Figurative Language Bellwork

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Brooke Farmer
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1 /135 Name: Period: Figurative Language Bellwork Lesson 1: Explaining Allusion /15 Allusion: A reference within a literary work to another work of fiction, a film, a person, or a real event. Instructions: For each of the sentences below, do the following two things: 1. Identify what person, thing, story, or event is being alluded to. 2. Discuss HOW the use of that allusion helps you connect to the point the author is trying to make.? Example: When I fell for you, I found the other shoe. ( Before Me and You by SheDaisy) Allusion: Cinderella Discussion: By alluding to a moment in the fairytale when Cinderella gets everything she wants, the author is implying that she too has also found everything she wants. 1. I m walking round with little wings on my shoes. ( Why Don t You and I by Alex Band and Santana) Allusion: 2. I won t run to fetch the water just to tumble down the hill. ( I Will by SheDaisy) Allusion: 3. Cause you were Romeo I was a scarlet letter, and my daddy said, Stay away from Juliet. ( Love Song by Taylor Swift) Allusion: 4. Shot me out of the sky, you re my kryptonite. You keep making me weak. ( One Thing by One Direction) Allusion:

2 5. Look into my eyes and I ll own you with them moves like Jagger. I ve got the moves like Jagger. ( Move s Like Jagger by Maroon 5) Allusion: Lesson 2: Explaining Similes and Metaphors /15 Simile: A direct comparison between two unalike things using the words like or as. Metaphor: An implied comparison between two unalike things that does not use the words like or as. Instructions: For each of the sentences below, do the following two things: 1. Identify what whether a simile or metaphor is being used. 2. Discuss HOW the use of that comparison helps you connect to the point the author is trying to make. Example: Life is like a box of chocolates. Type: Simile Discussion: By comparing life to a box of chocolates, we are implying that life is full of unknown choices and consequences. Sometimes we make good choices with delicious consequences, and sometimes the choices we make are not so tasty once you bite into them. 1. Scars are souvenirs you never lose. ( Name by The Goo Goo Dolls) Type: 2. I miss you like the deserts miss the rain. ( Missing by Everything But The Girl). Type: 3. Your looks are sweet as candy. ( Hooked on a Feeling by Vonda Shepherd) Type:

3 4. My Heart is like a speeding train. ( Out of Place by Gavin Thorpe) Type: 5. She s sun and rain, she s fire and ice. ( She s Every Woman by Garth Brooks) Type: Lesson 3: Explaining Hyperbole /10 Hyperbole: Over-exaggerating to emphasize or prove a point. Instructions: For each of the following sentences, identify what point is trying to be made through the over-exaggeration. Make sure you write in complete sentences! Example: I am going to kill my sister for taking my dress!!!! Example Answer: This person is not literally going to kill her sister. She is using this exaggeration to emphasize how mad she is. 1. You ve already said that six billion times. 2. My backpack weighs a ton. 3. My teacher is so old that she s mentioned in the Old Testament. 4. My sister is so skinny that she has to run around in the shower to get wet. 5. It took forever to get to the beach.

4 Lesson 4: Explaining Personification /15 Personification: Giving a non-human thing human thoughts, actions, or emotions. Instructions: For each of the sentences below, do the following two things: 1. Identify the human ability being given to the object/thing being personified. 2. Discuss HOW the use of personification helps you connect with the point the author is trying to make. Example: The wind stroked her skin and played with her hair. Human Ability: The wind is being given the human ability to touch. Discussion: Through this personification, they author implies that the wind is more of a gentle breeze than a hurricane. 1. These words are my diary screaming out loud. ( Breathe (2am) by Anna Nalick) Human Ability: 2. While the wind laughs at me, the rain slaps my face. ( Let Me Know by Stephanie Smith) Human Ability: 3. Sleep has left me alone to carry the weight of unraveling where we went wrong. ( Stupid by Sarah McLachlan) Human Ability: 4. Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go. ( Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Greenday) Human Ability: 5. I take the path that the wind only knows ( Beauty in Walking Away by Marie Digby) Human Ability:

5 Lesson 5: Explaining Symbolism /10 Symbolism: An image, object, place, person, or idea that represents something else. Instructions: Each of the following items below is a common symbol often used in literature. For each of the symbols listed, do your best to describe what ideas the symbols could represent. Make sure you write in complete sentences! 1. Night Example: A bird in a cage. Example Answer: The bird is a symbol of freedom. A caged bird represents freedom being denied. 2. Sun 3. Water 4. Apple 5. Snake Lesson 6: Explaining Euphemism /15 Euphemism: Substituting a mild, agreeable, or inoffensive idea/expression for one that is considered harsh, blunt, or offensive. Several techniques are used to create euphemism. Abbreviation: e.g. B.O. (body odor), W.C. (toilet) etc. Foreign Words: e.g. faux (fake), or faux pas (foolish error) Expressions: e.g. before I go (before I die). Longer Words/Phrases: e.g. perspiration for sweat Technical Terms: e.g. gluteus maximus instead of butt. Replacement Words: e.g. darn, shoot, fudge

