Figures of Speech

Simile Comparing two unlike things using the words “like” or “as” The figure skater was like a wild animal spinning and jumping uncontrolled. The track star was as fast as a cheetah.

Metaphor A comparison between two unlike things with our using “like” or “as” The figure skater was a wild animal on the rink, spinning and jumping out of control.

Personification Giving human traits to non-human things The shining sun smiled on our picnic this afternoon. The sun doesn’t really have a mouth to smile

Alliteration The repetition of a consonant sounds at the beginning of at least two words (close to each other) The lovely light lingered on the water. The moon was a marshmallow in the night sky. The crazy cat tried clawing the kitten.

Identify The grass giggled in the whispering wind. The tree was as dead as a corpse in her tomb, lifeless and cold The cat yelled like a boy wanting candy as it fell into the frigid water. The overgrown pigeon knocked out all of the bank robbers like an atomic bomb annihilates an entire city.