Objective 8 – Figurative Language

Strategy – Figurative Language in Music

Teach students common types of figurative language, such as metaphors, similes, onomatopoeia, etc. When they understand the basic concepts of the poetic terms, discuss how songs are types of poetry. Provide students with different types of lyrics from songs. Have the students identify the different types of figurative language used by each of the composers. Examples could be such songs as "The River" by Garth Brooks, "Music of the Night" by Andrew Lloyd Webber (from the musical "Phantom of the Opera"), or a song that is popular with students.

And a dreamer's just a vessel that must follow where it goes.

Trying to learn from what's behind you and never knowing what's in store

makes each day a constant battle just to stay between the shores.

Like a bird upon the wind, these waters are my sky.

I'll never reach my destination if I never try,

So I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry.

To what we put off 'til tomorrow has now become today.

So don't you sit upon the shore and say you're satisfied.

Choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tides.

With the good Lord as my captain, I can make it through them all.

"Music of the Night" by Andrew Lloyd Webber

(It helps to explain the story of "Phantom" before sharing this lyric with students.)
Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation.

Darkness wakes and stirs imagination.

Silently the senses abandon their defenses,

Helpless to resist the notes I write,

For I compose the Music of the Night.
Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendor.

Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender.

Hearing is believing. Music is deceiving.

Hard as lightening, soft as candlelight.

Dare you trust the Music of the Night?
Close your eyes, for your eyes will only tell the truth,

And the truth isn't what you want to hear.

In the dark it is easy to pretend...

That the truth is what it ought to be.

Hear it, fear it, secretly possess you.

Open up your mind; let your fantasies unwind.

In this darkness which you know you cannot find.

The darkness of the Music of the Night.
Close your eyes, start a journey to a strange new world.

Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before.

Close your eyes and let music set you free...

Only then can you belong to me.

Touch me, trust me, savor each sensation.

Let the dream begin; let your darker side give in

To the power of the music that I write,

The power of the Music of the Night.
You alone can make my song take flight.

Help me make the Music of the Night.

1. 
   Copy down the words to at least 3 songs.
   
2. 
   Label the examples of poetic devices found in each song (see list). You must find at least 3 different poetic devices in each song.
   
3. 
   Write a paragraph (50 words) explaining the theme and/or purpose of the song.
   

____________A fluttering forest of feathers

____________It smells like rotten eggs

____________Spot, the dog, planned a devious plan for the cat

____________”Hey! Cabbage for brains! I’m talking to you!”

____________”You wanna take a trip? Pow! Zoom! To the moon!”

____________Bugs Bunny

____________Alice ran as fast as she could

____________Alice ran as fast as a cheetah

____________He has a swelled head

____________She has the eyes of a cat
Exercise: Write one example of your own for each literary device.
Hyperbole –
Simile –
Metaphor –
Alliteration –
Personification –
Onomatopoeia –

Figurative Language and Other Endearing Terms of Literature
Have students match the type of figurative language to the example.

