Author’s Choices: Literary Devices

1. Author’s Choices:Literary Devices Mrs. West

2. The choices that authors make when developing their writing can have BIG effects on their readers. • Some authors decide to use literary devices to make their writing more interesting and bring their work to life.

3. Literary Devices • Literary devices are specific parts of literature that help authors make their writing more interesting for their readers. • One type of literary device that authors use frequently when writing fiction is called Figurative Language.

4. Figurative Language • Figurative language is the non-literal use of language. • For example, if you say: • “My head is killing me!”, you are using non-literal language. • What you are saying is non-literal, or NOT LITERAL, because you don’t actually mean that your head is killing you. • If you say: • “May I borrow a pencil?”, you are using literal language. • What you are saying is literal because you really mean exactly what you’re saying.

5. Your Turn! • Fill in two examples on your graphic organizers: • One example of non-literal language that you use. • One example of literal language that you use.

6. Figurative Language is a Tool • There are many different types of figurative language that an author has in their “toolbox”. • You can compare an author’s use of figurative language to the different types of tools that an artist uses for making works of art.

7. How? • If an artist wants to apply paint smoothly, they might use a paint brush. • If an artist wants to blot paint on randomly, they might use a sponge. • If an author wants to tell a story’s true meaning and not be creative, they may use literal language. • If an author wants to convey hidden meaning in a creative way, they may use non-literal, or figurative language!

8. Types of Figurative Language • Here are some of the most common types of figurative language: • Figures of Speech • Simile • Metaphor

9. Figures of Speech • Figures of speech are sayings that are not literally true. • Here are some examples: • “Charlie’s bragging gets under my skin.” • “Gilda’s money is burning a hole in her pocket.” • Listeners know that when they hear a figure of speech the words don’t carry their ordinary meaning. • Why are the examples above non literally true?

10. Figures of Speech • The meaning of these expressions depend on comparisons: • “Charlie’s bragging gets under my skin.” • Bragging is compared to something that would cause pain or negative feeling if it really happened. • “Gilda’s money is burning a hole in her pocket.” • Money is compared to something so hot that it can not be held and must be gotten rid of. • How do these comparisons relate to the underlying meaning of these statements?

11. Similes • A simile is a comparison of two unalike things using the words like, as, than, or resembles. • Below are two examples of famous similes that authors have used. • See if you can find the two things being compared: • “I wandered lonely as a cloud…” – William Wordsworth • “My love is like a red, red rose…” – Robert Burns

12. Metaphors • Metaphors also compare two unalike things, but they do so without using the words like, as, than, or resembles. • For example, in “The Highwayman,” the author compares the moon to a ghostusing metaphor. • Which of the following statements is the metaphor the author used? How do you know? • “The moon was like a ghostly galleon.” • “The moon was a ghostly galleon.”

13. Let’s practice… • Fill in the chart on your graphic organizer by completing examples of comparisons from “The Highwayman.” • Identify each example of figurative language as either a simile or a metaphor. • Then, analyze how figurative language helps reveal the theme in an author’s writing.