Can you figure out the spelling word that can be related to the following descriptions?

She was as warm as hot cocoa when she accepted us.

It rolls like a ball.She is as thin as a bamboo.

Her heart is a stone.It happened in the blink of an

eye.

You can also play with words! Just like in the given descriptions, there are more creative and vivid ways to bring life and images to the messages we want to convey.

Grade 5 2012-2013

RECOGNIZING FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE• The opposite of literal language is figurative language.

Figurative language is language that means more than what it says on the surface.

• 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 may not make any sense.

RECOGNIZING LITERAL LANGUAGE “ I am so hungry, I could eat a horse!”Is it possible for a hungry person to eat a horse?• In this case, the speaker is not using words in

their literal meaning. Literal means “exact.” The speaker is just stressing how hungry he or she is but it does not mean that this person will literally eat a horse.

REMEMBER!

Literal language is language that means exactly what was said. Most of the time, we use figurative language.

What then is figurative language?

Whenever you describe something by comparing it with something else, you are using 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’ mind.

LET’S PRACTICE!Literal or Figurative?1.She is a swan.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.

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

Are your ready to be fully equipped in writing similes, metaphors, and personifications?

For the next activity, you will be working in a dyad or triad.

The activity will teach you how to write more creatively with the use of figurative language.

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.