Figurative language

Alliteration occurs when a consonant sound at the beginning of a word is repeated in words that are close together.

Nick uses alliteration when he writes ‘The grass is green on the grasslands’.

Personification occurs when human qualities are given to animals, plants, objects or ideas.

Parker gives the saplings human abilities when he writes ‘Tiny saplings march like an army’.

Why do you think Parker described the saplings in this way?

Similes compare two usually dissimilar things. The comparison starts with ‘like’, ‘as’ or ‘as if’.

Emily writes, ‘The sea as still as a statue’.

Why do you think that Emily compares the sea to a statue?

Metaphors suggest similarities between two things by stating that one thing is another. A metaphor relating to Phoebe’s art work could be:

The city lights are shiny diamonds in the dark, massive city.

Can you write a metaphor for your artwork?

Rhyming words have the same sounds at the end. To describe the snow covered mountains in Henry’s painting we might write:

The cold, white, icy snow

Blankets tall mountains nestled below.

Where else have you seen rhyming words?

Onomatopoeia refers to words that imitate the sound of the things or actions they are naming.

Asher uses onomatopoeia when describing the sound of water splashing. She writes, ‘Rocks tumble into the shimmering water as a goanna dashes up the bank. The water splashes. Splat, splosh, splish.’

What other words can you think of that imitate the sound an object makes or an action that is carried out?