Figurative Language Terms
"The clouds were like grey blankets". This comparison uses "like" to connect two unlike things.
What is a simile?
A story follows a student learning to forgive a friend. What do we call the central message about life or human experience that a text develops?
What is a theme?
"Sunlight warmed the porch while birdsong filled the clear morning air". What mood is created?
What is peaceful or cheerful?
Clue: “The puppy bounded into the room” feels more energetic and positive than “The puppy entered the room.” The word “bounded” has a positive or negative connotation?
What is a positive connotation?
Clue: “The rain tapped gently on the roof.” Name the device and describe one mood it may create.
What is personification, creating a calm or cozy mood?
Clue: What is imagery?
What is language that appeals to sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch?
"The hallway was a river of rushing students". This direct comparison describes one thing as another.
What is a metaphor?
Stories from many places and eras explore courage, loss, or identity. What is an idea that applies to people across cultures and time called?
What is a universal theme?
The shadows stretched across the stairwell, and a door clicked shut behind him. What mood is suggested?
What is suspenseful or uneasy?
Clue: “The wind whispered through the grass” sounds gentler than “The wind howled through the grass.” Which verb is more likely to create a threatening mood?
What is "howled"?
Clue: “His thoughts were a swarm of bees.” How does this metaphor help create a mood?
What is a metaphor that suggests agitation or anxiety by making the thoughts seem restless and overwhelming?
Clue: “The bakery’s cinnamon scent curled through the cold street.” Which sense is appealed to?
What is smell?
"The old house groaned as the wind pressed against it". The house is given a human action.
What is personification?
A character hears others doubt her, but chooses her own direction. Which universal theme does her choice develop?
What is self-reliance or finding one's own voice?
Clue: “The last candle trembled as the storm rattled every window.” What mood is created by these details?
What is ominous or fearful?
Clue: The narrator describes a messy room as “a disaster zone.” This word choice suggests a critical or approving tone?
What is a critical tone?
Clue: “The hallway swallowed the footsteps.” Explain how the personification affects the mood.
What is personification that makes the hallway seem vast or threatening, creating unease?
Clue: “The sirens wailed, a sharp, metallic scream in the dark.” Which sense is appealed to, and what mood is created?
What are hearing and an ominous or uneasy mood?
A character looks at a flooded, destroyed house and says, " It's a bit of a mess". The deliberate understatement, the opposite of hyperbole, makes something seem less important or severe than it is.
What is meiosis?
In a story, a lonely robot keeps repairing a broken radio until it finally plays a song, even though no one has told it to. The robot's persistence shows that this universal theme is central to the story.
What is perseverance (or hope in the face of isolation)?
“Silver moonlight rested on the lake; the reeds whispered at the shore.” What mood is suggested by the personification and imagery?
What is calm or reflective?
Clue: The narrator calmly describes a character’s frightening experience, but readers feel tense. The narrator’s attitude is the tone; the readers’ emotional atmosphere is the what?
What is mood?
Clue: In a scene, “golden light filled the room” is followed by “the light drained away.” What mood shift might this imagery suggest?
What is a shift from warmth or hope to sadness, fear, or loss?
Clue: How do sensory details of a “damp, moldy basement with a flickering bulb” create an uneasy mood?
What are the clammy dampness, musty smell, and unsteady light that make the basement feel unpleasant and unsettling?
In a story, a wilting flower repeatedly appears whenever a character loses hope. The flower represents an idea beyond itself.
What is symbolism?
Imagine a metaphor that describes life as a long, difficult road at night. Explain how it can develop a mood of uncertainty created by the dark, difficult road, alongside a theme of perseverance as the traveler keeps going.
What is dark reflects our unknown path, which creates an uncertain mood. The difficulty of the path (life) suggests that perseverance is needed to navigate it successfully.
Clue: “The garden’s bright roses bowed beneath the first frost.” The contrast between bright roses and frost hints at loss. What mood is most likely?
What is wistful or melancholy?
Clue: Compare “The old tree stood beside the house” with “The gnarled tree crouched beside the house.” Which version creates a more ominous mood, and what word choice causes the shift?
Response: What is the second version, because “gnarled” and “crouched” make the tree seem threatening?
Clue: “The clock chewed through the silence while the unopened letter waited on the desk.” Identify two figurative devices and explain how they work together to shape the mood.
What is personification in “the clock chewed” and “the letter waited,” which build suspense and unease by making time and the letter feel active and threatening?
Clue: Compare how imagery of “golden light and warm bread” versus “gray light and stale air” shifts the mood in a scene. Which senses are used?
What is a shift from a warm, inviting mood to a bleak, stale one, using sight and the sensory impressions of warmth and smell?