Name: ________________________________
HR: __________________________________
Task #
174
Objective(s):


Review the definitions of types of figurative language and identify examples of each in a
poem (personification, metaphor, simile, hyperbole).
Explain the figurative meaning of figurative language and other poetic devices.
Do Now:
1) Read the examples of figurative language on the left. Then write the term that matches the
example to of figurative language. The first has been done for you.
Snap,
crackle,
pop!
He was so
hungry, he ate
the whole table
of food, legs and
all!
She shouts
“SHHH!” to shush
the shouting shoes
Onomatopoeia
My tears are
like a river.
Your shoulder
is a pillow.
Her notebook
danced across the
table.
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Task 175
Figurative Language Review
Whenever you describe something by comparing it with something else, you are using figurative language. Any
language that goes beyond the literal meaning of words in order to provide new effects or fresh insights into an
idea or a subject. Figurative language is often referred to as “Figures of Speech”; the most common figures of
speech are simile, metaphor, and alliteration.
1) Based on the information above, what is one purpose/reason of using figurative language?
Write your answer in a complete sentence.
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Class Notes:
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Guided Practice
As we read a few poems together, pay close attention to figurative language. Ask yourself, “What
images are used?” “How are the words and images creating a new perspective of something I am
already familiar with?” These questions will guide your understanding of the figurative language.
Directions: Read the poem below, then answer the questions.
A Rainy Morning
Ted Kooser
5
10
A young woman in a wheelchair,
wearing a black nylon poncho spattered with rain,
is pushing herself through the morning.
You have seen how pianists
sometimes bend forward to strike the keys,
then lift their hands, draw back to rest,
then lean again to strike just as the chord fades.
Such is the way this woman
strikes at the wheels, then lifts her long white fingers,
letting them float, then bends again to strike
just as the chair slows, as if into a silence.
So expertly she plays the chords
of this difficult music she has mastered,
her wet face beautiful in its concentration,
while the wind turns the pages of rain.
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1) What is the main purpose of lines 1–3?
A. to present an image
B. to provide an opinion
C. to introduce a conflict
D. to create a rhyme scheme
2) Which two things are being compared in the
poem?
A. the woman and the poet
B. the woman and the music
C. the woman and the pianist
D. the woman and the weather
3) In line 4, what is the purpose of using the word
“You”?
A. to encourage the reader to play the piano
B. to show that the poet is speaking to the woman
C. to show how much the poet admires the woman
D. to persuade the reader to agree with the poet’s views
4) Read lines 12 and 13 from the poem in the box
below.
So expertly she plays the chords
of this difficult music she has mastered,
What is the “difficult music” the poet refers to?
A. the rainy weather
B. learning the piano
C. living with a disability
D. the silence of the morning
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Guided Practice II
Directions: Read the poem, then answer the questions.
“Graduation Morning” by Pat Mora
# 4 Drawing of mother
She called him Lucero, morning star,
Snared him with sweet coffee, pennies,
Mexican milk candy, brown bony hugs.
Through the years she’d cross the Rio
5 Grande to clean his mother’s home. “Lucero,
mi lucero,” she’d cry, when she’d see him
running toward her in the morning,
when she pulled stubborn cactus thorns
from his small hands, when she found him
hiding in the creosote.
10
Though she’s small and thin,
black sweater, black scarf,
the boy in the white graduation robe
easily finds her at the back of the cathedral,
finds her amid1 the swirl of sparkling clothes,
15 finds her eyes.
Tears slide down her wrinkled cheeks.
Her eyes, luceros, stroke his face.
1) List the image in line 1. ______________________________________________________
2) Circle the type of figurative language used in line 1:
metaphor,
simile,
alliteration
3) What does stanza one most likely suggest about the mother’s attitude toward her son?
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4) Draw what the mother looks like, in the space provided above, based on the imagery in lines 11-12.
5) Who does, “The swirl of sparkling clothes” refer to in stanza three? __________________________________
6) What type of figurative language does the speaker use in the last stanza?
a. metaphor
c. onomatopoeia
b. personification
d. simile
7) What mood is conveyed by the phrase “Her eyes stroke his face” in line 18?
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Amid: (preposition) in the middle of; surrounded by; among:
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Independent Practice
Directions: Read the poem, then answer the questions.
The Desert is My Mother by Pat Mora
I say feed.
She serves red prickly pear2 on a spiked cactus.
1) What figurative language is used in the title of this
poem?
I say tease me.
She sprinkles raindrops in my face on a sunny day.
I say frighten me.
She shouts thunder, flashes lightning.
5
2) Who is “she” in the poem?
I say hold me. She whispers, “Lie in my arms.”
I say caress me.
She gives my skin with her warm breath.
10
3) List 1 example of personification found in the
poem (what human actions or qualities does the
desert have?).
I say make me beautiful.
She offers turquoise for my fingers,
A pink blossom for my hair.
I say sing to me.
She chants her windy songs.
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4) Write and example of hyperbole (exaggeration)
I say teach to me.
She chants her windy songs.
the poet could have used to describe the desert.
Example: “I say warm me,/she ignites me body
with fire.”
I say teach me.
She blooms in the sun’s glare,
The snow’s silence,
The driest sand.
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The desert is my mother.
El desierto es mi madre.
The desert is my strong mother.
Think Critically!
Analyze the overall message the speaker makes in this poem. Explain how the desert is the speaker’s
mother. Write in complete sentences.
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2
Prickly pear n. a species of catus with sharp spines and an edible fruit.
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Reading Class of 2020
HOMEWORK
Directions:
1.
2.
3.
.
Name: ________________________________
HR: __________________________________
Task #
176
Read the poem below.
Answer the question at the bottom.
Draw the shape of your open response paragraph.
Abuelito Who
By Sandra Cisneros
Abuelito who throws coins like rain
and asks who loves him
who is dough and feathers
who is a watch and glass of water
5 whose hair is made of fur
is too sad to come downstairs today
who tells me in Spanish you are my diamond
who tells me in English you are my sky
whose little eyes are string
can't come Abuelito Who
10 out to play
sleeps in his little room all night and day
who used to laugh and like the letter k
is sick
is a doorknob tied to a sour stick
15 is tired shut the door
doesn't live here anymore
is hiding underneath the bed
who talks to me inside my head
is blankets and spoons and big brown shoes
who snores up and down up and down up and down again
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is the rain on the room that falls like coins
asking who loves him
who loves him who?
1. Explain the speaker’s feelings towards her grandfather
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If you were to write an open response paragraph based on the questions below, what would the
shape of your paragraph look like?
Open Response Question:
What are the speaker’s feelings towards her grandfather? Use specific evidence from the poem to support
your answer.
Draw the shape of your paragraph. Do NOT write a complete paragraph.
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