Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Directions: Read the lines of poetry. Slashes represent line breaks. Figure out which technique is
being used: simile, metaphor, hyperbole, or personification. In the boxes, explain how you figured out your answer. It is possible that more than one technique is being used. If you can, explain each.
1. Like burnt-out torches by a sick man's bed Which technique is being used? Simile _____________________________________________________________________ _____________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
2. Theres a faucet in the basement / that had dripped one drop all year since he fixed it, we cant find it / without wearing scuba gear. Which technique is being used? Hyperbole _____________________________________________________________________ _____________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? Exaggerating the amount that the sink leaked.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
3. When the stars threw down their spears, / And water'd heaven with their tears, Which technique is being used? Personification _____________________________________________________________________ _____________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? Giving the stars the human traits of throwing and crying.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
4. The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
How do you figure? Comparing the moon to a ghost ship without using like or as. Comparing the road to a ribbon of moonlight without using like or as.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
5. The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play. And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same, Which technique is being used? Hyperbole or Personification _____________________________________________________________________ _____________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? It is hyperbole because Cooney and Barrows did not literally die, they were just tagged out. It is personification, because the score cant actually stand; that is a human trait.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
6. The sun was shining on the sea, / Shining with all his might: Which technique is being used? Personification _____________________________________________________________________ _____________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? This is personification because the sun is given the human trait of doing something with all of his might.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
7. The leaves are little yellow fish / swimming in the river. Which technique is being used? Metaphor _____________________________________________________________________ _____________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? The leaves are compared to fish without using like or as.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
8. The old clock down in the parlor / Like a sleepless mourner grieves,
The clock is compared to a sleepless mourner. The poet uses like or as to make the comparision.
9. By the lakes that thus outspread / Their lone waters, lone and dead / Their sad waters, sad and chilly Which technique is being used? Personification _____________________________________________________________________ _____________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? The waters cannot be sad. This is a human trait.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
10. Fame is a bee. / It has a song -- / It has a sting -Which technique is being used? Metaphor _____________________________________________________________________ _____________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? Fame is being compared to a bee without using like or as.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
1. My soul has grown deep like rivers. Which technique is being used? Simile ____________________________________________________________________ ______________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? Comparing her soul and rivers using the word like or as.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
2. Bear in mind / That death is a drum Which technique is being used? Metaphor _____________________________________________________________________ _____________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? Comparing death to a drum without using the word like or as.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
3. It is dreams that have destroyed us. Which technique is being used? Personification ____________________________________________________________________ ______________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? Dreams are given the human ability of destruction.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
4. Oh, never, if I live to a million, / Shall I feel such a terrible pain. Which technique is being used? Hyperbole ____________________________________________________________________ ______________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? Nobody can live to a million; therefore, the speaker is exaggerating for effect.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
5. He walked as softly as a cat / And told me many lies. Which technique is being used? Simile _____________________________________________________________________ _____________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? Comparing the way he walks to that of a cat while using the word like or as.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
6. And then my heart with pleasure fills, / And dances with the daffodils. Which technique is being used? Personification _____________________________________________________________________ _____________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? The speaker gives his heart, and the daffodils, the human ability to dance.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
7. The Balloons hang on wires / they float their faces on the face of the sky. Which technique is being used? Personification _____________________________________________________________________ _____________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? The speaker gives the balloons and the sky faces, a human characteristic.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
8. With processions long and winding / With the countless torches lit Which technique is being used? Hyperbole ____________________________________________________________________ ______________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? The speaker is exaggerating the number of torches. Any number of torches could be counted.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
9. My brain is fire--my heart is lead! / Her soul is flint, and what am I? Which technique is being used? Metaphor _____________________________________________________________________ _____________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? His brain is compared to fire; his heart is compared to lead; her soul is compared to flint; the speaker is not using the word like or as to make the comparisons.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
10. But words is like the spots on dice: no matter how you fumbles em, theres times when they just wont come. Which technique is being used? Simile _____________________________________________________________________ _____________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
How do you figure? Words are compared to the spots on dice using the word like or as.
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
Identifying Figurative Language Directions: Read the lines of poetry. Figure out which technique is being used: idiom, simile,
metaphor, hyperbole, or personification. It is possible more than one technique is being used. In the boxes, explain in your own words what is meant by the lines. Try your best to interpret the meaning. Slashes represent line breaks.
