The Topic: Figurative Language Easier - Figurative language or speech contains images. The writer or speaker describes something through the use of unusual comparisons, for effect, interest, and to make things clearer. The result of using this technique is the creation of interesting images.   Harder - Figurative language is not intended to be interpreted in a literal sense. Appealing to the imagination, figurative language provides new ways of looking at the world. It always makes use of a comparison between different things. Figurative language compares two things that are different in enough ways so that their similarities, when pointed out, are interesting, unique and/or surprising.   Figurative Language from Kids Connect http://www.kidskonnect.com/FigurativeLanguage/FigurativeLanguageHome.html This site provides a brief description and example for several techniques of communicating imagery in writing and speech and also contains a great index to other websites.   Figurative Language http://www.qcc.mass.edu/booth/102/language.html#Top of page This webpage provides a brief glossary that can help you recognize the various uses of language and to define and apply the appropriate literary terms. Related Websites: 2) Figurative Language http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/9502/figrtv.html 3) Figurative Language http://www.orangeusd.k12.ca.us/yorba/figurative_language.htm 4) Literal and Figurative Meaning of Words http://www.etap.org/langartsfiles/english/grade7/langart1/instruction5.html 5) What is the Defination of Figurative Language? from Essortment http://wiwi.essortment.com/figurativelangu_rgpp.htm   Mrs. Dowling's Literature Terms http://www.dowlingcentral.com/MrsD/area/literature/LitTerms.html Here you find study guides that provide explanations for each term, as well as quizzes for each. Related Webpage from Mrs. Dowling: 2) Figurative Language http://www.dowlingcentral.com/MrsD/area/literature/Terms/figspeech.html Related Websites: 3) Figures of Speech by G. Williams http://www.nipissingu.ca/faculty/williams/figofspe.htm 4) Glossary of Rhetorical Terms http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/rhetoric.html   The Wacky World of Words http://www3.telus.net/teachwell This site provides several examples of interesting similes. Related Section at Wacky World of Words: 2) Oxymorons http://www3.telus.net/teachwell/oxy.htm 2) Similes http://www3.telus.net/teachwell/simpage.htm   Visit some of the websites, then select and complete one or more of these figurative language projects:   Write Some Sizzling Similes! Go to (1) The Simile Satellite (Grades 3-6) and write some simile poems with the 'terrible twins.' Others might want to identify the figures used in J.F.K's inaugural speech at (3) Figurative Language.   Make Some Figurative Language Artwork. Select a figurative speech phrase and create a drawing that illustrates it. For example you might choose the simile that a person is 'smart as a whip.' Draw a picture that portrays that simile. Display your artwork along with the phrase that matches it.   Incorporate Figurative Language Into Ads. Create an ad for a new product. Incorporate figurative speech in the advertising text. Use a graphics software such as Claris Draw or KidPix to create your advertisement. Get some startup ideas at Figurative Language. You may also find the document, Using Figurative Language to Increase Advertising Effectiveness by R.J. Kreuz, helpful. For lots of other information about advertising, go to Advertising (Another 42eXplore project from eduScapes).   Act Out Figurative Language. This activity works best as a group project. Select three phrases, each an example of a different type of figurative language. For example, you could select the idiom 'You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.' Then act them out and use a video camera to record them. Share with other groups.   Create Original Figures of Speech. Visit several of the sites and look at different examples of figurative speech and language. Then create new and original phrases. Identify the type of figurative language that each illustrate.   Few More Figurative Language Sites Cobuild Idiom of the Day http://titania.cobuild.collins.co.uk/Idiom.html Each day, this page will automatically display a random entry from the Cobuild Dictionary of Idioms.   Figurative Language http://www.westga.edu/~scarter/Figurative_Language1.htm This site briefly introduces similes and metaphors. Related Website: Figurative Language (Continued) http://www.westga.edu/~scarter/Figurative_Language2.htm   Inference: Figurative Language by D.J. Kurland http://www.critical-reading.com/inference_figurative_language.htm Further evidence of the need to read ideas, not simply words, comes from the use of figurative language. We often convey meaning by suggesting that something is like something else.   Metaphors We Can Learn By (Forum, v.32, No. 3) by by D. Ponterotto http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol32/no3/p2.htm All aspects of figurativeness (metaphor, idiomaticity, and semantic extension) seem to present difficulty for learners. Most textbooks skirt the issue of figurativeness and concentrate on the denotative aspects of language. This article explains how insights from cognitive linguistic research can improve the teaching/learning of figurative language.   Using Figures of Speech in Descriptive Paragraphs http://www.mvc.dcccd.edu/ArtScien/engl/instruct/grimes/1301/U2FOS.HTM A figure of speech is a comparison - - like similes, metaphors, or personification. Overuse of such comparisons makes a descriptive paragraph cumbersome and the meaning of its sentences sometimes misleading. Here are some helpful hints in using figures of speech in description:   Websites for Teachers Figurative Language Academy Awards (Grades 4-6) by P. Wenger http://faldo.atmos.uiuc.edu/CLA/LESSONS/2265.html Students will aquire a clear understanding of the concept of the figurative language devices of simile,metaphor, and personification. They will be able to recognize examples and demonstrate use of the threedevices in their own writings.   Figuratively Speaking (Grades 3-5) from Teacher Created Materials http://www.teachercreated.com/lessons/020621il.shtml Students will learn about and create examples of figurative language. Related Lessons: 2) Figurative Language (Grade 2) by V. Crossley http://lessonplanspage.com/LAFigurativeLanguage2.htm 3) Figurative Language Academy Awards (Grades 4-6) by P. Wenger http://faldo.atmos.uiuc.edu/CLA/LESSONS/1635.html   Painting Poetic Pictures with Imagery, Figurative Language, and Shape (Grade 7) http://www.michigan.gov/scope/0,1607,7-155-13497_13503_13504-41014--,00.html Students continue to read Out of the Dust to identify and analyze the author’s use of imagery, figurative language, and arrangement of language on a page.   Poetic Imagery http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/marston/Poetry/poetry_lessons/Poem-Clouds/student.html This lesson leads students to create poems enabling their reader to visualize what they are trying to tell them.   Teaching Science Concepts to Children: The Role of Analogies by S. Glynn, A. Russell, & D. Noah http://www.coe.uga.edu/edpsych/faculty/glynn/twa.html This website highlights a new, research-based method for teaching science concepts in the schools. This method uses analogies to help children form initial mental models of key science concepts.   Teaching Similes and Metaphors http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/2poe.htm Here you find some suggested ways to introduce these figurative language concepts. Other Related Lesson Plans: Alliteration Lesson Plan and Resources http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/1allitera.htm Hyperbole- Lesson Plans and Resources http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/10lesson.htm Idiom Lesson Plan http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/6lesson.htm Imagery- Lesson Plans and Resources http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/imagery2.htm Lesson Plan for Puns http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/5lesson.htm Onomatopoeia- Lesson Plans and Resources http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/9lesson.htm Personification Lesson Plans and Resources http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/7lesson.htm Proverbs- Lesson Plans and Resources http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/proverbs2.htm   rhetorical use simile metaphor irony proverb poetry riddle idiom cliché slang alliteration mood personification overstatement paradox apostrophe image symbolism hyperbole understatement anaphora anastrophe isocolon parable oxymoron onomatopoeia analogy personification extended metaphor oxymoron imagery idiom verbal picture figure of speech symbol allegory understatement overstatement irony allusion extended simile language      Created by Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson, 10/00. Updated, 5/03.