Name:______Period #:______
Figurative Language Exercise for “Medusa’s Cave” (pgs. 51-107) Date:______
Directions: Authors use figures of speech to emphasize their descriptions or convey messages. Simile, metaphor, and personification are all examples of figures of speech that may be used to stress an author’s ideas. Identify the examples from “Medusa’s Cave” as simile, metaphor, or personification in the blank space before each example. After each example, explain in 1-2 complete sentences how the figurative language brings additional meaning to the author’s message.
Similes are comparisons between two different things using ¨like¨ or ¨as.¨
Metaphors are comparisons between two different things without using “like” or “as.”
Personification is description giving human qualities to an animal or non-living thing.
1. __personification____ “It sank below the horizon, and the sky sang a raucous hymn to red, purple, and gold.” (52)
_By stating that the “sky sang a raucous hymn” to such royal colors as “red, purple, and
gold,” the language makes the reader imagine the sky looks special and beautiful with_
many shades of colors just as there might be many different notes in a lively song.___
2. ______“His wife, Hera, might be near, and her jealousy was volcanic.” (53)
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3. ______“‘Polydectes is a swine,’ said Zeus.” (54)
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4. ______“. . . Ares, God of War, is three times my size and as touchy as a caged badger, especially in peacetime.” (55)
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5. ______“When he takes offense--which is often--he bristles like a porcupine and the dark, wiry hair on his shoulders stands straight up.” (57)
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6. ______“The thing was as light and supple as a willow switch, falling into the crook of my arm as if it longed to be there. My new death-dealing friend, I thought.” (59)
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