What is figurative language?
Here are some examples. What do you think figurative language means?
• The wind whispered softly through the trees.
• The cafeteria pizza was a soggy, droopy piece of cardboard.
• The teacher glared like a furious dragon.
What is figurative language?
The wind whispered through the trees
• Can wind really whisper?
• What is the author trying to tell us about wind?
What is figurative language?
• The cafeteria pizza was a soggy, droopy piece of cardboard.
• Is the pizza really cardboard?
• What is the author trying to tell us about the pizza?
What is figurative language?
The teacher glared like a furious dragon.
• Was the teacher really a dragon?
• What is the author trying to tell us about the teacher?
What is figurative language?
• Figurative language expresses an idea that goes beyond the actual meaning of the words
• Wind can’t whisper…but the expression gives you an idea of how the wind sounds
How can I interpret figurative language?
The tree stood tall and proud by the curving path
• How does this sentence show personification?
How can I interpret figurative language?
The leaves danced as they fell from the trees
• What are the leaves doing that leaves can’t really do?
How can I interpret figurative language?
The four students sat down at the cafeteria table and ate like pigs
• What is being compared in this simile?
How can I interpret figurative language?
The waves licked the shore like a kitten lapping milk
• What is the author comparing in this simile?
How can I interpret figurative language?
• The school was a maze of hallways and passages
• What is being compared in this metaphor?
How can I interpret figurative language?
The math test was a walk in the park
• What is being compared in this metaphor?
How can I interpret figurative language?
The math test was a walk in the park
• What is the author trying to tell us about the math test?
Let’s Review
• Which kind of figurative language makes a comparison using “like” or “as”?
• Simile
• Which kind of figurative language gives human thoughts and qualities to non-human objects?
• Personification
Let’s Review
• Which kind of figurative language makes a comparison without using “like” or “as”?
• Metaphor
Practice
• Read the examples on the next few slides
• Which kind of figurative language do they show?
• How can you interpret the figurative language?
Mango Practice
• Read “Boys and Girls” and “My Name”
• After reading, with a partner make a list of 5 important word choices per vignette
• Make a list of all the figurative language you see in each section
What type is it? What does it mean?
“I am a red balloon …tied to an anchor” (9)
“Songs like sobbing” (10)
“a wild horse of a woman” (11)
“as if she were a fancy chandelier” (11)
“sit their sadness on an elbow” (11)
“as if the syllables were made out of tin” (11)