Figurative Lang 1
A comparison of two things, usually saying one thing is another thing.
What is metaphor?
What is personficiation?
This is the name of the dog who William initially tries to avoid but eventually befriends.
Who is Khamba?
This is why Malawi is referred to as the "Warm Heart of Africa."
What is the people's kindness and hospitality?
An idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal meaning.
What is connotation?
An extreme exaggeration.
What is hyperbole?
Information from a text—either a direct quote, an event, or an idea—that a reader uses to support their opinion of or response to the text.
What is textual evidence?
This caused the deadly maize shortage that led to Malawi's famine in 2000.
What is the increased price of fertilizer?
This is William's general attitude toward education.
What is the fact that he values education deeply and continues learning even when he cannot attend school?
Determine both the connotation and denotation of the word "crazy" in the following quote: “The people in the village whispered about William’s crazy ideas.”
Connotation: "Crazy" is negative and mocking.
Denotation: "Crazy" means without order or logic.
This is the type of figurative language that appears in the following quote: "As I said, nsima is so important to our diets that whenever we go without it, we feel like a fish out of water."
What is a simile?
(BONUS: Someone explain the literal meaning of the quote.)
A universal idea, message, or lesson explored throughout a work of literature.
What is a theme?
This is one specific example of generosity in the novel.
[Answers may vary, students check each other. Answers should indicate a specific scene or event.]
This is how William's community responds to him when they witness him digging through the scrap yard.
What is people laughing at him and believing he is crazy?
The literal meaning of a word.
What is denotation?
Phrases that cannot be understood based exclusively on the literal meaning of the words.
What is an idiom?
This is the type of figurative language that appears in the following quote: “I realize I’d come full circle."
What is an idiom?
(BONUS: Someone describe the literal meaning of the quote.)
List three distinct, specific examples of perseverance that appear in the book.
[Answers may vary, but they should be specific and different.]
This is what William means when he says, “For the first time in my life, I experienced what it felt like to escape without going anywhere."
What is finding joy in reading books?
Determine the connotation and denotation of the word "great" in the following quote: "Famine arrived in Malawi. It fell on us like the great plagues of Egypt I'd read about, swiftly and without rest."
Connotation: Great is overwhelming and frightening.
Denotation: Great means superior, better.
This is the type of figurative language that appears in the following quote: "Looking up, I saw the chain dancing loose over the crankset while the blades spun wild."
What is personification?
(BONUS: What does the quote *literally* mean?)
This is the type of figurative language that appears in the following quote: “Oh, how I would shine—zigzagging between defenders and firing the ball at missile speed."
What is hyperbole?
(BONUS: Someone describe the literal meaning of the quote.)
This describes Mr. Mchazime and how his upbringing is similar to William's.
Who is a teacher who also grew up in poverty and values education?
This describes William's experience at the TED Conference.
What is he struggled with the language but gained confidence speaking in public?
Determine the connotation and denotation of the word "awe" in the following quote: “William stood in awe of the windmill, marveling at the power he had created.”
Connotation: Awe is positive and uplifting, or inspiring.
Denotation: Awe means struck with wonder or amazement.