Curie Metro High School, Chicago, Illinois
Technical vs. Literal vs. Figurative Language Lesson
Unit: Narrative Writing
Grade Level: 9th
S. Spachman
Time Frame of Lesson: ½-1 class period
Objectives of Lesson:
MEDIAN objective(s): During this lesson, students will…
1. Write a description of a shell individually.
2. Collaboratively discern differences in how to describe and object by comparing 3 provided writing
samples on the same shell.
3. Take notes on the above.
ENDING objective(s) (skills/knowledge to be assessed): By the end of this lesson, students will…
1. Identify language in own writing based on characteristics discerned about technical vs. literal vs.
figurative language.
2. (if time/optional) Rewrite 2+ sentences of own writing in different language.
Assessment(s) of Ending Objectives:
 Highlighted/coded paragraph of own writing (Ending Objective #1).*
 (optional) Original and revised paragraph of own writing (Ending Objective #2).*
Materials Needed for Lesson: (other than typical materials/equipment like overhead projectors)
 LCD projector with computer to display shell picture
OR
 Colored overhead transparency of shell picture
AND/OR
 Class set/small groups set of colored copies of shell picture*
 Shell Descriptions (attached)
 Highlighters or coding tools of teacher’s choice
*Modifications:
 Students may be asked to only code one type of language or be given more time to complete work on
their own writing. (Assessment for End. Obj. #1)
 Students may be asked to only rewrite 1 sentence instead of 2+. (Assessment for End. Obj. #2)
 VI students will need their own enlarged copies of the picture and writing samples and copies of all
notes.
Sequence of Activities
1. Teacher will display the picture of the sample shell according to means available (LCD/projector/
handouts). Teacher will ask students to study the picture of the shell, then write a paragraph
describing the shell. Teacher will tell students they have 7 minutes to write.
2. When time is up, students should turn over their work and receive the 3 Shell Descriptions written
by another author about the same shell.
3. After reading the first description (aloud or silently), the teacher will ask what the students notice
about the description. On a chalkboard or overhead, the teacher will draw 3 columns, label them
1-3, and ask students to do the same on a piece of note paper. Then the teacher will list the
students’ observations about the first description in the #1 column.
4. Repeat step #3 to read and discuss the remaining sample descriptions. Teacher should encourage
students to compare the three samples to elicit more distinctive features about each description.
5. Finally, teacher and students should work to eliminate things that are the same between the three
columns to further differentiate between the kinds of writing.
6. Teacher will then label the types of writing: #1 technical description, #2 literal description, and #3
figurative description.
7. As needed, teacher will further explain/discuss with students what “figurative” means, especially
compared to “literal” language. Students will take notes as needed.
a.
b.
c.
Technical: type of expository writing most often used to convey information for technical or business
purposes; often uses numerical language or specialized language (jargon) to describe
Literal: means exactly what it says; an author uses literal language when he or she writes without
exaggerating or embellishing the subject matter and without any tools of figurative language. To say "He ran
very quickly down the street" is to use literal language, whereas to say "He ran like a hare down the street"
would be using figurative language.
Figurative: means more that what is said or means something other than what is said; In literature, a way of
saying one thing and meaning something else. Take, for example, this line by Robert Burns, My luv is a red,
red rose. Clearly Mr. Burns does not really mean that he has fallen in love with a red, aromatic, manypetalled, long, thorny-stemmed plant. He means that his love is as sweet and as delicate as a rose. While,
figurative language provides a writer with the opportunity to write imaginatively, it also tests the imagination
of the reader, forcing the reader to go below the surface of a literary work into deep, hidden meanings; the
use of words, phrases, symbols, and ideas in such to evoke mental images and sense impressions by using
words in a nonliteral way, giving them a meaning beyond their ordinary one
8. Using highlighters, students will then re-read their own writing, looking for sentences and phrases
that are technical, literal, and figurative. They should highlight accordingly. Teacher should
circulate and help as needed. (If ending with Assessment for End. Obj. #1, this work should be
collected here.)
9. (optional) After students have highlighted, teacher will ask several students one sentence/phrase
they highlighted. Class will identify the type of language used. Then, as a class, teacher will lead
students to rewrite the sentence into one of the other types of language. (Picture of shell will need
to be displayed during this as a reference.) Teacher will write out ideas and students will take
notes.
10. (optional) For homework or the rest of class, students will revise their own paragraphs by
rewriting 2+ sentences of their own into one of the other types of language. (Assessment for End.
Obj. #2)
Please attach needed handouts to complete this lesson with students.
Shell Description #1
The shell is 6.25 inches in length from tip to
rear. It measures 5.5 inches across at its widest
point. Although it is nowhere near a perfect
cylinder, the shell is approximately 10.25
inches around in circumference. The outer
ridge of the shell’s opening has 8 distinct points
spaced approximately .5 inches apart each.
There is a light brown stripe beginning at each
of these points that curves inward into the shell.
The opening of the shell is about 2.25 inches
long and about 1.25 inches across. It has an
uneven, non-symmetrical opening with the
outer edge forming an approximate half-circle;
the inner edge, however, is misshapen as part
of it has fused to the body of the shell. The
main colors of the shell are white, cream,
peach, tan, brown, and black. The brown and
cream are the most common and alternate in
patches around the shell.
Shell Description #2
The shell was probably once the home of a
hermit crab. Now it is polished and shiny. The
two most striking aspects of the shell are its
long, pointy tip and the opening of the shell. The opening of the shell is ringed by a series of wider,
chocolate stripes on the outer side and thinner, almost-black uneven stripes on the inner edge. These
darker stripes thin to points as they reach the inner edge of the shell’s opening. The bottom point of the
shell’s opening looks folded over. The long point of the top of the shell swirls around until it reaches a
small, white point. The curve of the point is marked with blotches of a darker, fudge-like brown over the
cream of the shell. The main body of the shell also has these blotches, but they appear more regularly,
almost making a pattern.
Shell Description #3
The opening of this shell looks like an eye. The bottom lid of the eye is decorated with ebony lashes,
thick in some parts and thinner near the tips as if a make-up artist has applied them with mascara. Where
the upper eyelid’s lashes would be there are strange, clown-like stripes, as though a child had used a
brown crayon to draw wide lashes onto the eye of the shell. Turned upside down, so that the opening
faces downward, the shell looks like a hungry garden slug, its mouth ready to suction onto a tasty leaf.
However, the slug-like body balloons outward, so fat that it doesn’t seem to need another meal. The outer
edge of the body is fluted like a short top fin of a fish or the ridge of scales along the back of a long-dead
dinosaur. The body of the shell curves into a sort of tail that ends in a point. The tip looks like a spiral
tower of a fancy castle. The autumn brown swirls cover the tip like withered ivy leaves stubbornly
holding up ridges of snow along the tower. From another perspective the tip of the shell looks like a
wizard’s hat with a band of pearl beading circling near the brim. The color of the shell is similar to a
melted hot fudge sundae. The fudge breaks apart and drips down into pools of softening vanilla. The
inner part of the shell is a caramel pink as though the entire shell was filled with a gooey sweetness.