Figurative Language
in Poetry
1
Revised 1-2014
Day 1
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Simile

comparison of two things using: like, as,
than, resembles
Ex. 1: The
Ex. 2: The
Ex. 3: The
spotlight.
Ex. 4: The
moon is like a spotlight
moon is as bright as a spotlight.
moon is brighter than a
moon resembles a spotlight.
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Personification
when a thing, an animal, or an
abstract term (truth, nature) is made human
or given a human trait
Ex. 1: The tree danced in the wind.
Ex. 2: When mother nature gets mad, she
cries out.
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Hyperbole
emphasizing a point with a statement
containing exaggeration
Ex. 1: I’ve told you a thousand times.
Ex. 2: That cost me an arm and a leg.
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Life
by Grace Treasone
Life is like a jagged tooth
That cuts into your heart;
Fix the tooth and save the root,
And laughs, not tears, will start.
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The Wind
by James Stephens
The wind stood up and gave a shout.
He whistled on his fingers and
Kicked the withered leaves about
And thumped the branches with his hand
And said he’d kill and kill,
And so he will and so he will.
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Poems


“Tiburon”
By Martin Espada (p. 430)
“Boy at the Window”
By Richard Wilbur (p. 451)
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In your poetry folder…

You will have:
– Table of Contents
– All literary terms Assigned poems
– About the author
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
Table of Contents
– Lists all poems and page numbers each
poem is found on
Table of Contents
Literary terms. . . . 1-2
Poems:
Simile Poem . . . . 3
Hyperbole . . . . . 3
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Literary Terms

List all literary terms from the notes form
the Power Points
Literary Terms
1. Simile: comparison using like, as, than, or
resembles
2. Personification: when a thing, an animal, or
an abstract term (truth, nature) is made
human or given a human trait
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Pages with your poems…

Every poem must have a title and list the
author
– Title may be “untitled” but it must be written
above the poem
– May use pin name, but EVERY poem must
have an author’s name at the beginning or
the end of the poem
– You may put multiple poems on a page or
just one poem per page
– Must label the type of poem
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Your Assignment…
1. Write a poem using similes and
personifications
a. 20+ words
b. At least 2 similes
c. At least 1 examples of personification
d. Highlight each instance and label
2. Create your own hyperbole
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Simile and Personification
Flowers
By Ms. Wellmeyer
The flower, like a yellow bowtie,
Danced in the wind
As graceful as a ballerina.
The flower smiled at the little ants
Like a person smiles
At the sight of a long lost friend.
Simile in red
Personification in blue
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Day 2
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idiom
expressions belonging to a group of
people that mean something different
from the literal meaning
Ex: It’s raining cats and dogs.
Ex: I heard it through the grapevine.
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Pun
play on the multiple meanings of a word
or on 2 words that sound alike but have
different meanings
Ex: The chef took some cheese and
made some grate things.
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Moon
by anonymous
O moon, when I gaze on thy beautiful face
Careering along through the boundaries of
space,
The thought has often come into my mind
If I shall see thy glorious behind.
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from Calvin & Hobbes
My mother has eyes on the back of her head!
I don’t quite believe it, but that’s what she said.
She explained that she’d been so uniquely
endowed
To catch me when I did Things Not Allowed.
I think she must also have eyes on her rear.
I’ve noticed her hindsight is unusually clear.
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Funny Puns
Why do people preserve fruits and
vegetables?
Because they 'can'.
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He became a math teacher due to some
prime factors.
During the meeting about earthquakes,
there were several motions.
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Soon after he joined the band, the
guitarist was instrumental.
He was to carry two flags in the parade,
but decided that would be a double
standard.
The fisher said he liked the sea. On the
surface of it.
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Haiku
Japanese poem consisting of 3 lines
with 17 syllables
– Line one and three: 5 syllables;
Line two: 7 syllables
– Usually describes an image from nature
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Examples of Haiku
by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Green frog,
Is your body also
freshly painted?
Sick and feverish
Glimpse of cherry blossoms
Still shivering.
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Techno-Haiku
A file that’s so big?
It might be useful,
But now it is gone.
The web site you seek
Cannot be located
Countless more exist
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Windows NT crashed
I am the Blue Screen of Death
No one hears your screams
Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.
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A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone
Having been erased
The document you’re seeking
Must now be retyped
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Your assignment…

Write 2 Haikus
– One traditional one about nature
– The second one about any topic
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Day 3
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Metaphor
comparison of two things WITHOUT
using: like, as, than, resembles
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Direct Metaphor
comparison of two things by the use of
a verb, such as, is
Ex. 1: The moon is a spotlight.
Ex. 2: My love is a red rose.
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Implied Metaphor
comparison of two things WITHOUT
stating it directly
Ex: My love has petals and sharp thorns.
(by reading this, you can imply that the
comparison is a person to a rose because
roses have petals and thorns)
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Extended Metaphor
extended or developed over several
lines or the entire poem
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Dreams
by Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
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Poems…

“Hope” is a thing with feathers
– By Emily Dickinson (p. 435)

Fog
– By Carl Sandburg (p. 440)

Fire and Ice
– By Robert Frost (p. 441)
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Your assignment…

Write an extended metaphor poem that
uses both direct and implied metaphors
– Must be at least 30 words
– Highlight the direct and implied metaphors
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Metaphor Poem
Life
Life is a roller coaster.
It goes up and down,
and spins and spirals,
and loops around itself
until is comes to a screeching
stop at the bottom
only to reload and start all over
Again.
Direct metaphor=blue
Implied metaphor=red
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Metaphor for a Family
by: unknown
My family lives inside a medicine chest:
Dad is the super-size band aid, strong and powerful
but not always effective in a crisis.
Mom is the middle-size tweezer, which picks and
pokes and pinches.
David is the single small aspirin on the third shelf,
sometimes ignored.
Muffin, the sheep dog, is a round cotton ball, stained
and dirty, that pops off the shelf and bounces in
my way as I open the door.
And I am the wood and glue which hold us all
together with my love.
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