Metaphors & Similes
"The classroom was a zoo during indoor recess."
What is a metaphor
A deliberate, extreme exaggeration used for emphasis or comedic effect, not meant to be taken literally.
What is hyperbole?
Words like buzz, sizzle, pop, and crash that imitate the real sounds they make.
What is onomatopoeia?
A figure of speech that gives human traits, emotions, or actions to non-human objects or animals.
What is personification?
A brief, indirect reference to a well-known person, place, historical event, myth, or piece of literature.
What is an allusion?
"He moved as slow as molasses on a cold winter morning."
What is a simile?
"I have a ton of homework tonight" or "My backpack weighs a million pounds" are everyday examples of this device.
What is hyperbole?
The repetition of the same initial consonant sound in a series of words, as in "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."
What is alliteration?
In the sentence "The alarm clock screamed at me at 6:00 AM," this non-human item is personified.
What is the alarm clock?
A liar whose nose appears to grow is an allusion to this character.
Who is Pinocchio?
This type of figurative language compares two unlike things using these two words.
What are "like" and "as"?
An expression whose true meaning cannot be understood from the literal words alone, such as "under the weather."
What is an idiom?
Identify the poetic device in this sentence: "The bacon sizzled and hissed in the frying pan."
What is onomatopoeia?
Identify the device: "The branches danced gracefully in the autumn breeze."
What is personification?
"He was a real Romeo with the new students" references a famous tragedy written by this English playwright.
What is William Shakespeare?
"The teacher's voice was a warm blanket on a stressful day." In this metaphor, what feeling is conveyed by comparing the voice to a blanket?
What is comfort (calm, soothe)?
If someone tells an actor to "break a leg" or says they are going to "bite the bullet," they are using this category of figurative language.
What is an idiom?
Identify the dominant sound device: "Silently, softly, the snow slipped from the sky."
What is alliteration?
The human action being given to an object in: "The last piece of chocolate cake was calling my name."
What is calling?
If a teacher says, "Don't open Pandora’s box by bringing that up," they are warning you against doing this.
What is starting trouble / causing a chain reaction of uncontrollable problems?
In the metaphor "Time is a thief," time shares this quality with a burglar.
What is stealing/robbing/taking away?
The literal meaning of "spill the beans" is to make a mess or spill something on the floor, but the idiomatic meaning of "spill the beans" is this.
What is "to reveal a secret?"
True or False: In alliteration, the words must start with the exact same letter, not just the same consonant sound.
What is False? (Sound matters, e.g., city cellar or king kite).
Explain the intended non-literal meaning of: "The warm bed refused to let me go this morning."
What is being too tired or reluctant to get out of bed?
Describing someone’s single weakness as their "Achilles' heel" is an allusion to mythology from this ancient civilization.
What is Greece (Greek mythology)?