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Sample lesson · English Language Arts · Grades 6-8

Figurative Language

Grade 8 lesson on identifying seven figurative language devices and why writers use them.

  • 20 questions
  • 4 categories
  • 10 games
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The questions

Name That Device

  1. "Her laugh was like a wind chime."SimileEasy
  2. "The classroom was a zoo."MetaphorEasy
  3. "Buzz went the bee."OnomatopoeiaEasy
  4. "Bobby bounced the big blue ball."AlliterationMedium
  5. "This backpack weighs a ton."HyperboleMedium
  6. "The old car coughed and wheezed up the hill."PersonificationMedium

Tricky Ones

  1. "Time is a thief."MetaphorMedium
  2. What does the idiom "Break a leg!" really mean?Good luckMedium
  3. "The thunder grumbled like an angry giant." Name the device.SimileHardMore than one answer
  4. In Sandburg's "Fog," the fog "comes on little cat feet." What is the fog compared to?A catHard

Definitions

  1. What is a comparison that uses "like" or "as"?SimileEasy
  2. What is a comparison that says one thing IS another?MetaphorEasy
  3. What is giving human qualities to non-human things?PersonificationMedium
  4. What is extreme exaggeration for effect?HyperboleMedium
  5. What is a word that imitates a sound?OnomatopoeiaMedium
  6. What is repeating the same beginning sound in nearby words?AlliterationHard
  7. What is a phrase whose meaning differs from its literal words?IdiomHard

Why Use It?

  1. Name one reason writers use figurative language.To create images in the reader's mindEasy
  2. Comparing fog to a cat changes the poem's mood. How?It makes the fog seem quiet and softMediumBeyond the lessonMore than one answer
  3. Why might a writer use onomatopoeia in an action scene?So readers can "hear" the actionHardBeyond the lesson

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