Setting Paragraph #1:

The snowflakes fell like a thousand tiny parachuters leaping from their invisible planes. As they landed, the pine trees drooped with their weight. In the distance, a barren oak stretched its brittle branches as if to say, “Look, parachuters, here I am.” Near the oak, the door of a forlorn farmhouse swayed gently, as if whispering of the days when billowing chimney smoke filled the air with the fragrance of burning cedar. Behind the barn, the skeletons of old farm machines sank slowly into the earth. The world was lonely and still in the snow.

When writing descriptively, we often use similes. A simile is a comparison between two things using “like” or “as.”

Here are some examples of similes that we might use in everyday life:

To describe someone who sings beautifully: She sings like a bird. To describe someone who runs very fast: He runs like a deer. To describe something that is very light: It was as light as a feather.

Other common similes: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When you are writing, try to challenge yourself to come up with original similes – similes that no one has used before! Examples of original similes:

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Setting Paragraph #2 (Taken from the short story “Penny in the Dust,” by Ernest Buckler.)

It was that time of magic suspension in an August afternoon. The lifting smells of leaves and cut clover hung still in the sun. The sun drowsed, like a kitten curled up on my shoulder. The deep flour-fine dust in the road puffed about my bare ankles, warm and soft as sleep. The sound of the cowbells came sharp and hollow from the cool swamp.

1.) This paragraph includes imagery for which four of the five senses? _____________________________________________________________________

2.) Find two similes in this paragraph and underline them.

And now for your final task as a group . . .

Imagine that your group has been transported into the picture in front of you. When you come back to the real world, you must describe to the rest of the class what it felt like to be there.

As a group, you are going to come up with five sentences to describe your picture: one sentence for each of the five senses. Try to use a simile in at least one of the sentences. Use as much descriptive imagery as possible!

*Remember: The class will not be able to see your picture. While listening to your five sentences, they should be able to see, hear, smell, touch, and taste what it felt like to be there.

1. Sight: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Sound: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Smell: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Touch: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Taste: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________