1. LA 8: Reading Comprehension
Using Figurative Language

2. What is Figurative Language?
Literal Language - using words from a dictionary to describe what something is.
Figurative Language - Uses words to describe something by comparing it to something else, or by using words in creative ways.

3. Simile and Metaphor
Simile - Uses the word “like” or “as” to compare two things.
Metaphor - Makes a comparison by suggesting that one thing IS the other.
Eg. “I float like a butterfly, and sting like a bee” - Simile
Eg. “A man’s face is his autobiography…” - Metaphor

4. Idioms
Idioms - common phrases that mean something other than their literal meaning. (ie. Slang terms)
Eg. My parents are going to kill me when they find out about my science exam mark. (They’re not REALLY going to kill you)

5. Personification
Personification - Describing an object or idea in human terms.
Eg. The ants MARCHED towards the hapless beetle.

6. Symbolism
Symbolism - Using an object to represent a more complex idea.
Eg. Jesus renaming Simon “Peter” which means rock, where rock symbolizes strength of faith.

7. Analogy
Analogy - The comparing of two things that are normally quite different in order to make you see something in a new way. Often there are more than one comparisons between the two things.
Eg. Teaching junior high is like being in an asylum, but where the inmates are in charge.