What Is Figurative Language? Writers use figurative language to make their stories more interesting and help readers visualize what they're reading.

Figurative language cannot be interpreted or understood literally, or exactly how it sounds. Without figurative language a story would just be a series of facts that don't allow the mind to fully visualize and imagine the details. There are many different types of figurative language but Maniac Magee is packed full of similes and metaphors. Let's learn more about these now. Metaphors Metaphors are used to compare two things that seem to be different.

Ask students to identify the type of figurative language in the following examples from Maniac Magee. Then ask students to explain what the figurative language adds to the description of character or scene. Maniac Magee figurative language examples. I am giving credit to ifitzmorris. They say maniac magee was born in a dump and that rats stood guard over him while he. Maniac Magee lesson plans include storyboards for figurative language, Maniac Magee summary, vocabulary, theme, and a compare and contrast activity. Find this Pin and more on Teaching 5th grade by maddiekollen. Maniac Magee - Cause and Effect: Analyze Cause and Effect in Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli with the help our T-Chart layout.

Metaphors do this by saying one thing is (or was) another thing. Also, metaphors do not use the words 'like' or 'as' to compare the two things. In Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli describes Maniac using this metaphor, 'They say his stomach was a cereal box and his heart a sofa spring.' Maniac's stomach isn't really a cereal box and his heart isn't really a sofa spring!

Like a box of cereal, Maniac's stomach could hold a lot of food and his heart is soft, like that of a sofa spring. Spinelli uses another metaphor when he describes how many balls and other items are in Finsterwald's yard. He writes, 'Finsterwald's backyard was a graveyard of tennis balls and baseballs and footballs and Frisbees and model airplanes and one-way boomerangs.' There really isn't a graveyard of these things but saying so allows the reader to imagine that there are a lot! You could also imagine that once the Frisbees, balls, and other items are in Finsterwald's yard, they stay there forever, like people who have died and been buried in a graveyard! Using figurative language in this way makes what Spinelli is trying to say interesting! Metaphor Example.

Similes Similes are a type of figurative language that use the words 'like' or 'as' to compare one object, person, or idea with another. Auto Hide Ip 5.2.7.8 Serial Key. The words 'like' and 'as' act as a signal to the reader that a comparison is happening. In Maniac Magee, Spinelli describes Arnold Jones's reaction to being dumped in Finsterwald's backyard. He writes, 'Arnold Jones's teeth. They're chattering like snare drums.'

Spinelli is trying to help you visualize just how loud Arnold's teeth are chattering! Simile Example In another instance, Spinelli describes John McNab as a great baseball player. He describes how he is able to strike one player out after another, writing 'He was like a shark'. This description helps you visualize just how fierce McNab is on the mound. Similes help you, as a reader, experience what is being described in a story.