
Clink
Boom
Vroom
Zip
The firecracker made a loud kaboom!
The ball went swish as it hit the net.
I knew the car was going to break
down because it went chug chug
chug…
What is hyperbole?
Hyperbole is an extreme
exaggeration used to produce
an effect.
Hyperbole is an exaggeration that
is so dramatic that no one would
believe the statement is true.
Tall tales are hyperboles.
I am so hungry I could eat a horse.
I could sleep for a thousand years.
That box weighs a ton.
Language that appeals to the senses.
Descriptions of people or objects stated in terms
of our senses.
Sight
Hearing
Touch
Taste
Smell
A set expression of two or more words that
means something other than the literal
meaning of the words.
In other words
An idiom is an expression that means
something different from what the words
actually mean.
•Bundle of Nerves
•Horse of a Different Color
Tree
Helping Hands
Barking Up the Wrong
It’s raining cat’s and dog’s.
Tickled Pink
Red Handed
In the Red
Heart of Gold
Golden Rule
Pot of Gold
Butterflies in My Stomach
The Grass is Greener on the Other
Side of the Fence
Where Your Heart on Your Sleeve
The Cats Out of the Bag
Blood is Thicker Than Water
When a speaker intends something entirely
different than what is said

Say it one way, but “secretly” mean it the opposite
way
Example
Someone accomplishes something hard or is
very successful and you say, “You’ve certainly
made a mess of things.”
“It smells really good in here!” when referring
to something that smells terrible.
When words are arranged in such a way that they
make a pattern or beat.
Example:
There once was a man from Peru,
Who dreamed of eating his shoe,
He awoke with a fright,
In the middle of the night,
And found that his dream had come true!
Hint: hum the words instead of saying them.
I’ll put some lines of poetry on the
board.
Write down which techniques are
used:
Alliteration, consonance, rhythm,
rhyme, and onomatopoeia.
The cuckoo in our cuckoo clock
was wedded to an octopus.
She laid a single wooden egg
and hatched a cuckoocloctopus.
They are building a house
half a block down
and I sit up here
with the shades down
listening to the sounds,
the hammers pounding in nails,
thack thack thack thack,
and then I hear birds,
and thack thack thack,
very little love is not so bad
or very little life
what counts
is waiting on walls
I was born for this
I was born to hustle roses down the
avenues of the dead.
 The
whiskey on your breath
Could make a small boy
dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.
Homework! Oh, homework!
I hate you! You stink!
I wish I could wash you
away in the sink.
1. Repetition, rhythm, rhyme,
consonance
2. Onomatopoeia, assonance,
repetition
3. Alliteration, repetition
4. Rhythm, rhyme
5. Repetition, rhyme, rhythm
Remember - Good
writer's use
figurative language
to help readers get a
mental picture of
what they are
describing.