Descriptive Writing: Figurative Language and Sensory Details

Understanding Figurative Language

What is figurative language?The wind whispered

through the trees

• Can wind really whisper?

• What is the author trying to tell us about wind?

What is figurative language?• The cafeteria pizza

was a soggy, droopy piece of cardboard.

• Is the pizza really cardboard?

• What is the author trying to tell us about the pizza?

What is figurative language?The teacher glared like a

furious dragon.

• Was the teacher really a dragon?

• What is the author trying to tell us about the teacher?

How can I interpret figurative language?

Personification is a kind of figurative language

• Personification means to give human thoughts and qualities to nonhuman objects


The tree stood tall and proud by the curving path

• How does this sentence show personification?


The leaves danced as they fell from the trees

• What are the leaves doing that leaves can’t really do?


• A simile is another kind of figurative language

• A simile is a comparison between two unlike objects using “like” or “as”


The four students sat down at the cafeteria table and ate like pigs

• What is being compared in this simile?


The waves licked the shore like a kitten lapping milk

• What is the author comparing in this simile?


• A metaphor is another kind of figurative language

• A metaphor is a comparison that does not use “like” or “as”


• The school was a maze of hallways and passages

• What is being compared in this metaphor?


The math test was a walk in the park

• What is being compared in this metaphor?

Practice• Read the examples on

the next few slides• Which kind of

figurative language do they show?

• How can you interpret the figurative language?

Example #1 The airplane landed as

gracefully as a ballerina

• Personification• Simile• Metaphor

Example #1 The airplane landed as

gracefully as a ballerina

• Simile

Example #2 The water smashed

angrily against the rocks


Example #2 The water smashed

angrily against the rocks

• Personification

Example #3 My brother’s room

was a dark, mysterious cave


Example #3 My brother’s room

was a dark, mysterious cave

• Metaphor

You try it!• Can you describe yourself using a simile?

– Example: Ms. Pearson runs like the wind. • Try using a metaphor to describe a football

game. – Example: The game was a bloody battle.

• Now use personification to describe an object in the room.– The chair groaned when I sat on it.

What is Imagery? Creating a picture in the

reader’s mind by making the reader see, hear, taste, smell, or touch what is being described.

Sensory Details• Sensory details appeal to the

reader’s five senses:

o Touch- How does something feel when you touch it? What is the texture like? Smooth? Rough? Soft? Sticky? Flaky? Gooey?

Sensory Detailso Taste- How does something taste?

Does it taste bitter? Sweet? Salty? Like heaven? Like garbage?

o See- What does something look like?

• Color? Size? Shape? Does it remind you of anything else? Focus on small and unusual details.

Sensory Detailso Smell- What does something smell

like? Does it have a strong or weak smell? Is it a good smell or bad smell?

o Hear- What does something sound like? Is it a pleasant or unpleasant sound?

Try it…

• Change these sentences to paint a picture in the reader’s mind and include more sensory details. Think about comparing using figurative language.

• Example 1: She was excited that her parents gave her permission to go to the party.

• Example 2: It was thunder-storming and everyone was afraid.

The Challenge• You will each receive a flavored

lollipop and be assigned one of the five senses. Do not talk about your sense or eat your candy until you are told to do so. Keep your wrapper because you might need it!

The Challenge• Your challenge is to use sensory

details to create a mental picture of this candy. You will describe your lollipop according to the sense you received. You will then use your description as the first sentence of a short narrative (one or two paragraphs). You will later read your narrative aloud in class.

The Challenge• Touch- Describe how it feels in your

mouth and/or in your fingers.• Taste- Describe how it tastes. Don’t just

tell me the flavor.• See- Describe the color, pattern, shape,

texture, etc. • Smell- Describe how it smells.• Hear- Describe how the wrapper sounds

or the sound of eating it.

•

Examples• Hear- Each unraveling twist of the

cellophane wrapper brought a cringe to the mother’s face.

• This creates the image of a noisy wrapper.

• See- A kaleidoscope of red filled the mother’s purse.

• This creates the image of the colors of a candy.

Adding Imagery to Writing• A kaleidoscope of red filled the mother’s

purse. Katy’s mother never left home without a purse full of candy. The child begged her mother for a lollipop. The mother agreed, but gave her a oh-so-familiar look that said, “Be quiet when you open it.” Katy soon forgot her location--church--and she ripped open the candy. Each unraveling twist of the cellophane wrapper brought a cringe to the mother’s face.

