Interpret Figures of Speech in Context: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.5.A

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MAP 6th Grade Reading › Interpret Figures of Speech in Context: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.5.A

Questions 1 - 10
1

Ally's teacher wants Ally to use more personification in her writing. Select the answer that would accomplish this by replacing the underlined portion of the sentences provided.

While Hannah was playing outside, snow began to fall from the sky. As she lifted her head up towards the clouds, a snowflake lightly landed on the tip of her nose.

kissed

fell on

hit

land

Explanation

Personification is used in writing to give human characteristics to inanimate or non-living objects.

In this case, we are looking for a word to replace "landed"; however, the new word needs to possess human characteristics or attributes (i.e. something that a human would do, that an object can't do). In this sentence, the best answer is "kissed."

While Hannah was playing outside, it began to snow. As she lifted her head up towards the clouds, a snowflake lightly kissed on the tip of her nose.

2

Katie’s teacher wants Katie to use more hyperbole to enhance her sometimes dull writing. Select the answer that would accomplish this by replacing the underlined portion of the sentence provided.

She was a happy child, with a smile that could sometimes make others happy.

light up a room

be very pretty

be contagious

soothe

Explanation

Hyperboles are exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. In this case, we are looking for a phrase to replace the mundane “sometimes make others happy”; however, the new phrase needs to be an exaggeration. The best answer is “light up a room”. She was a happy child, with a smile that could light up a room.

3

Kate's teacher wants Kate to use more personification in her writing. Select the answer that would accomplish this by replacing the underlined portion of the sentence provided.

The bees bothered us as they flew around our picnic table.

taunted

stung

landed on

stopped

Explanation

Personification is used in writing to give human characteristics to inanimate or non-living objects.

In this case, we are looking for a word to replace "bothered"; however, the new word needs to possess human characteristics or attributes (i.e. something that a human would do, that an object can't do). In this sentence, the best answer is "taunted."

The bees taunted us as they flew around our picnic table.

4

Derrick’s teacher wants Derrick to use more metaphors to enhance his sometimes dull writing. Select the answer that would best accomplish this by replacing the underlined portion of the sentences provided.

Angie didn’t know what to do. Her computer was an old model, and she needed to download several large files.

a dinosaur

a bazillion years old

older than she was

worthless

Explanation

A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a comparison is made between two unrelated things. In this case, we are looking to replace the somewhat boring “an old model”; however, the new phrase needs to compare Angie’s computer to something unrelated. The best answer is “a dinosaur”. Angie didn’t know what to do. Her computer was a dinosaur, and she needed to download several large files.

5

Miguel’s teacher wants Miguel to use more personification in his writing. Select the answer that would accomplish this by replacing the underlined portion of the sentence provided.

The wilting flower was in need of water.

begging for

needing

dry from a lack of

without

Explanation

Personification is used in writing to give human characteristics to inanimate or non-living objects. In this case, we are looking for a word or phrase to replace “in need of”; however, the new word needs to possess human characteristics or attributes (i.e. something a human would do, that an object cannot do). The best answer is “begging for”. The wilting flower was begging for water.

6

Derrick’s teacher wants Derrick to use more metaphors to enhance his sometimes dull writing. Select the answer that would best accomplish this by replacing the underlined portion of the sentence provided.

Melanie didn’t fit in at her new school.

was a fish out of water

was insecure

was unpopular

was frequently nervous

Explanation

A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a comparison is made between two unrelated things. In this case, we are looking to replace the somewhat boring “didn’t fit in”; however, the new phrase needs to compare her to something unrelated. The best answer is “was a fish out of water”. Melanie was a fish out of water at her new school.

7

Adapted from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1876)

Saturday morning was come, and all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life. Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit. Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high. Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden. Sighing, he dipped his brush and passed it along the topmost plank; repeated the operation; did it again; compared the insignificant whitewashed streak with the far-reaching continent of unwhitewashed fence, and sat down on a tree-box discouraged.

He began to think of the fun he had planned for this day, and his sorrows multiplied. Soon the boys would come tripping along on all sorts of delicious expeditions, and they would make a world of fun of him for having to work—the very thought of it burnt him like fire. At this dark and hopeless moment an inspiration burst upon him! Nothing less than a great, magnificent inspiration.

He took up his brush and went tranquilly to work. Ben Rogers hove in sight presently—the very boy, of all boys, whose ridicule he had been dreading. Ben’s gait was the hop-skip-and-jump—proof enough that his heart was light and his anticipations high. He was eating an apple, and giving a long, melodious whoop, at intervals, followed by a deep-toned ding-dong-dong, ding-dong-dong, for he was personating a steamboat. As he drew near, he slackened speed, took the middle of the street, leaned far over to star-board and rounded to ponderously and with laborious pomp and circumstance—for he was personating the Big Missouri, and considered himself to be drawing nine feet of water. He was boat and captain and engine-bells combined, so he had to imagine himself standing on his own hurricane-deck giving the orders and executing them:

“Stop her, sir! Ting-a-ling-ling!” The headway ran almost out, and he drew up slowly toward the sidewalk.

Tom went on whitewashing—paid no attention to the steamboat. Ben stared a moment and then said: “Hi-yi! You’re up a stump, ain’t you!”

