1. Images and Sound How do you bring your writing to life?
How can you give
your reader a
better sense of
what you mean?
Whether you are writing a poem, a story or non-fiction, I will help you bring images and sounds into your words!

4. SIMILES
Similes rely on comparing one thing with another. This is to give us a better picture or image in our mind.
A simile uses the word ‘like’ or ‘as’ when making the comparison.
E.g. She was as cold as ice.
Sometimes, like the example above, they are overused and too familiar. It might be more imaginative to say ‘She was as cold as the core of an iceberg.’

5. SIMILES AND METAPHORS

6. METAPHORS and PERSONIFICATION
A metaphor is perhaps a stronger device as it compares one thing with another, without using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’.
E.g. I saw a sea of faces.
PERSONIFICATION is a form of metaphor in which an object or thing is given human/living qualities,
e.g. the trees whispered.
All of these devices give the reader a better image in his or her mind.

7. SIMILES AND METAPHORS NOTE:
There are many other activities that can extend work on similes and metaphors, including ‘list poems’, using either device, in which students make lists of original ways to describe common items/people.
E. g.
A teacher is…
Fire is..
A computer is…

8. ALLITERATION
The term alliteration refers to the repeated use of consonant sounds in words close to each other. Often the sound of the words helps the meaning of the words.
E.g. The waves push through the shingle and shell.

9. ALLITERATION NOTE: additional or extension tasks can be created by
1. Asking students to look for alliteration used in headlines and advertisements, and to discuss the effects.
2. Having a competition to see who can write the longest piece of writing with each word beginning with the same letter.

10. ONOMATOPOEIA
Onomatopoeia is a fun technique which also concentrates on the use of sounds in words. It describes words which sound like their meaning, e.g. pop, sizzle, crash.

11. ALLITERATION and ONOMATOPOEIA

12. RHYTHM and RHYME
Rhythm and rhyme can also help the overall effect of a piece of writing, notably poetry or songs.
Rhythm is the ‘beat’ of a verse, and rhyme refers to words which share some of the same sound.

13. RHYTHM and RHYME
NOTE: You might draw attention to how the regular, flowing rhythm echoes the movements of the flowers and how the rhyme scheme brings together significant words such as ‘hills’ and ‘daffodils’. Also the use of apostrophes to keep the rhythm.

14. NON-FICTION WRITING

15. NON-FICTION WRITING

16. Plenary
These are just some of the ways in which you can bring your writing to life:
simile
rhythm
personification
rhyme
onomatopoeia
metaphor
alliteration
Look out for them
in your reading
and let them bring
your writing to life