1. Understanding
Figurative Language

2. What is figurative language?
The wind whispered
through the trees
• Can wind really
whisper?
• What is the author
trying to tell us about
wind?

3. 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?

4. 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?

5. How can I interpret figurative
language?
Personification is a
kind of figurative
language
• Personification means
to give human
thoughts and qualities
to nonhuman objects

6. How can I interpret figurative
language?
The tree stood tall and
proud by the curving
path
• How does this
sentence show
personification?

7. 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?

8. How can I interpret figurative
language?
• A simile is another
kind of figurative
language
• A simile is a
comparison between
two unlike objects
using “like” or “as”

9. 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?

10. 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?

11. How can I interpret figurative
language?
The waves licked the
shore like a kitten
lapping milk
• What is the author
comparing in this
simile?

12. How can I interpret figurative
language?
• A metaphor is another
kind of figurative
language
• A metaphor is a
comparison that does
not use “like” or “as”

13. How can I interpret figurative
language?
• The school was a maze
of hallways and
passages
• What is being
compared in this
metaphor?

14. How can I interpret figurative
language?
The math test was a
walk in the park
• What is being
compared in this
metaphor?

15. Practice
• Read the examples on
the next few slides
• Which kind of
figurative language do
they show?
• How can you interpret
the figurative
language?

16. Example #1
The airplane landed as
gracefully as a
ballerina
• Personification
• Simile
• Metaphor

17. Example #1
The airplane landed as
gracefully as a
ballerina
• Simile

18. Example #2
The water smashed
angrily against the
rocks
• Personification
• Simile
• Metaphor

19. Example #2
The water smashed
angrily against the
rocks
• Personification

20. Example #3
My brother’s room
was a dark, mysterious
cave
• Personification
• Simile
• Metaphor

21. Example #3
My brother’s room
was a dark, mysterious
cave
• Metaphor

22. You try it!
• Can you describe yourself using a simile?
– Example: Ms. Pearson runs like the wind.
• Try using a metaphor to describe a football
game.
– Example: The game was a bloody battle.
• Now use personification to describe an object
in the room.
– The chair groaned when I sat on it.

23. What is Imagery?
Creating a picture in the reader’s
mind by making the reader see,
hear, taste, smell, or touch what is
being described.

24. Sensory Details
• Sensory details appeal to the reader’s
five senses:
o Touch- How does something feel when
you touch it? What is the texture like?
Smooth? Rough? Soft? Sticky?
Flaky? Gooey?

25. Sensory Details
o Taste- How does something taste?
Does it taste bitter? Sweet? Salty? Like
heaven? Like garbage?
o See- What does something look like?
• Color? Size? Shape? Does it remind
you of anything else? Focus on small
and unusual details.

26. Sensory Details
o Smell- What does something smell like?
Does it have a strong or weak smell? Is
it a good smell or bad smell?
o Hear- What does something sound like?
Is it a pleasant or unpleasant sound?

27. Try it…
• Change these sentences to paint a picture in
the reader’s mind and include more sensory
details. Think about comparing using
figurative language.
• Example 1: She was excited that her parents
gave her permission to go to the party.
• Example 2: It was thunder-storming and
everyone was afraid.

28. The Challenge
• You will each receive a flavored
lollipop and be assigned one of the five
senses. Do not talk about your sense
or eat your candy until you are told to do
so. Keep your wrapper because you
might need it!

29. The Challenge
• Your challenge is to use sensory
details to create a mental picture of this
candy. You will describe your lollipop
according to the sense you received.
You will then use your description as
the first sentence of a short narrative
(one or two paragraphs). You will later
read your narrative aloud in class.

30. The Challenge
• Touch- Describe how it feels in your mouth
and/or in your fingers.
• Taste- Describe how it tastes. Don’t just tell
me the flavor.
• See- Describe the color, pattern, shape,
texture, etc.
• Smell- Describe how it smells.
• Hear- Describe how the wrapper sounds or
the sound of eating it.
•

31. Examples
• Hear- Each unraveling twist of the
cellophane wrapper brought a cringe to the
mother’s face.
• This creates the image of a noisy wrapper.
• See- A kaleidoscope of red filled the
mother’s purse.
• This creates the image of the colors of a
candy.

32. Adding Imagery to Writing
• A kaleidoscope of red filled the mother’s
purse. Katy’s mother never left home without
a purse full of candy. The child begged her
mother for a lollipop. The mother agreed, but
gave her a oh-so-familiar look that said, “Be
quiet when you open it.” Katy soon forgot her
location--church--and she ripped open the
candy. Each unraveling twist of the
cellophane wrapper brought a cringe to the
mother’s face.

