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Get Ready
Analyze Figurative Language
Poets use figurative language, including similes, metaphors,
and personification to express ideas in an imaginative way.
AB
A simile compares two unlike things by using the word like or
as. A metaphor compares two unlike things that have some
qualities in common, but a metaphor does not use like or as.
The poem "A Voice" opens with a simile:
Even the lights on the stage unrelenting / as the
desert sun couldn't hide the other / students...
The simile compares the stage lights to a desert sun,
emphasizing how unforgiving and severe the lights seem.
Personification is a type of figurative language in which an
object, animal, or idea is given human qualities.
The poem "Words Like Freedom" contains personification:
On my heartstrings freedom sings
Here, the poet gives the abstract idea of freedom the human
ability to sing.
As you read "A Voice" and "Words Like Freedom," use a chart like
the following to analyze each poet's use of figurative language.
EXAMPLE
Their eyes were
pinpricks
TYPE OF FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE
metaphor
UNIT 1 COLLABORATE & COMPARE
Focus on Genre
Poetry
uses sound devices, imagery,
and figurative language,
such as simile, metaphor, and
personification, to express
ideas and emotions
includes rhyme or rhythm to
emphasize the musical quality
of language
arranges words and lines in
different ways to produce
an effect
WHAT IS THE POET TELLING ME?
Their stares were painful.
A Voice/Words Like Freedom
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