1. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE Learning Target:
Identifies Literary Devices within Text

2. What is a simile?
A simile is a figure of speech that compares two things
Uses the words like or as
Examples:
The snow is like a soft white blanket.
The snow fell, as quietly as a feather drifting to the ground.
An eraser is like a rewind button for your brain!
Her smile is as dazzling as diamonds in the sun.

3. What is a metaphor?
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two things WITHOUT using the words like or as
Examples:
The snow is a soft white blanket.
My pencil is my voice on paper.
She was a gazelle, clearing the hurdles with ease.
The breeze was a soft touch on my cheek.

4. In the books we read…
Authors often use similes and metaphors to create vivid descriptions
Writers use similes and metaphors to describe a character or some important action
Writers use similes and metaphors when they want the reader to “see” what is happening.
LET’S TAKE A LOOK…

5. Song and dance man
The author, Karen Ackerman, describes Grandpa’s dancing and singing:
“His feet move slowly at first, while his tap shoes make soft, slippery sounds like rain on a tin roof…He does a new step that sounds like a woodpecker tapping on a tree. Suddenly, his shoes move faster, and he begins to sing. His voice is as round and strong as a canyon echo…”

6. I Can hear the sun
The author, Patricia Polacco ,uses figurative language just as the geese return to Lake Merritt:
“Then they heard a sound in the darkness. At first, it was a soft distant symphony of rushing wind, but it built like summer thunder: low, deep, and grand.”

7. January “ The days are short, The sun a spark Hung thin between
Poets use similes and metaphors to create clear images for the reader.
In this stanza from a poem entitled “January,” John Updike presents a metaphor comparing the sun, a fiery ball of gas, to a short spark, in order to describe the short days between the long nights of winter.
“ The days are short,
The sun a spark
Hung thin between
The dark and dark.”

8. Activity
In groups of three, go through each book and identify examples of figurative language each author uses. Mark each page with a sticky note. Be ready to share your examples with the class.
Learning Target: Identifies Literary Devices within Text