Types of figurative language:
Alliteration – the repetition of the same letter or sound at the beginning of
closely connected words.
Examples:
•
•
“His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly…”
But a better butter makes a batter better.
Assonance – repetition of the same vowel sound in the middle of closely
connected words.
Examples:
•
"Hear the mellow wedding bells" by Edgar Allen Poe
•
"It beats, as it sweeps, as it cleans!" - slogan for Hoover vacuum
cleaners
•
"I must confess that in my quest I felt depressed and restless."
Allusion – an expression designed to call something to mind without
mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.
Examples:
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•
•
Don’t act like a Romeo in front of her. –referring to Shakespeare’s Romeo
and Juliet
This place is like a Garden of Eden. –referring to the Garden of Eden from
the book of “Genesis” in the Bible
The car’s engine coughed its last breath.
Onomatopoeia – A word created and used to imitate a sound that it is
describing.
Examples:
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•
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The rock plopped in the water.
“Budum, bum, tsss..” went the drummer’s drums.
They zipped and buzzed around looking for the lost keys.
Name: ______________________________
Figurative Language Worksheet 2
Directions: Read the lines of poetry. Slashes represent line breaks. Figure out which technique is being used:
simile, metaphor, hyperbole, or personification. In the boxes, explain how you figured out your answer. It is
possible that more than one technique is being used. If you can, explain each.
1. He would write, but his hours are as busy / As bees in the sun,
Which technique is being used?
__________________________________________________________________________________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Hyperbole, Alliteration, Assonance, Allusion, onomatopoeia
How do you figure?
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
2 “Hark, hark!/ Bow-wow./ The watch-dogs bark!/ Bow-wow./ Hark, hark! I hear
Which technique is being used?
__________________________________________________________________________________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Hyperbole, Alliteration, Assonance, Allusion, onomatopoeia
How do you figure?
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
3. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
Which technique is being used?
__________________________________________________________________________________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Hyperbole, Alliteration, Assonance, Allusion, onomatopoeia
How do you figure?
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
4. Oh, never, if I live to a million, / Shall I feel such a grievous pain.
Which technique is being used?
__________________________________________________________________________________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Hyperbole, Alliteration, Assonance, Allusion, onomatopoeia
How do you figure?
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
5. “A host, of golden daffodils…”
Which technique is being used?
__________________________________________________________________________________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Hyperbole, Alliteration, Assonance, Allusion, onomatopoeia
How do you figure?
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
6. “It went zip when it moved and bop when it stopped,/ And whirr when it stood still./ I never knew
just what it was and I guess I never will.”
Which technique is being used?
__________________________________________________________________________________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Hyperbole, Alliteration, Assonance, Allusion, onomatopoeia
How do you figure?
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
7. Sifted through the grass were daisies, / Open-mouthed, wondering, they gazed at the sun.
Which technique is being used?
__________________________________________________________________________________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Hyperbole, Alliteration, Assonance, Allusion, onomatopoeia
How do you figure?
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
8. “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes;/ A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life.”
Which technique is being used?
__________________________________________________________________________________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Hyperbole, Alliteration, Assonance, Allusion, onomatopoeia
How do you figure?
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
9. “I was surprised his nose was not growing like Pinocchio’s.”
Which technique is being used?
__________________________________________________________________________________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Hyperbole, Alliteration, Assonance, Allusion, onomatopoeia
How do you figure?
(write a sentence explaining your answer)
10. “He was a Good Samaritan yesterday when he helped the lady start her car.”
Which technique is being used?
__________________________________________________________________________________
Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Hyperbole, Alliteration, Assonance, Allusion, onomatopoeia
How do you figure?
(write a sentence explaining your answer)