Navigation
Apply everything you have learned by writing your own descriptive scene using figurative language and visual cues.
Imagine you could paint a masterpiece using only words, where the wind doesn't just blow—it whispers secrets, and the sun isn't just hot—it's a golden coin in the sky. How do writers make you feel like you are actually there?
To make writing exciting, authors use figurative language. Think of these as special tools in your paintbox. A simile compares two different things using the words like or as. For example, 'The lake was as smooth as a mirror.' A metaphor is even bolder; it says one thing is another thing. Instead of saying the lake is like a mirror, a metaphor says, 'The lake was a giant blue mirror.'
1. Start with a simple idea: 'Leo runs fast.' 2. To make it a simile, add 'like': 'Leo runs like a cheetah.' 3. To make it a metaphor, make them the same thing: 'Leo is a lightning bolt on the track.'
Quick Check
Which of these is a metaphor: 'The snow was a white blanket' or 'The snow was like a white blanket'?
Answer
'The snow was a white blanket' is a metaphor because it does not use 'like' or 'as'.
Personification is a magical trick where you give human qualities to non-human things. It makes your world feel alive! If you say, 'The old floorboards groaned under my feet,' you are personifying the floor. Floorboards don't actually have voices to groan, but using that word helps the reader hear the sound and feel the spookiness of the house. It turns a boring description into a living character.
1. Object: The Sun. 2. Human Action: Peeking or Smiling. 3. Combined: 'The sun peeked over the mountain and smiled down at the valley.' 4. Effect: This creates a happy, warm tone for the start of a story.
Quick Check
In the sentence 'The angry wind howled at the door,' what human quality is given to the wind?
Answer
The wind is given the human qualities of being 'angry' and 'howling' (like a person or animal expressing emotion).
Writers also use visual cues to set the tone (the feeling of the story). If you want a scene to feel mysterious, you might describe 'long, purple shadows' or 'flickering candlelight.' If you want it to feel energetic, you might use 'neon splashes' or 'bright, popping yellow.' By choosing specific colors and lighting, you tell the reader how to feel without ever using 'feeling' words like happy or sad.
Let's combine everything: 1. Visual Cue: 'Dust motes danced in the pale, ghostly moonlight.' 2. Personification: 'The ancient books whispered to each other on the shelves.' 3. Simile: 'The air was as cold as an ice cube.' 4. Metaphor: 'The library was a labyrinth of forgotten secrets.'
Identify the personification in this sentence: 'The alarm clock yelled at me to wake up.'
Which sentence uses a simile?
Describing a room with 'bright orange walls and golden sunlight' usually creates a gloomy tone.
Review Tomorrow
Tomorrow morning, look at an object in your room and try to come up with one simile and one personification for it.
Practice Activity
Write a 5-sentence paragraph about a 'Magic Candy Shop' using one simile, one metaphor, and one description of a bright color.