Worksheet 3

Read the following excerpts and choose the correct figure of speech used in each:

1. Substituting the word “euthanasia” for “mercy killing" or "killing the terminally ill"
a. Hyperbole b. Euphemism c. Assonance d. Oxymoron

2. My wishes raced through the house high hay/ And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, . . .
a. Simile b. Irony c. hyperbole d. personification

3. Well, son, I'll tell you: Life for me ain't been no crystal stair./ It's had tacks in it, and splinters, /and
boards torn up, /and places with no carpet on the floor/ Bare.
a. Simile b. Metaphor c. Irony d. Pun

4. I had so much homework last night that I needed a pickup truck to carry all my books home!
a. Metaphor b. Onomatopoeia c. Pun d. Hyperbole

5. The chug-a, chug-a, chug-a of the train echoed down the hill, while a cloud of smoke rose up to the blue
western sky.
a. Simile b. hyperbole c. Paradox d. Onomatopoeia

6. But the prisoner would not answer; he only lay with wide, dark, bright, eyes, like a bound animal.
a. Oxymoron b. Euphemism c. Irony d. Personification
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7. The earth laughs beneath my heavy feet/ At the blasphemy in my old jangly walk
a. Euphemism b. Simile c. Pun d. personification

8. I dig my toes into the sand. The ocean looks like/ A thousand diamonds strewn across a blue blanket.
a. Metaphor b. Simile c. Onomatopoeia d. Irony

9. “Death lays its icy hands on kings.”

a. Simile b. Metaphor c. Personification d. Paradox

Identify the figure of speech used in each sentence below. Explain and interpret it.

1. He has a heart of gold.

2. Dale’s smile was as bright as the sun shine.
3. Life is a journey; travel it well
4. A wicked whisper came and changed my life.
5. Men's words are bullets that their enemies take up and make use of against them. 6. He roared like a lion.
7. The theater is his home.
8. There had been no rain for months and all the crops were death. Some parts of
the farm were beginning to look like a desert.
9. After a good night sleep, I felt like a million dollars.
10. Everyone wanted Ken on the swim team because he could swim like a fish.
To understand and interpret figurative language, we should ask three main questions:

1. Which figure of speech is the writer using?

2. Why does he use this figure of speech?
3. What does the author really want to say?/ what message

Example:

1. Jamie sprints like a cheetah.

The writer uses a simile in the above sentence. He compares the way Jamie sprints or races around to
that of a cheetah using “like”. The writer wants readers to visualize how super fast Jamie is.

2. I could hear hunger speaking out loud.

The writer is personifying hunger when he compares it to a person who is rather speaking loud,
shouting, calling for food. The writer wishes to say is that hunger can only be silenced by food (or
probably taking action to stop hunger).

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answer key:

1. b
2. d
3. b
4. d
5. d
6. a
7. d
8. b
9. c

ANSWER KEY
1. Metaphor
2. Simile
3. Metaphor
4. Personification
5. Metaphor
6. Hyperbole
7. Metaphor
8. Smile
9. Simile & Hyperbole 1 3
0. Simile & Hyperbole