1. Example - Theres a faucet in the basement / that had dripped one drop all year since he fixed it, we cant find it / without wearing scuba gear. What technique is being used? _______Hyperbole___________________________________________
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
The line is saying that someone made the sink worse while trying to
fix it.
2. Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines / Diggin' in my own back yard. What technique is being used? Simile
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
3. Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave / I am the dream and the hope of the slave. What technique is being used? Metaphor / Personification
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
4. The daisy hugging the earth / in August, ha! What technique is being used? Personification
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
5. Dont worry about the Alex / Shes all bark and no bite. What technique is being used? Idiom, also implicit metaphor
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Common expression and implicit comparison to a dog without using like or as.
6. Endless wealth, / I thought, / held out its arms to me. What technique is being used? Personification
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
7. A thousand Paradises / in an apple blossom. What technique is being used? Hyperbole / Could possibly be interpreted as an implicit metaphor.
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
8. Cause I walk like I've got oil wells / Pumping in my living room. What technique is being used? Simile
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
9. After getting my report card / I knew it was time to hit the books. What technique is being used? Idiom / Hyperbole
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
A common expression where the literal meaning is senseless, or an exaggeration of the intensity of ones study.
10. Floors are flowers take a few / Ferns grow here and daisies too. What technique is being used? Metaphor
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
11. An old willow with hollow branches / slowly swayed his few high tendrils / and sang: What technique is being used? Personification
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
12. I should have done homework or studied instead / But I got up on the wrong side of the bed. What technique is being used? Idiom
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
13. Theres a guy in a tux and he stands in the corner, / Feedin the jukebox his dimes. What technique is being used? Personification
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
14. I pushed him from my arms / his stare brought with a terror through / a million billion trillion stars. What technique is being used? Hyperbole
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
15. a flower / a weakest flower / shall be our trust What technique is being used? Metaphor
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
A weak flower is compared to their trust without using the word like or as
16. I am Super Samson Simpson / Im superlatively strong / I like to carry elephants / I do it all day
long.
17. As men walked up and down the street. Wino men, old men. / Young men sharp as mustard. What technique is being used? Simile
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
The young mens sharpness is compared to that of mustard and the speaker uses the word as to make the comparison.
18. Love is something else, / or so I thought it, / a garden which expands, What technique is being used? Metaphor
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Love is compared to an expanding garden. The speaker does not use like or as to make the comparison.
19. It is the mind / the mind / that must be cured / short of death's intervention, What technique is being used? Personification
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Death is personified.
20. I guess that my friends were just pulling my leg. What technique is being used? Idiom / Metaphor
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Common expression, also an implicit metaphor where fooling someone is related to physically pulling on someones leg.
21. One day they hold you in the / Palms of their hands, gentle, as if you / Were the last raw egg in the
world.
Compares the way that you are treated to how one would treat the last egg in the world.
23. Love is a young green willow / shimmering at the bare wood's edge. What technique is being used? Metaphor
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
24. If no one came to try it / the world / would be the loser. What technique is being used? Personification
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
25. The whole world / became my garden! What technique is being used? Hyperbole / Metaphor
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Exaggerating the speakers possession of the world, or comparing the world to a garden without using the word like or as.
26. Theres a blue bird in my heart that / wants to get out / but Im too tough for him, / I say, stay in
there, Im not going / to let anybody see you.
27. I wanted her to show up / I crossed my fingers. What technique is being used? Idiom
Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Identifying Figurative Language in Lord of the Flies Directions: Write which technique is being used on the line. Then, explain how you know your
answer.
Example: I was the only boy in our school what had asthma," said the fat boy with a touch of pride. What technique is being used? _________________Personification_____________________________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Explain how you know: Pride cant touch, but people can, so this is personification.
