Figurative Language and Epic Poetry April 27- April 30

Objectives For The Week
Review 5 types of Figurative Language
Review the Poems : Those Winter Sundays, Lineage, and Siren Song.
Complete 3 Journal Entries
Compose a poem utilizing Alliteration and send it to my email on May 1, 2009



Essential QuestionsChoose 3 to Blog About
• What is a relationship?
• What obstacles stand in the way of enduring relationships?
• In times of adversity, do family bonds/ relationships help us survive?
• Does it take courage to sustain a relationship?
*How do relationships endure over time?



Figurative Language
Figurative language is a tool that an author employs (or uses) to help the reader visualize (or see) what is happening in a story or poem.
Types of Figurative Language
Some common types of figurative language are:
*simile,
*metaphor
*alliteration
*onomatopoeia
*idiom
Simile
A simile is a comparison using like or as. It usually compares two dissimilar objects.
For example: His feet were as big as boats. We are comparing the size of feet to boats.
Using the poem on the next slide identify all of the similes. Decide which items are being compared.
Willow and GinkgoEve Merriam
The willow is like an etching,
Fine-lined against the sky.
The ginkgo is like a crude sketch,
Hardly worthy to be signed.
The willow’s music is like a soprano,
Delicate and thin.
The ginkgo’s tune is like a chorus
With everyone joining in.

The willow is sleek as a velvet-nosed calf;
The ginkgo is leathery as an old bull.
The willow’s branches are like silken thread;
The ginkgo’s like stubby rough wool.

THE METAPHOR
A metaphor states that one thing is something else. It is a comparison, but it does NOT use like or as to make the comparison.
For example: Her hair is silk. The sentence is comparing (or stating) that hair is silk.
Simile or Metaphor?
1. The baby was like an octopus, grabbing at all the cans on the grocery store shelves.
2. As the teacher entered the room she muttered under her breath, "This class is like a three-ring circus!"
3. The giant’s steps were thunder as he ran toward Jack.
4. The pillow was a cloud when I put my head upon it after a long day.
5. I feel like a limp dishrag.
6. Those girls are like two peas in a pod.
7. The fluorescent light was the sun during our test.
8. No one invites Harold to parties because he’s a wet blanket.
9. The bar of soap was a slippery eel during the dog’s bath.
10. Ted was as nervous as a cat with a long tail in a room full of rocking chairs.