Students use similes all the time. Similes are expressions that compare unlike things using the words "like" or "as." For example, "I'm as hungry as a horse" is a simile. Put a list on the board of feelings and conditions, such as hungry, sad, happy, angry, bored and smart. Students can brainstorm similes to describe the words on the board. Allowing students to be imaginative and even silly will help them comprehend this type of figurative language. The activity can be taken one step further by having students illustrate their similes.
Metaphors are direct comparisons of unlike things and can be difficult for students to grasp. Shakespearean literature is full of metaphors, such as "Juliet is the sun." Using poetry is a good way to help eighth-grade students to recognize metaphors and understand their importance to good writing. Put students in small groups and assign each group a poem to analyze for metaphors. "Dreams" by Langston Hughes, "You Begin" by Margaret Atwood and "Blood" by Naomi Shihab Nye are all poems rich in metaphors.
Start the activity by directing students to articulate the definition for a metaphor. Guide them to correctly define the term and its importance to literature. Direct the students in each group to collaboratively read the poems and identify metaphors. Students can also try to read the poems without the metaphors to illustrate how metaphors impact the meaning of the poem.
Personification is giving human qualities to an animal or object. For example, "The chair waited patiently for its next occupant." Students can grasp personification through a creative writing activity. Have students choose an object or animal to be the central character in a short story and allow their character to have humanlike adventures.
Alliteration helps to create rhythm or mood in literature by repeating consonant sounds at the beginning of words or within words. This activity will help illustrate alliteration by taking students on a word journey. The first student names a place and an object starting with the same letter that they will take on the trip. For example, "On my trip to Alaska I'm taking an apple." The next student continues the alliteration by adding another object that starts with the same letter. For example, "On my trip to Alaska I'm taking an apple and an alligator."
If a student cannot think of an object or makes a mistake naming the previous objects, then he is out of the game. The game continues until there is only one student remaining.
Other forms of figurative language include onomatopoeia, hyperbole, imagery and idioms. Studying poetry and short stories is a good way for students to identify figurative language. Create a Figurative Language Wall in the classroom to demonstrate forms of figures of speech, giving students a concrete way to illustrate these abstract literary terms.