6 Instructions: For each of the sentences below, do the following two things: 1. Identify what offensive/harsh/blunt idea is being replaced with a euphemism. 2. Discuss why someone would use a euphemism in place of the offensive/harst/blunt idea. Example: The disgraced politician said he was only borrowing the tax-payers money to buy his own personal yacht. Offensive Idea: Stealing. Discussion: The politician is trying to make what he has done sound less offensive and criminal by saying that he borrowed the money instead of what he really did, which was steal. 1. Our teacher is in the family way and will miss the last two months of school. Offensive Idea: 2. Suzie was feeling tipsy after her girls night out. Offensive Idea: 3. He is a special child. Offensive Idea: 4. The solider was killed by friendly fire. Offensive Idea: 5. Odessa and Glen were already in their golden years when they met and married. Offensive Idea:

7 Lesson 7: Analyzing Poetry for Figurative Language Part 1 /10 Still I rise by Maya Angelou You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I ll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? Cause I walk like I ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I ll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops. Weakened by my soulful cries. Does my haughtiness offend you? Don t you take it awful hard Cause I laugh like I ve got gold mines Diggin in my own back yard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I ll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I ve got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history s shame I rise Up from a past that s rooted in pain I rise I m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise. 1. For each type of figurative language listed below, identify a line from the poem that uses that type of figurative language. Simile Metaphor Hyperbole Personification Allusion

8 Lesson 8: Analyzing Poetry for Figurative Language Part 2 /15 Instructions: Read the poem below and then answer the following questions about the poem s use of figurative language. A Dream Deferred* by Langston Hughes What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? After reading the poem, complete the chart below: * Deferred means to put something off until a later time. Comparison Action Image/feeling created A dream deferred is like a raisin in the sun dried up dead, shriveled, withered A dream deferred is like A dream deferred is like A dream deferred is like 1. What, in your opinion, is the message of the poem? What is Hughes trying to say about dreams? 2. What do all of the above similes in the poem have in common? How does each comparison help to show Hughes message?

9 Lesson 9: Analyzing Poetry for Figurative Language Part 3 /05 Instructions: Read the poem below and then answer the following questions about the poem s use of figurative language. Metaphor by Eve Merriam Morning is a new sheet of paper for you to write on. Whatever you want to say, all day, until night folds it up and files it away. The bright words and the dark words are gone until dawn and a new day to write on. 1. Morning is also a commonly used literary symbol. What idea does morning represent? 2. Write a paragraph in which you explain the extended metaphor and symbolism that is used in this poem. What is morning being compared to? What does this comparison tell us about morning? How does the comparison help to illustrate the idea the author is trying to get across?

10 Lesson 10: Analyzing Poetry for Figurative Language Part 4 /10 Instructions: Read the poem below and then answer the following questions about the poem s use of figurative language. April Rain Song by Langston Hughes Let the rain kiss you Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops Let the rain sing you a lullaby The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk The rain makes running pools in the gutter The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night And I love the rain. 1. What do you notice about the language Hughes uses to describe the rain (the sound of the words, repetition, etc)? 2. What do you think Hughes feelings toward rain are? 3. What is the mood of this poem? How does the use of personification contribute to the mood of this poem?

11 Lesson 11: Analyzing Poetry for Figurative Language Part 5 /05 Instructions: Read the poem below and then answer the following questions about the poem s use of figurative language. A Distant Star by Reid Nibley A distant star But not too far To lure us out into the firmament And tho we ne er may reach it We have tried. And in the trying Have learned, perchance, To make an orbit of our own. 1. What possible ideas could the star symbolize? 2. What idea is the author trying to express in this poem. Use your thoughts about what stars represent in this poem to answer the question.

12 Lesson 12: Analyzing Poetry for Figurative Language Part 6 Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost /10 Nature s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf s a flower, But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. 1. What images in this poem are symbolic? What ideas do you think they represent? 2. What is the significance of the allusion to the Garden of Eden? How does that allusion help to illustrate the point the author is trying to make? 3. What is your interpretation of this poem? In other words, what do you think the author is trying to say?

Weaving Interp Selections. How will you increase the audience s knowledge on this theme?

Weaving Interp Selections. How will you increase the audience s knowledge on this theme? Weaving Interp Selections Ask yourself these questions first: Why do you want to weave your material? What pieces are you using? What is your theme? What point/argument are you trying to make? How will