1. Within the irregular arc of coral the lagoon was still as a mountain lake.
3. The incredible pool was only invaded by the sea at high tide.
4. He turned over, holding his nose, and a golden light danced and shattered just over his face.
5. Ralph paddled backwards, immersed his mouth and blew a jet of water into the air.
7. His ordinary voice sounded like a whisper after the harsh note of the conch.
8. When these breezes reached the platform the palm fronds would whisper.
11. If Jack were leader, it would be all hunting all of the time.
12. His face puckered, the tears leapt from his eyes.
13. The smoke was a tight little knot on the horizon and was uncoiling slowly.
14. This choir perched like black birds on the criss-cross trunks and examined Ralph with interest.
15. The great rock loitered, poised on one toe, decided not to return, moved through the air, fell.
16. Piggy stood and the rose of embarrassment faded slowly from his cheeks.
18. There was another island; a rock, almost detached, standing like a fort.
Answers: Simile, Metaphor, Personification, and Hyperbole 1. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. What technique is being used? Hyperbole
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
2. A single dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice. What technique is being used? Simile
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
3. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. What technique is being used? Metaphor or personification
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
His state is compared to that of a stone's without using the word "like" or "as." Also, the stone is given the human characterstic of death.
4. Death has reared himself a throne / In a strange city lying alone What technique is being used? Personification
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
5. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage. What technique is being used? Simile
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
6. All that we see or seem / Is but a dream within a dream. What technique is being used? Hyperbole or Metaphor
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
It is an exaggeration to claim that "all" is but a dream. Also, everything is being compared to a dream.
7. The rosemary nods upon the grave; / The lily lolls upon the wave; What technique is being used? Personification
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Rosemary is given the trait of nodding and lily is given the ability to loll.
8. The breeze the breath of Godis still What technique is being used? Metaphor
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
9. It was a low, dull, quick soundmuch such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. What technique is being used? Simile
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
10. Now each visitor shall confess / The sad valley's restlessness. What technique is being used? Personificatoin or hyperbole
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
The valley is given the trait of sadness, and it is an exaggeration to claim that each visitor will feel that.
Name: ___________________________
Answers: Simile, Metaphor, Personification, and Hyperbole Example: We take a walk, the sun is shining down, / Burns my feet as they touch the ground What technique is being used?
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Explain how you know: Its really unlikely that the ground is so hot that it literally burns his feet, so he is exaggerating. 1. It's been a hard day's night, and I been working like a dog What technique is being used? Simile or possibily personification
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Explain how you know: His work ethic is compared to a dogs using the word "like." Also, it could be argued that working is a human trait, and therefore this is an example of personification.
Explain how you know: Happiness is compared to a warm gun without using "like" or "as." 3. I ain't got nothing but love, babe / Eight days a week What technique is being used? Hyperbole
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Explain how you know: The speaker is exaggerating by claiming that there are eight days in a week.
4. Friday night arrives without a suitcase What technique is being used? Personification
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Explain how you know: Days of the week cannot carry suitcases.
5. Thoughts meander like a restless wind / Inside a letter box What technique is being used? Simile
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Explain how you know: Thoughts are compared to a restless wind in a letter box using the word "like."
6.
I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping / Still my guitar gently weeps
7. The long and winding road / That leads to your door / Will never disappear What technique is being used? Hyperbole
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Explain how you know: It is an exaggeration to claim that a road will never disappear.
8. The clouds will be a daisy chain What technique is being used? Metaphor
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Explain how you know: Clouds are compared to a daisy chain without using "like" or "as." 9. Tomorrow never knows. What technique is being used? Personification
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Explain how you know: The human characteristic of knowing is applied to the idea of tomorrow.
10. All you need is love. What technique is being used? Hyperbole
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Explain how you know: It is an exaggeration to claim that people only need love.
11. Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns What technique is being used? Hyperbole or simile.
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Explain how you know: This statement is quite an exaggeration, but the shine of live is also compared to suns using "like."
12. Julia / Her hair of floating sky is shimmering What technique is being used? Metaphor
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole
Explain how you know: Her hair is implicitly compared to floating sky.
Slash marks show where the lines break in the original poems. Identify two or more poetic techniques being used in each example and write them on the line. There may be more than two techniques being used. In the boxes below, explain each of your answers.
on all the fields for miles around / She grazed for days and days.
Which techniques are being used (list two or more)?
2. BUTTER BRICKLE PEPPER PICKLE / POMEGRANATE PUMPERNICKEL PEACH PIMENTO PIZZA PLUM / PEANUT PUMPKIN BUBBLEGUM
Which techniques are being used (list two or more)?
