Transcript Slide 1

Grade 4 2010-2011
Do you remember Sadako Sasaki?
Eleonor Coerr described her and the other
characters in several creative ways. What
did Ms. Coerr mean when she said…
1. Sadako ran like a whirlwind?
2. The girls ate like hungry dragons?
3. We would be as close as two pine
needles on the same twig?
4. The heat prickled my eyes like
needles?
USING FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
• When we speak or write, we can do it LITERALLY or
FIGURATIVELY. Do you know the difference? What do you
often use?
• Writers, especially poets, make use of figurative language.
When you read, you must be conscious of the difference
between literal and figurative language, or else, what you
read would not make any sense.
What’s literal and what’s figurative?
Can you figure it out using these
examples?
• She’s fast.
• She ran like a whirlwind.
REMEMBER!
Literal language is language that means
exactly what was said. To make our
writing and speech more interesting, we
should use figurative language.
RECOGNIZING FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
“ She is as fast as a horse!”
Is it possible for a person to be as fast
a horse?
• In this case, the person is not using the word literally in
its meaning. Literal means “exact.” The person is just
stressing how fast she is but it does not mean that this
person will literally be like a horse.
What then is figurative language?
Whenever you describe something by
comparing it with something else with a
different quality (example: compare a person
to an object/a person compared to an animal,
etc.) because they share a common quality, you
are using a kind of figurative language.
What then is figurative language?
Figurative language gives a meaning that goes
beyond the exact meaning of words used in
order to achieve a special effect. We use
figurative language in our writing to create a
picture in our readers’ minds.
LET’S PRACTICE!
Literal or Figurative?
1.She is a swan when she dances.
2.The man works as a teacher.
3.He told us to keep quiet.
4.In her work, Gabrielle is as slow as a snail.
5.The wind whispered gently in my ear.
Special ways of putting words together to make
description more vivid and interesting are known as
figures of speech.
The three most common are:
1. SIMILE
2. METAPHOR
3. PERSONIFICATION
WHAT IS SIMILE?
A simile compares two objects different
in most ways, but somehow the same in
one way.
The words LIKE and AS ___ AS are used
in comparing.
Example:
Mark is as talkative as a parrot.
• Mark is compared to a parrot. Mark is
human and the parrot is an animal.
• At first glance, they don’t seem to have
anything in common, except, being
talkative!
Examples of Simile:
1.Elaine is as musical as a
hummingbird.
2.His words were as sharp as a razor.
3.Lisa is like a swan when she dances.
In forming similes, there are 2 patterns to
follow.
Pattern 1:
verb + LIKE + noun
Bobby walks and talks like a soldier.
The brave knight fought like
a fierce lion.
Pattern 2:
AS + adjective + AS + noun
1. Paco’s hurtful words were as sharp as
scissors.
2. The abundance of blessings we receive
from God are as countless as the stars..
But comparison between things of
SIMILAR NATURE such as cat and
tiger or hawk and eagle, which are of
the same families are NOT SIMILES
but real comparison – literal language.
e.g. The hawk flies like an eagle.
The bird’s egg is a blue jewel in the
nest.
The bird’s egg in the nest is blue.
Which one is the literal language and which one
is the figurative language?
The bird’s egg is a blue jewel in the nest.
• Is this a simile?
• How do we know what a simile is?
• What are the clue words?
AS … AS and LIKE …
• This is a METAPHOR
What do Simile and Metaphor have in
common?
They both compare 2 unlike objects.
DIFFERENCE:
METAPHORS- direct comparison, do not
use the words as or like in comparing
Examples:
1. At the age of 2, Tessa was already a
swan, dancing to the rhythm of any
music.
2. The warriors have arms of steel.
3. George is a walking encyclopedia.
LET”S PRACTICE! Simile or Metaphor?
1. His belt was a snake curling around his waist.
2. Bruce is the lion king of his class.
3. My mom is as busy as a bee.
4. The instruction given was as clear as crystal.
5. She has a heart of stone.
6. Her voice is as cold as ice.
7. His hair was bone white.
8. You are the light in my life.
Look at the sentence:
Each wrinkle on Grandpa’s face speaks of
all his experiences.
What is being described in this sentence?
How is a wrinkle described?
Do wrinkles really speak?
Sometimes writers personify things.
Personify means to write or talk about a thing as if
it were a person.
Think about how the thing is like a person
by using actions/verbs that people usually
do.
Each wrinkle on Grandpa’s face speaks of all his experiences.
Giving human traits to non-living objects is called
PERSONIFICATION.
PERSONIFICATION
Giving human traits (qualities, feelings, action, or
characteristics) to non-living objects (things, colors,
qualities, or ideas) and ideas.
Example:
1. Time has fallen asleep in the afternoon sunshine.
2. The rain couldn’t decide when to fall.
3. Conscience pointed a finger at Jim and said, “Shame on
you!”
PERSONIFICATION EXERCISE
1. Think of what an object /idea can do (brainstorm).
Ex. Rain –falls
Bed – doesn’t move but invites me to sleep
1.Change the verb into an action that people do.
Ex. The rain tickled my skin as it fell lightly this
morning.
The bed seemed to invite me, “sleep now my
child.”
Let’s Practice!
Identify the figure of speech used in each sentence.
1. The sun danced across the sky on the hot summer day.
2. The pillow was a cloud when I put my head upon it after a
long day.
3. The fluorescent light was the sun during the test.
4. The wind whispered through the dark and gloomy forest.
5. The bar of soap was a slippery eel during the child’s bath.
6. The leaves danced in the wind.
7. She is as sneaky as a fox.