All winter, Maya's family worried about Grandma, who was in the hospital. On the morning Grandma finally came home, the clouds parted and sunlight poured through the kitchen window.
Grade 6 · English Language Arts · Unit 9 of 11
Figurative Language
Metaphors, imagery and symbols
What your child practises
Naming similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, alliteration and idioms, explaining what they mean, finding the sense an image appeals to and working out what a symbol stands for.
New Brunswick Curriculum skill descriptor: Representing: Craft · figurative language
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
What does “on thin ice” mean in this sentence?
After forgetting his chores again, Leo was on thin ice.
- feeling very cold
- standing perfectly still
- in a risky situation where he might get in trouble
- skating on a frozen pond
in a risky situation where he might get in trouble
Hint: Thin ice could crack at any moment. What might happen if Leo forgets his chores once more?
Question 2
What does the sunlight most likely symbolize?
- relief and the start of a happier time
- the start of a heat wave
- Maya's worry about the hospital
- a need to close the curtains
relief and the start of a happier time
Hint: The sunlight appears at the exact moment the family's worry ends. What feeling does it stand for?
Question 3
What does the idiom in this sentence mean?
With the test on Friday, it was time to hit the books.
- to study hard
- to knock books off a shelf
- to write a new book
- to throw old books away
to study hard
Hint: Idioms don't mean what their words say. What do people do before a test?
Question 4
Which sense does this imagery mostly appeal to?
After the rain, the air smelled of wet earth and pine needles.
- Smell
- Sound
- Sight
- Touch
Smell
Hint: Find the key words (“smelled of wet earth”). Which sense would notice that?
Question 5
What kind of figurative language is used here?
My alarm clock nagged me to get out of bed.
- Personification
- Metaphor
- Hyperbole
- Alliteration
Personification
Hint: Personification gives human actions or feelings to something that isn't human.
Question 6
What kind of figurative language is used here?
The fallen leaves danced across the parking lot.
- Personification
- Simile
- Idiom
- Alliteration
Personification
Hint: Personification gives human actions or feelings to something that isn't human.