Figurative
Language and
Meaning
English 3
Bellringer
Identify the tone of the poem, and choose two
words or phrases as evidence of the tone.
The Rider
Naomi Shihab Nye
A boy told me
if he roller-skated fast enough
his loneliness couldn’t catch up to him,
the best reason I ever heard
for trying to be a champion.
What I wonder tonight
pedaling hard down King William Street
is if it translates to bicycles.
A victory! To leave your loneliness
panting behind you on some street corner
while you float free into a cloud of sudden azaleas,
pink petals that have never felt loneliness,
no matter how slowly they fell.
Figurative Language Review
Diction
An author’s word choice
Personification
The attribution of a personal nature or human
characteristics to something nonhuman, or the
representation of an abstract quality in human form
Metaphor
A figure of speech which compares two things or objects
that are very different but have some characteristics
common between them.
Annotation Rubric
Points
Criteria
4
•
•
•
•
•
3
• Demonstrates satisfactory understanding
• Has many of the qualities of the annotations in the 4-point range but
doesn‘t push far enough to remain at the upper levels of thinking
• Annotations don’t always seem insightful or purposeful
2
• Annotations are too general
• Thinking processes stay at lower levels of thinking (identification,
comprehension) rather than moving into the upper levels (analysis,
synthesis, evaluation)
1
• Annotations are vague
• Shows a minimal amount of effort, understanding, or active reading
• Has notes that look exactly like those of a neighbor or few to no
annotations at all
• Would not be helpful to a reader who needs to recall the information
Demonstrates thorough understanding of the reading
Only the most important concepts within the text are marked
Demonstrates evidence of active reading
Annotations are evenly distributed throughout the passage.
Annotations would be useful later when the reader needs to recall the
material
“Bereft” by Robert Frost
Read the poem and annotate at least 5 things.
Where had I heard this wind before
Change like this to a deeper roar?
What would it take my standing there for,
Holding open a restive[1] door,
Looking downhill to a frothy shore?
Summer was past and the day was past.
Sombre[2] clouds in the west were massed.
Out on the porch's sagging floor,
Leaves got up in a coil and hissed,
Blindly struck at my knee and missed.
Something sinister in the tone
Told me my secret must be known:
Word I was in the house alone
Somehow must have gotten abroad,
Word I was in my life alone,
Word I had no one left but God.
Synonyms: dark, grim, threatening
Synonyms: unruly, disorderly, uncontrollable
“Bereft” by Robert Frost
DO THIS
COLUMN
LAST
Graphic Organizer
Theme:
Sometimes our
feelings can be
so intense that
we feel like we
need to talk
about them.
Text
Evidence /
quote from
the poem
Descriptive
diction
(3 examples)
Personification
(1 example)
Metaphor
(1 example)
Wind roaring
compared to his
intense
emotions
Effect
Emotion (What
does the
reader do,
think or feel
in response?)
Tone
Author’s
attitude
toward the
subject
Meaning
Connect your
annotations to
the central
meaning or
theme