Similes & Metaphors
“The sun was like a giant flame in the sky.” What type of figurative language is this?
Simile
What is personification?
Giving human traits to nonhuman things
What is hyperbole?
An extreme exaggeration
What is an allusion?
A reference to something well-known (story, myth, etc.)
Identify the figurative language: “The desert swallowed the sound.”
Personification
In Holes, Stanley’s day is compared to “digging forever.” What is this an example of?
Metaphor
“The holes seemed to stare back at him.” What is personified?
The holes
“He thought he’d been digging for a million years.” What’s exaggerated?
The length of time
In Holes, the Yelnats curse is an allusion to what idea?
Fate, family curses, or karma
Identify the figurative language: “His hope was a balloon that popped.”
Why might the author compare the desert to an oven?
To show how unbearably hot and uncomfortable it is
Why would the author use personification to describe the landscape?
To make the setting feel alive or threatening
Why do authors use hyperbole?
To emphasize strong feelings or show humor
The onions and water in Sam’s story symbolize what?
Healing, hope, and survival
Identify the figurative language: “Stanley felt like a snail under the sun.”
Similie
Identify the simile: “He felt as tired as a worn-out shovel.”
“As tired as a worn-out shovel.”
Identify the personification: “The shovel begged for a break.”
The shovel
Create a hyperbole describing the heat at Camp Green Lake.
NA
“God’s thumb” is symbolic of what?
Protection
Identify the figurative language: “He was so hungry he could eat a mountain.”
Hyperbole
Create your own metaphor describing how Stanley feels at Camp Green Lake.
Answers vary (ex: “Stanley was a cactus—dry, prickly, and still standing.”)
Write your own personification about something in the desert.
NA
How does exaggeration help readers imagine Stanley’s exhaustion?
It helps them feel how endless and tiring the work is
What do the holes symbolize?
digging for truth
500Identify the figurative language: “The curse followed the Yelnats family like a shadow.”
Simile & Symbolism