33. Task
• Remember:
• Imagery should contain sensory details.
• It should generate interest for your narrative.
• It should be the first sentence; however, you
can also end your narrative in different
example of imagery.
• ANY QUESTIONS???

34. Favorite Place
• (TS) My favorite place is Kona Village, Hawaii. (SD1)The smell of coconut is
sitting in the room, the tan bedding makes me want to sink into the pillows and the
room is sitting on an ancient lava bed. (SD2)Outside, the gravel crunches on my
feet, and I hear the waves crashing onto the beach. I hear laughter and voices
coming from the pool and dining area. The bar is mixing some kind of exotic
drink. As I walk down to the beach, I smell the wonderful food being lifted up
onto the buffet tables. The beach is wide, and has many small tide pools towards
the end of the beach. The sandy bottom of the ocean softens my feet as I jump
right back up on the boogie board. As I get out, my feet have sand between the
toes, and my hair is wet and salty. The air is salty and full of fragrant scents like
sunscreen and drinks, and food waving through the air. (SD3)As I grab a plate at
the start of the buffet line, I smell food being cooked, and people chatting. I smell
the different scents of food as I pass by them. I smell the hamburgers being
cooked, and the ketchup and fresh French fries under the beating light. As I sit
down at the wood chairs at your table, I eye the checkered table cloth and napkin
and start eating. The heat is perfect. It is a mix between warm and a cool breeze.
(CS) Seriously, these are the reasons why Kona Village, Hawaii became my most
favorite place.

35. Pets
• (TS) Gregory is my beautiful gray Persian cat. (SD1)He walks with pride and
grace, performing a dance of disdain as he slowly lifts and lowers each paw with
the delicacy of a ballet dancer. (SD2)His pride, however, does not extend to his
appearance, for he spends most of his time indoors watching television and
growing fat. He enjoys TV commercials, especially those for Meow Mix and 9
Lives. His familiarity with cat food commercials has led him to reject generic
brands of cat food in favor of only the most expensive brands. (SD3)Gregory is as
finicky about visitors as he is about what he eats, befriending some and repelling
others. He may snuggle up against your ankle, begging to be petted, or he may
imitate a skunk and stain your favorite trousers. Gregory does not do this to
establish his territory, as many cat experts think, but to humiliate me because he is
jealous of my friends. After my guests have fled, I look at the old fleabag snoozing
and smiling to himself in front of the television set, and I have to forgive him for
his obnoxious, but endearing, habits. (CS) That is my Gregory, my beloved gray
Persian cat.

36. Sensory Language
You are about to see a series of
images;
•For each image you see, you
must write two sentences to
describe what you see using at
least 2 senses – get creative!

40. AF1 – write imaginative,
interesting and thoughtful texts
Writing using the senses means adding
imagination and detail to your writing.
Smell: musty, damp, stuffy, sweet, sickly, spicy, perfumed.
Sight: colour, (hot or cool, clashing, bright, neon, dark, light, pale)
shape, zoom in on interesting details, e.g. fingerprints in dust, eyeliner
smudged as if she’d been crying, hands shaking
Touch: sticky, smooth, rough, soft, hard, silky, fluffy, fuzzy, starchy,
crisp, corrugated, rippled, abrasive, cracked.
Similes: rough as sandpaper, soft as a jellyfish, moist as a puddle.

41. Read Some Examples
“Dark shapes glide through the night sky on
silent wings, their sinister shadows outlined
against the light of a full moon. Swooping
down to the earth, they hover near houses and
deserted buildings, breaking the peace of the
night with their disturbing presence. Carriers
of disease, drinkers of blood, companions of
witches and demons, bats – the very word
brings a shiver of fear to most people.”
~ Sylvia A. Johnson, Bats

42. A Description of the Wind
“Anybody could see how cold it got. The wind already
had glass edges to it, stiffening muscles and practically
cutting through the stitches of our clothes. When it
blew, the chill stabbed our teeth like icicles, and our
voices jiggled every time we talked.”
From Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida
by Victor Martinez

43. Your Assignment
Think of a strong memory. It may be an
embarrassing moment, an exciting moment,
or maybe a memorable moment. Write a
descriptive paragraph that details this
memory. Write in 1st person point of view
and present tense as if you are experiencing
this memory again as you write it.