ALLITERATION The repetition of similar sounds, usually consonants, in a group of words.	“Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” The Raven – Edgar Allan Poe
ALLUSION A reference to a person, a place, an event, or a literary work that a writer expects a reader to recognize.	“In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings” The Chambered Nautilus Oliver Wendell Holmes
ANALOGY A comparison made between two things to show the similarities between them.	“The tide rises, the tide falls, The twilight darkens, the curlew calls; Along the sea sands damp and brown, The traveler hastens toward the town, And the tide rises, the tide falls.” The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
ANTITHESIS Saying the opposite of what you really mean, for effect.	“That was a cool move, man.
APHORISM A terse, pointed statement expressing some wise or clever observation about life.	“He that lives upon hope will die fasting.” Benjamin Franklin
APOSTROPHE Addressing someone absent or something nonhuman as if it were alive or present and could respond.	“Tyger, Tyger, burning bright” William Blake
ASSONANCE The repetition of similar vowel sounds, especially in poetry.	“From the molten-golden notes.” The Bells – Edgar Allan Poe
EUPHEMISM The substitution of a mild or less negative word or phrase for a harsh or blunt one.	“They were saddened by his passing from the world.”
HYPERBOLE A figure of speech using exaggeration or overstatement for special effect.	“where the corn grows so tall they have to go up on a ladder to pick the ears off; and where a boy fell into the hole that his father had dug a beet out of, and they had to let down a bed cord to draw him up again …” Seba Smith
IMAGERY Words or phrases that create pictures or images in the reader’s mind.	The day is over quietly spent, The sky is ablaze with colors you've sent, The bright oranges and reds The subtle blues, Harkens me to hear the news. Alicia Bechtel aka Chiari
IRONY A mode of expression, through words (verbal irony) or events (irony of situation), conveying a reality different from and usually opposite to appearance or expectation.	“Why, no one would dare argue that there could be anything more important in choosing a college than its proximity to the beach."
METAPHOR A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things which are basically dissimilar	“Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. . .” William Shakespeare
ONOMATOPOEIA The use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its meaning.	"The fire crackled and the popcorn popped."
OXYMORON A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory ideas or terms.	“Sweet sorrow, wise fool, honest thief.”
PARADOX A statement that reveals a kind of truth, although it seems at first to be self-contradictory and untrue.	“Much Madness Is Divinest Sense” Title of a poem by Emily Dickinson
PERSONIFICATION Giving animals, objects, or ideas human characteristics such as emotion.	"The fog crept in on little cat feet." Carl Sandburg
IDIOM Groups of words whose meaning is different from the ordinary meaning of the words.	The class was extremely noisy all morning long until the teacher finally had to tell them to “Put a lid on it.”
SARCASM A form of sneering criticism in which disapproval is often expressed as ironic praise.	Jamison was walking away from the counter and suddenly dropped his lunch tray. A stranger at the next table looked up and said, "Well, that was really intelligent."
SIMILE A figure of speech comparing two essentially unlike things through the use of a specific word of comparison, such as like or as.	“Higher still and higher From the earth it springs Like a cloud of fire… To a Skylark – Shelley
SYMBOL Something that represents more than what it is in a literal sense.	“The American flag”

Decide whether each sentence contains a simile or a metaphor. Write the word SIMILE if the sentence contains a simile. Write the word METAPHOR if the sentence contains a metaphor.

1. 
   The baby was like an octopus, grabbing at all the cans on the grocery store shelves.
   
2. 
   As the teacher entered the room she muttered under her breath, "This class is like a three-ring circus!"
   
3. 
   The giant’s steps were thunder as he ran toward Jack.
   
4. 
   The pillow was a cloud when I put my head upon it after a long day.
   
5. 
   I feel like a limp dishrag.
   
6. 
   Those girls are like two peas in a pod.
   
7. 
   The fluorescent light was the sun during our test.
   
8. 
   No one invites Harold to parties because he’s a wet blanket.
   
9. 
   The bar of soap was a slippery eel during the dog’s bath.
   
10. 
    Ted was as nervous as a cat with a long tail in a room full of rocking chairs.
    

On your own paper or the computer's word processor, find the metaphor/simile and write it down. Next write the word(s) being compared, and finally the meaning of the metaphor/simile based on the context of the sentence.

1. 
   The baby was like an octopus, grabbing at all the cans on the grocery store shelves.
   
2. 
   As the teacher entered the room she muttered under her breath, "This class is like a three-ring circus!"
   
3. 
   The giant’s steps were thunder as he ran toward Jack.
   
4. 
   The pillow was a cloud when I put my head upon it after a long day.
   
5. 
   I feel like a limp dishrag.
   
6. 
   Those girls are like two peas in a pod.
   
7. 
   The fluorescent light was the sun during our test.
   
8. 
   No one invites Harold to parties because he’s a wet blanket.
   
9. 
   The bar of soap was a slippery eel during the dog’s bath.
   
10. 
    Ted was as nervous as a cat with a long tail in a room full of rocking chairs.
    

1. simile