Task• Remember: • Imagery should contain sensory details. • It should generate interest for your

narrative.• It should be the first sentence; however,

you can also end your narrative in different example of imagery.

• ANY QUESTIONS???

Favorite Place• (TS) My favorite place is Kona Village, Hawaii. (SD1)The smell of coconut is

sitting in the room, the tan bedding makes me want to sink into the pillows and the room is sitting on an ancient lava bed. (SD2)Outside, the gravel crunches on my feet, and I hear the waves crashing onto the beach. I hear laughter and voices coming from the pool and dining area. The bar is mixing some kind of exotic drink. As I walk down to the beach, I smell the wonderful food being lifted up onto the buffet tables. The beach is wide, and has many small tide pools towards the end of the beach. The sandy bottom of the ocean softens my feet as I jump right back up on the boogie board. As I get out, my feet have sand between the toes, and my hair is wet and salty. The air is salty and full of fragrant scents like sunscreen and drinks, and food waving through the air. (SD3)As I grab a plate at the start of the buffet line, I smell food being cooked, and people chatting. I smell the different scents of food as I pass by them. I smell the hamburgers being cooked, and the ketchup and fresh French fries under the beating light. As I sit down at the wood chairs at your table, I eye the checkered table cloth and napkin and start eating. The heat is perfect. It is a mix between warm and a cool breeze. (CS) Seriously, these are the reasons why Kona Village, Hawaii became my most favorite place.

Pets• (TS) Gregory is my beautiful gray Persian cat. (SD1)He walks with pride and

grace, performing a dance of disdain as he slowly lifts and lowers each paw with the delicacy of a ballet dancer. (SD2)His pride, however, does not extend to his appearance, for he spends most of his time indoors watching television and growing fat. He enjoys TV commercials, especially those for Meow Mix and 9 Lives. His familiarity with cat food commercials has led him to reject generic brands of cat food in favor of only the most expensive brands. (SD3)Gregory is as finicky about visitors as he is about what he eats, befriending some and repelling others. He may snuggle up against your ankle, begging to be petted, or he may imitate a skunk and stain your favorite trousers. Gregory does not do this to establish his territory, as many cat experts think, but to humiliate me because he is jealous of my friends. After my guests have fled, I look at the old fleabag snoozing and smiling to himself in front of the television set, and I have to forgive him for his obnoxious, but endearing, habits. (CS) That is my Gregory, my beloved gray Persian cat.

Sensory Language

You are about to see a series of images;

•For each image you see, you must write two sentences to describe what you see using at least 2 senses – get creative!

AF1 – write imaginative, interesting and thoughtful texts

Writing using the senses means adding imagination and detail to your

writing.

Smell: musty, damp, stuffy, sweet, sickly, spicy, perfumed.

Sight: colour, (hot or cool, clashing, bright, neon, dark, light, pale) shape, zoom in on interesting details, e.g. fingerprints in dust, eyeliner smudged as if she’d been crying, hands shaking

Touch: sticky, smooth, rough, soft, hard, silky, fluffy, fuzzy, starchy, crisp, corrugated, rippled, abrasive, cracked.

Similes: rough as sandpaper, soft as a jellyfish, moist as a puddle.

Read Some Examples

“Dark shapes glide through the night sky on silent wings, their sinister shadows outlined against the light of a full moon. Swooping down to the earth, they hover near houses and deserted buildings, breaking the peace of the night with their disturbing presence. Carriers of disease, drinkers of blood, companions of witches and demons, bats – the very word brings a shiver of fear to most people.”

~ Sylvia A. Johnson, Bats

A Description of the Wind

“Anybody could see how cold it got. The wind already had glass edges to it, stiffening muscles and practically cutting through the stitches of our clothes. When it blew, the chill stabbed our teeth like icicles, and our voices jiggled every time we talked.”

From Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vidaby Victor Martinez

Your AssignmentThink of a strong memory. It may be an

embarrassing moment, an exciting moment, or maybe a memorable moment. Write a descriptive paragraph that details this memory. Write in 1st person point of view and present tense as if you are experiencing this memory again as you write it.

Descriptive Writing: Figurative Language and Sensory Details

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