Determining Word Meanings: Figurative &

Connotative

Test Prep Tuesday: March 25

Would you rather trudge through the snow or stroll through the snow? The verbs have similar meanings, but each has a different connotative meaning, the feeling suggested by a word or phrase.

Trudge connotates a struggle, but stroll suggests a relaxing walk.

Writers also use words in imaginative ways to create interesting effects. The kind of language is called figurative language. Figurative meanings are different from the usual meanings of the words. `

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Why do you think the writer compared the girl’s tears to rain?

What is being compared in the illustration below?

Copy the chart and notes below:Figurative Language Definition Example

simile a comparison using like or as

she has a smile like sunshine

metaphor a comparison that doesn't use like or as

he was fishing for a compliment

personification giving human qualities to something nonhuman

the boiling tea kettle screeched its complaint

Sunlight burst through the window and woke Gabriel that bright summer day. He felt disoriented, as if he’d been sleeping for years. He didn’t even know what time it was! But that was no surprise-he was always late. He pulled on his clothes and went out to the yard where he found his mother sorting through boxes of old things.

“Why did you get all that junk out of the garage?” Gabriel asked.

“It’s not ‘junk’,” his mother answered. “These are things I’ve saved over the years, but it’s time to have a yard sale and let them go.”

Gabriel’s mother pulled a broken coffee maker out of one box, the electrical cord trailing behind it like a tail. Next, his mother held up a pocket watch as golden as a tiny sun.

The Gold Watch

Figurative language often makes a comparison between two things.

To what does the author compare the electrical cord, and how does this make you picture the coffee maker?

The Gold Watch

Read the chart below and complete it using what you know about figurative language.

The Gold Watch

What’s being compared

How they are alike

Meaning

a pocket watch and the sun

The watch is __________.

Now look at the first sentence of the story, “Sunlight burst through the window…” How does this personification help describe the sun’s effect on Gabriel?

Quick Write

“This old thing was your grandfather’s,” she said, smiling at the watch like it was a familiar friend. “I don’t think it works. I suppose people would think it’s pretty worthless.” But Gabriel asked his mother for the time, wound up the watch, and let it swing from its chain like a pendulum. The ticking sound it made was as steady as a heartbeat. Just then, some storm clouds crossed the sun, heavy with the rain of a summer storm. But Gabriel now had a new treasure, which he polished until it shined, and he tucked it carefully into his pocket so he would always know the time.

The Gold Watch (continued)

Create the T-Chart:

Positive Words/Negative Words/

PhrasesPhrases

The Gold Watch (continued)

A. treasureB. worthlessC. heartbeatD. familiar

Which word from the story best describes how Gabriel feels about the watch?