More Examples of Figurative Language!

Simile
A simile uses the words “like” or “as” to compare one object or
idea with another to suggest they are alike.
Example: busy as a bee
He fought like a lion.
That joke went over like a lead balloon.
In my bright yellow shirt, I stood out like a sore thumb. 


Here's a great one that a student wrote for another teacher:

A real life student simile:

Chris popped out of his seat like a toaster strudel.

Metaphors
The metaphor states a fact or draws a verbal picture by the use of comparison.
A metaphor makes a direct comparison - it says you are something.
Example: You are what you eat.
The clouds were ghostly ships, sailing through darkened seas. 
Personification
A figure of speech in which human characteristics are
given to an animal or an object.
Example: My teddy bear gave me a hug.
Alliteration
The repetition of the same initial letter, sound, or group of sounds in a series
of words. Alliteration includes tongue twisters.
Example: She sells seashells by the seashore.
Example from a student in A1:  "I bent it like Beckham." -- telling about his soccer game.
Onomatopoeia
The use of a word to describe or imitate a natural sound
or the sound made by an object or an action.
Example: snap, crackle, pop
Hyperbole
An exaggeration that is so dramatic that no one would believe the
statement is true. Tall tales are hyperboles.
Example: He was so hungry, he ate that whole cornfield for lunch, stalks and all.

http://mrswarnerarlington.weebly.com/figurative-language.html

Student samples: 

Metaphor:  He was a fish in the water. 

Hyperbole:  He swam his arms off.

Following are some more examples of similes:

·      My love is like a red, red rose.

·      You were as brave as a lion.

·      They fought like cats and dogs.

·      He is as funny as a barrel of monkeys.

·      This house is as clean as a whistle.

·      He is as strong as an ox.

·      Your explanation is as clear as mud.

·      Watching the show was like watching grass grow.

·      That is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.

·      This contract is as solid as the ground we stand on.

·      That guy is as nutty as a fruitcake.

·      Don’t just sit there like a bump on a log.

·      Well, that went over like a lead balloon.

·      They are as different as night and day.

·      She is as thin as a rake.

·      Last night, I slept like a log.

·      This dress is perfect because it fits like a glove.

·      They wore jeans, which made me stand out like a sore thumb.

·      My love for you is as deep as the ocean.

·      I am so thirsty that my throat is as dry as a bone.

·      As bold as brass

·      As bright as a button

·      As shiny as a new pin

·      As cold as ice

·      As common as dirt

·      As cool as a cucumber

·      As hard as nails

Read more at http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-similes.html#GF8YUgjgTqFvyWla.99

Simile:  If something is shiny, it could be shiny as Tamatoa.

Examples of Metaphor

1. The detective listened to her tales with a wooden face.
2. She was fairly certain that life was a fashion show.
3. The typical teenage boy’s room is a disaster area.
4. What storms then shook the ocean of my sleep.
5. The children were roses grown in concrete gardens, beautiful and forlorn.
6. Kisses are the flowers of love in bloom.
7. His cotton candy words did not appeal to her taste.
8. Kathy arrived at the grocery store with an army of children.
9. Her eyes were fireflies.
10. He wanted to set sail on the ocean of love but he just wasted away in the desert.
11. I was lost in a sea of nameless faces.
12. John’s answer to the problem was just a Band-Aid, not a solution.
13. The cast on Michael’s broken leg was a plaster shackle.
14. Cameron always had a taste for the fruit of knowledge.
15. The promise between us was a delicate flower.
16. He’s a rolling stone, and it’s bred in the bone.
17. He pleaded for her forgiveness but Janet’s heart was cold iron.
18. She was just a trophy to Ricardo, another object to possess.
19. The path of resentment is easier to travel than the road to forgiveness.
20. Katie’s plan to get into college was a house of cards on a crooked table.
21. The wheels of justice turn slowly.
22. Hope shines–a pebble in the gloom.
23. She cut him down with her words.
24. The job interview was a rope ladder dropped from heaven.
25. Her hair was a flowing golden river streaming down her shoulders.
26. The computer in the classroom was an old dinosaur.


Knowledge is the key to success.
27. Laughter is the music of the soul.
28. David is a worm for what he did to Shelia.
29. The teacher planted the seeds of wisdom.
30. Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day
31. Each blade of grass was a tiny bayonet pointed firmly at our bare feet.
32. The daggers of heat pierced through his black t-shirt.
33. Let your eyes drink up that milkshake sky.
34. The drums of time have rolled and ceased.
35. Her hope was a fragile seed.
36. When Ninja Robot Squad came on TV, the boys were glued in their seats.
37. Words are the weapons with which we wound.
38. She let such beautiful pearls of wisdom slip from her mouth without even knowing.
39. Scars are the roadmap to the soul.
40. The quarterback was throwing nothing but rockets and bombs in the field.
41. We are all shadows on the wall of time.
42. My heart swelled with a sea of tears.
43. When the teacher leaves her little realm, she breaks her wand of power apart.
44. The Moo Cow’s tail is a piece of rope all raveled out where it grows.
45. My dreams are flowers to which you are a bee.
46. The clouds sailed across the sky.
47. Each flame of the fire is a precious stone belonging to all who gaze upon it.
48. And therefore I went forth with hope and fear into the wintry forest of our life.
49. My words are chains of lead.
50. But into her face there came a flame; / I wonder could she have been thinking the same?

http://www.ereadingworksheets.com/figurative-language/figurative-language-examples/metaphor-examples/

Common Personification Examples

·       Lightning danced across the sky.