3. Hooray say the roses, cannons and spires, / birds, bees, bombers, today is Friday
Which techniques are being used (list two or more)?
4. Water rushing, / gushing, / pushing / past the limits of the edge. Water barrels off the ledge, / whipping up the bottom sludge,
Which techniques are being used (list two or more)?
5. Crack an egg. / Stir the butter. / Break the yolk. / Stoke the heat. /Hear it sizzle. / Shake the salt,
alliteration
Alliteration, Consonance, Onomatopoeia, Repetition, Rhyme, and/or Rhythm
6. Big Balloons Bounce into the / Big Blue Sky / Up, up, and away / There they go
Which techniques are being used (list two or more)?
alliteration, repetition
7. BANG!!! There goes another building, / BOOM!!! And there go 2 more, Said the man who took target practice / In the seat of a military tank. BAM!!! There goes another. / Life is hard when you dont have a father to guide you. BOOM!!! You could end up in jail, / BANG!!! You could end up crazy, AHHHH!!! Or you could end up dead / Because you pressed the wrong button.
Which techniques are being used (list two or more)?
onomatopoeia, alliteration,
8. Good me beat down, / like old gym shoes. / Smiles turn to frowns. There is no logic / In a world so tragic.
Which techniques are being used (list two or more)?
consonance, rhyme
9. Teacher finally lost her temper. / OUT! she shouted at the creature. The creature hopped beside her / GLOPP . . . it gobbled up the teacher.
Which techniques are being used (list two or more)?
Name: ___________________________
Identifying Poetic Devices Directions: Write which technique is being used on the line.
There may be more than one correct answer; you may write more than one answer. Then, explain how you know your answer. Slashes represent line breaks.
Example 1. This falling spray of snow-flakes is / a handful of dead Februaries What technique is being used? _____Personification and Alliteration____________________________
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
Explain how you figured it out: Februaries cant die like humans can; therefore it is an example of personification. Also, many words begin with the letter F or S, so it also has alliteration.
2. The moon is faithful, although blind What technique is being used? personification
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
3. children sleeping softly in their bedroom bunks What technique is being used? alliteration
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
5. At dusk theres a thin haze like cigarette smoke / ribbons What technique is being used? simile, alliteration
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
6. They chained themselves to subways for the endless ride from Battery Park to the Bronx What technique is being used? hyperbole, alliteration
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
7. A final word: before you start / The convulsions of your art, What technique is being used? rhyme
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
8. That tree said / I don't like that white car under me, / or its gasoline smell What technique is being used? personification
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
10. All that I hear / Is the slishity-slosh of the rain. What technique is being used? onomatopoeia, hyperbole
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
11. My sisters tears that sing upon my head What technique is being used? personification, alliteration
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
12. I lost my freedom for free room and board / like a monkey in a zoo What technique is being used? simile
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
13. Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. / I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size What technique is being used? alliteration, rhyme
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
14. Veins collapse, / opening like the / fists of sleeping / Children. What technique is being used? simile,
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
15. The sunshine threw his hat away, What technique is being used? personification
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
16. This test will be a piece of cake. What technique is being used? idiom, metaphor
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
17. As the bird chirps the / frog croaks What technique is being used? onomatopoeia
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
18. I could stare into your eyes as / a thousand years come and go What technique is being used? hyperbole
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
19. Sing me no sad songs cause my hearts / been broken What technique is being used? alliteration, hyperbole
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
21. His new car cost him an arm and a leg. What technique is being used? idiom, metaphor
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
22. I laid me down upon a bank, / Where Love lay sleeping; What technique is being used? alliteration, personification
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
23. For if dreams die / Life is a broken-winged bird / That cannot fly. What technique is being used? Alliteration, metaphor
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
24. The pans clattered and banged / the tapping of the wooden spoon / tap, tap, tap What technique is being used? Onomatopoeia
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
25. But I hung on like death: / Such waltzing was not easy. What technique is being used? Simile, alliteration
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification
26. Thatll be the day when pigs fly. What technique is being used? idiom
Alliteration, Rhyme, Onomatopoeia, Idiom, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, or Personification