Figurative Language, Part 2

We continued our figurative language extravaganza today. We learned the words

• irony
• imagery
• metaphor
• onomatopoeia
• personification
• simile
• symbol

We started with the basic definition of irony: a difference in what is expected.  The author leads you to believe that one thing is expected, but the opposite happens.  Yes, there are different types of irony (dramatic, verbal, and situational), but that's why we left an entire page for these notes.  We can add to them later throughout the year as we learn the different types.

Imagery is language that appeals to the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste.  It's language that evokes images that appeals to at least one of those sense.  There were examples from Dragonwings, so student went to the baggies of figurative language and determined which examples contained imagery. The last example below is my favorite because it makes students go, "Gross!"  That's effective imagery!

• Examples from Dragonwings
• “Overhead the moon shone through the bars of the fire escape,” (91).
• “His lips sucked happily at the pipe, which was as long as my arm,” (92).
•   “Flaming bits of wreckage scattered all over,” (228).
• “When you walked through the orchards, the air was thick with the sickly-sweet smell of fruit rotting on the ground,” (262).

Metaphors compare two things .  They compare things directly without using like or as.  Sometimes entire poems or books can be metaphors.  In a metaphor, one thing becomes the other thing.

• Examples from Dragonwings
• “I flew so high that the beach was a strip of blue paper set down beside a pane of green glass that was the sea,” (56).
• “This pig stole money from one of our foxes,” (95).
• “Her face was red, a lantern that had been filled with blood and was going to burst at any moment,” (136).
• “Miss Whitlaw gathered people behind her, a hen collecting her chicks,” (205).

Onomatopoeia are words that imitate sounds. They're often found in comic books (boom, pow, bang), but can also be subtle.  Those subtle onomatopoeia pack a punch.  A whisper, a murmur, a rattle or a grumble can add so much.

Personification is when human qualities are given to an object, animal, or an idea. If an animal talks (every Disney movie ever), if a table groans, that's personification. Matt asked how an idea could be personified.    Good question!  Justice wept, liberty mourned, love jumped for joy, and freedom celebrated.  After the third example, he had it, but I kept going for funzies.

• Examples from Dragonwings
• The moon “kept pace with us as we walked inside,” (91).
• “The rains here were lively, friendly things,” (156).
• “It was a city waiting to be reborn,” (249).

Similes are similar to metaphors in that they compare two unlike things.  Unlike metaphors, they use like or as to do the comparing.  Some similes have been so overused, however, that they've become cliches or idioms. As students examined the examples for similes, they noticed that many similes contained other types of figurative langauge.

• Examples from Dragonwings
• "Inside, filaments of burnt bamboo perched like a black insect,” (42).
• Hand Clap “was in his fifties and lively as a cricket,” (9).
• “The Dragon King’s voice boomed inside his vast body, the words echoing and vibrating like a gong in a large hall,” (48).
• “The bony ribs of the wing stood out as high as a hill, and the arteries and veins gleamed like wires of fine-spun ruby and turquoise,” (50).
• “The houses were like wooden monsters, hunkered down on either side,” (67).

 A symbol is a repeated image or idea that is repeated throughout a poem or book.  In "Zebra,"  the zebra is a symbol for the character Zebra.  

Today's lesson picture was created by Wordle.  Thanks, wordle!