·       The wind howled in the night.

·       The car complained as the key was turned.

·       Rita heard the last piece of pie calling her name.

·       My alarm clock yells at me every morning.

·       The avalanche devoured anything standing in its way.

·       Traffic slowed to a crawl.

·       The door protested as it opened slowly.

·       My house is a friend who protects me.

·       The moon played hide and seek with the clouds.

·       That book was so popular, it flew off the shelves.

·       My car’s headlights winked at me.

·       She is so beautiful the camera loves her.

·       The stairs groaned as we walked on them.

·       Winter’s icy grip caused people to shudder.

·       Our vacuum hums a happy tune while it cleans.

·       You need to cross over at the mouth of the river.

·       Time flies and waits for no one.

·       My flowers were begging for water.

·       The ivy wove its fingers around the fence.

·       The thunder was grumbling like it was angry.

·       Hail pounded the houses and streets.

·       The cactus saluted those who drove past.

·       The wildfire ran through the forest at an amazing speed.

·       When I didn’t make the team, my dream of being a star died.

Read more at http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-personification-for-kids.html#veCo0i52eGr0sdCf.99

Examples of Allusions:

1. Your backyard is a Garden of Eden. (Biblical allusion)

2. I guess I should see this message about a new job as my burning bush. (Biblical Allusion)

3. When you feel betrayed by a friend, you can say, "You too, Brutus?" (allusion to Julius Caesar-Brutus betrayed Caesar)

4. You're a regular Einstein. (allusion to a historical figure)

5. When your parents learn about your new plan to raise money, it's going to sink like the Titanic. (allusion to a historical event)

6. You are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. (reference to Atlas in myth)

7. That man is so narcissistic. (reference to Narcissus in mythology)

8. Don't be a Scrooge! (reference to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)

9. Potato chips are my diet's Achilles heel. (reference to Achilles in mythology)

10. Many states have laws that protect Good Samaritan's. (reference to the Bible)

EXAMPLES OF ALLITERATION

Here are some examples:

• Come and clean your closet.
• The big bad bear attacked all the little bunnies in the forest.
• Shut the shutter before it makes you shudder.
• Go and gather the green leaves in the lawn.
• Please put your pen away and play the piano.
• Round and round she ran until she realized she was running round and round.
• Out with the only open tin of tuna.
• I had to hurry home because grandma wanted her waffles.
• The baron was busy as a bee.
• Garry gathered the garbage.
• Lazy lizards lying like lumps!
• Paula planted the petunias in the pot.
• Kim comes to cut colorful kites.
• Boil the butter and bring it by the bank.
• Orson’s owl out-performed ostriches.
• Larry’s lizard likes leaping leopards.

Read more at http://examples.yourdictionary.com/alliteration-examples-for-kids.html#E5q3aOI04PXBSCBi.99

simile. A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, (e.g., as brave as a lion).

metaphor  a figure of speech in which one object is likened to another (that is unlike it in most ways) by speaking of it as if it were that other.  (e.g., Life is a rollercoaster.)

Similes and Metaphors from Richard Peck

Hyperbole     An exaggeration that is so dramatic that no one would believe the  statement is true.    "Yo mama's so fat, I had to take a train and two buses just to get on her good side. " 

Personification    A figure of speech in which human characteristics are given to an animal or an object.    "The sun winked at us from behind a cloud."

Onomatopoeia    The use of a word to describe or imitate a natural sound  or the sound made by an object or an action.     Example: snap, crackle, pop

Allusion: an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.
"an allusion to Shakespeare"
synonyms: reference to, mention of, suggestion of, hint to, intimation of, comment on, remark on
"the town's name is an allusion to its founding family"
Example: 
• “If you want to do well in class, and can choose where you sit, pick a seat by the class Hermione or by the class Einstein.”   -- These are allusions to the Harry Potter books and to a famous real-life person.
         

Alliteration
The repetition of the same initial letter, sound, or group of sounds in a series
of words. Alliteration includes tongue twisters.
Example: She sells seashells by the seashore.

Chart for Examples and Non-Examples of Simile and Metaphor

More Examples of Figurative Language!