No answer. Tom surveyed his last touch with the eye of an artist, then he gave his brush another gentle sweep and surveyed the result, as before. Ben ranged up alongside of him. Tom’s mouth watered for the apple, but he stuck to his work. Ben said:

“Hello, old chap, you got to work, hey?”

Tom wheeled suddenly and said:

“Why, it’s you, Ben! I warn’t noticing.”

“Say—I’m going in a-swimming, I am. Don’t you wish you could? But of course you’d druther _work—_wouldn’t you? Course you would!”

Tom contemplated the boy a bit, and said:

“What do you call work?”

“Why, ain’t that work?”

Tom resumed his whitewashing, and answered carelessly:

“Well, maybe it is, and maybe it ain’t. All I know, is, it suits Tom Sawyer.”

“Oh come, now, you don’t mean to let on that you like it?”

The brush continued to move.

“Like it? Well, I don’t see why I oughtn’t to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?”

That put the thing in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. Tom swept his brush daintily back and forth—stepped back to note the effect—added a touch here and there—criticized the effect again—Ben watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed. Presently he said:

“Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little.”

Tom considered, was about to consent; but he altered his mind:

“No—no—I reckon it wouldn’t hardly do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly’s awful particular about this fence—right here on the street, you know—but if it was the back fence I wouldn’t mind and she wouldn’t. Yes, she’s awful particular about this fence; it’s got to be done very careful; I reckon there ain’t one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it the way it’s got to be done.”

“No—is that so? Oh come, now—lemme, just try. Only just a little—I’d let you, if you was me, Tom.”

“Ben, I’d like to; but Aunt Polly—well, Jim wanted to do it, but she wouldn’t let him; Sid wanted to do it, and she wouldn’t let Sid. Now don’t you see how I’m fixed? If you was to tackle this fence and anything was to happen to it—”

“Oh, shucks, I’ll be just as careful. Now lemme try. Say—I’ll give you the core of my apple.”

“Well, here—No, Ben, now don’t. I’m afeard—”

“I’ll give you all of it!”

Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, but alacrity in his heart. And while the late steamer Big Missouri worked and sweated in the sun, the retired artist sat on a barrel in the shade close by, dangled his legs, munched his apple, and planned the slaughter of more innocents. There was no lack of material; boys happened along every little while; they came to jeer, but remained to whitewash. By the time Ben was tired, Tom had traded the next chance to Billy Fisher for a kite, in good repair; and when he played out, Johnny Miller bought in for a dead rat and a string to swing it with—and so on, and so on, hour after hour. And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being a poor poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom was literally rolling in wealth. And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being a poor poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom was literally rolling in wealth. He had besides the things before mentioned, twelve marbles, a piece of blue bottle-glass to look through, a spool cannon, a key that wouldn't unlock anything, a fragment of chalk, a glass stopper of a decanter, a tin soldier, a couple of tadpoles, six fire-crackers, a kitten with only one eye, a brass door-knob, a dog-collar—but no dog—the handle of a knife, four pieces of orange-peel, and a dilapidated old window sash.

He had had a nice, good, idle time all the while—plenty of company—and the fence had three coats of whitewash on it! If he hadn’t run out of whitewash he would have bankrupted every boy in the village.

When the narrator says, “the very thought of it burnt him like fire” in the second paragraph, he is specifically describing how Tom __________.

does not want to be made fun of

is completely set against spending all day painting the fence

does not want to do his homework, and is painting the fence to procrastinate

is eager to go swimming

is planning on running away

Explanation

This statement appears in the passage's second paragraph:

He began to think of the fun he had planned for this day, and his sorrows multiplied. Soon the boys would come tripping along on all sorts of delicious expeditions, and they would make a world of fun of him for having to work—the very thought of it burnt him like fire.

Context is very important to understanding what the narrator is describing with this simile. We need to look at the sentences that precede the simile to understand to what the narrator is referring. At the end of the first paragraph, Tom has started to paint the fence, but he is feeling overwhelmed by the scale of the job. In this paragraph, he is considering how the other boys fill make fun of him for having to work on a Saturday instead of having time to play. The content that immediately precedes the simile is "they would make a world of fun of him for having to work." Thus, we can infer that the thought of the other boys making fun of him is what "burnt \[Tom\] like fire." The correct answer is that the simile conveys how Tom "does not want to be made fun of."

8

Which figure of speech is used in the sentence below?

She pleaded for forgiveness, but his heart was a block of ice.

Metaphor

Personification

Hyperbole

Simile

Explanation

A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a comparison is made between two unrelated things. In this case, his heart was not a literal block of ice (that would be ridiculous), but the reader gets the impression that he was not interested in forgiving her.

9

Which figure of speech is used in the sentence below?

Watching the performance was as entertaining as watching paint dry.

Simile

Metaphor

Personification

Hyperbole

Explanation

A simile is a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more vivid. In this case, comparing the performance with watching paint dry gives the reader the impression that the performance was very slow and boring.

10

Which figure of speech is used in the sentence below?

I’ve asked you to take out the trash a million times!

Hyperbole

Metaphor

Simile

Personification

Explanation

Hyperboles are exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. In this case, a million times is certainly an exaggeration, but the reader gets the impression that the request to take out the trash has been made many times.

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