Figurative Language

Figurative language is the use of language to give words meaning beyond their literal definitions. For example, a simile is a comparison of two things using the words “like” or “as.” “Her heart is as soft as a cloud.” is a simile. Other figurative language includes metaphor, personification, hyperbole, and alliteration. Check out our figurative language anchor chart resources too!

The Box of Colors

The box of crayons was filled with an assortment of colors. They were stuffed in tightly together, and many of them were not happy. The problem was that every color in the box thought it was the most important.   The blue colors, from the very light to the very…

The Mock Turtle’s Story

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was written in 1865. Alice, the main character, explores a very strange land with many odd characters. In this passage, Alice has been take by the Gryphon, or griffin, to meet the Mock Turtle. ———————————— ‘When we were little,’ the Mock Turtle went on at last,…

Gossip

In the classic novel Little Women, readers follow the adventures of the four March sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. In this passage, the family, along with Laurie Laurence, the young man next door, are preparing a house for Meg and her future husband, Mr. Brooke. Hannah is the March…

The Plains of Nebraska

Robert Louis Stevens was a Scottish author, famous for his novels Kidnapped and Treasure Island. In 1879 he took a trip across the U.S. In this passage he talks about crossing the plains of Nebraska on the train. —————————— It had thundered on the Friday night, but the sun rose…

Beth Finds The Palace Beautiful

Little Women is the story of the four March sisters growing up during the U.S. Civil War. Meg, Jo, and Amy are outgoing; Beth is quiet and shy, but she loves music. In this passage, the girls have become friends with Laurie, the boy who lives next door. Laurie lives…

A Winning Smile

Gina walked slowly toward the school building. Her stomach fluttered with butterflies. Today she was starting school in a new town. Hopefully, she would make some new friends, too. She turned around and waved to her parents, and they gave her a thumbs up; if they only knew how nervous…

Through the Foothills with a Flock of Sheep

In 1869, naturalist John Muir was hired by a California sheep owner to accompany the flock and shepherds to a summer pasture in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Muir recorded his adventure in his diary which was published in 1911. This passage is from the beginning of the trip. —————————————————— June…

The Line-Gang

Here come the line-gang pioneering by. They throw a forest down less cut than broken. They plant dead trees for living, and the dead They string together with a living thread. They string an instrument against the sky Wherein words whether beaten out or spoken Will run as hushed as…

The Clash of Blades

Like Robin Hood and the Scarlet Pimpernel, Zorro is a man who helps those who are in trouble or are being abused, but he is considered by some to be an outlaw. In this passage, Zorro has come to visit Lolita Pulido at her father’s house, or hacienda, in California.…

Domestic Experiences

Little Women is about the four March sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. They grow up during the American Civil War in a happy, if rather poor, family. In this passage, Meg is grown and now married to John Brooke, the former tutor of the girls’ next door neighbor. They…