Review of Figurative Language
(Simile, Metaphor, Allusion, and Personification)
2/2/2012
Reviewing Figurative Language
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Simile
Metaphor
Personification
Allusion
Do Now: Your BFF
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Describe your best friend. Be sure to describe them
by comparing them to other objects.
For example,
“My mom is as beautiful as a hibiscus flower early
in the morning when the dew rests upon it.”
Literal vs. Figurative Language
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Literal language means what it says.
I
have a headache.
 I got a sunburn today.
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Figurative Language expresses more than the
literal meaning.
 Example:
1. I feel like my head is going to explode.
2. I roasted in the sun.
Review of Figurative Language
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Simile is a comparison between two unlike things that
uses like or as.
 That boy is as hot as a fire cracker hitting my
finger.
 That boy is like an illegal firework burning a hole in
the backpack.
Metaphor is a comparison between unlike things
without the use of like or as.
 That boy is a fire cracker hitting my finger.
 That boy is an illegal firework burning a hole!
More Figurative Language
Personification is when nonhuman subjects are
given human characteristics.
 The tree danced in the wind.
 The basketball sprinted quickly down the
court.
 Allusion is a reference to someone or
something that is known from history, literature,
religion, politics, sports, science, or some other
branch of culture.
 At least Johnny knew how to find an apple
tree.
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“I am a Rock”
Paul Simon
A winter's dayin a deep and dark December
I am aloneGazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock, I am an island.
I've built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship
friendship causes pain
It's laughter and loving I disdain
I am a rock, I am an island
“I am a Rock”
Paul Simon
Don't talk of love
but I've heard the word before
It's sleeping in my memory
I won't disturb the slumber of the feelings that have died
If I never loved I never would have cried
I am a rock, I am an island
I have my books
and my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb,
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock, I am an island
And a rock feels no pain, and an island never cries.
“Under the Bridge”
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Sometimes I feel
Like I don’t have a partner
Sometimes I feel
Like my only friend
Is the city I live in
The city of angels
Lonely as I am
Together we cry
I drive on her streets
Cause she’s my companion
I walk though her hills
Cause she knows who I am
She sees my good deeds
And she kisses me windy
I never worry
Now that is a lie
I don’t ever want to feel
Like I did that day
Take me to the place I love
Take me all the way
“Stay Human”
Michael Franti
Starvation is a rebel
I’m bringin’ food to the people like a widow
Bringin’flowers to a grave in the middle
Of the city isolation is a riddle
To be surrounded by a million other people
But feel alone like a tree in the desert
Dried up like the skin of a lizard
But full of color like the spots of a leopard
Drum and bass pull me in like a shepherd
Scratch my itch like a needle on a record
Full of life like a man gone to Mecca
Sky high like an eagle up soaring
I speak low but I’m like a lion roaring
Baritone like a Robeson recordin’
I’m givin’ thanks for bein’ human every morning…
“Stay Human”
Michael Franti
Be resistant
The negativity we keep it at a distance call for backup and I’ll give you some assistance
Like a lifesaver deep in the ocean stay afloat here upon the funky motion
Rock and roll upon the waves of the season
Hold your breath and your underwater breathin’
To be rhymin’ without a real reason
Is to claim but not practice a religion
If television is the drug of the nation
Satellite tv is immaculate reception
Beaming in they can look and they can listen
So you see don’t believe in the system
To legalize you or give you your freedom
You want rights ask ‘em, they’ll read ‘em
But every flower gotta right to be bloomin’…
Stay human…
“Stay Human”
Michael Franti
(Chorus)
Because the streets are alive with the sound of
Boom Bap
Can I hear it once again!
Boom Bap tell your neighbor tell a friend
every box gotta right to be boomin’
because the streets are alive with the sound of
Boom Bap
can I hear it once again!
Every flower gotta right to be bloomin’!
Stay Human!
It’s your turn!
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Now you try!!!
Look at the quotes. Decide whether each example
shows a simile, metaphor, personification, or allusion.
In case you don’t know this famous
nursery rhyme….read it!
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children she didn't know what to do.
She gave them some broth without any bread.
She whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.
Figurative Language Examples
What type of FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE is each example? Explain.
(Simile, Metaphor, Personification or Allusion)
1. “Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor”
2. “There Was an Old Woman. She Had So Many Children She Didn’t Know What to Do. Much like
another I had read of who lived in a shoe…”
3. “…Angel Vargas learned to fly and dropped from the sky like a sugar donut, or like a falling
star, and exploded down to earth without a sound.”
4. “My house was small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you’d think they were
holding their breath. Bricks are crumbling in places, and the front door has such swollen skin you
have to push hard to get in.”
5. “There’s the wide puffy cloud that looks like your face when you wake up after falling asleep
with all your clothes on”
6. “My mother’s hair is the smell of warm bread before you bake it.”
A Red, Red Rose
A Red, Red Rose
By: Robert Burns
My love is like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June;
My love is like the melody
That's sweetly played in tune.
As fair you are, my favorite girl,
So deep in love am I;
And I will love thee still, my dear,
Till all the seas go dry.
Till all the seas go dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt with the sun:
I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands of life shall run.
And fare thee well, my only love,
And fare thee well awhile!
And I will come again, my love,
If it were ten thousand miles!