/ / /
/ I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
By William Wordsworth
Metaphors-Similes-Personification

Student Page
Mr. Rasmussen’s class, click on the link below
Link to Activity sheets

Introduction

You are going to learn how to create poems where your reader can visualize what you are trying to tell them. You will use three poetic techniques (called figures of speech) to do this, similes, metaphors, and personifications. The simile and the metaphor always contain two parts, an "X" and a "Y". These are the two things that you are trying to compare. By using metaphors and similes, you help the reader understand what your ideas and feelings are.

X=my love...Y=red rose

Similes: "My love is like a red, red rose."

Metaphors: "My love is a red rose."

Simile: This kind of technique makes a direct comparison between two unlike subjects. The simile always uses the words "like" or "as".
Example: "Waves crashing on the ocean look like knives; Sadness falls inside me like the rain; I wandered lonely as a cloud"
Metaphor: This kind of a technique makes a direct comparison without using "like" or "as".
Example: "Fog comes in on little cat's feet; April is my girlfriend's face; All the world's a stage"

Personifications are a different type of comparison.

Personification: This kind of a figure of speech gives human characteristics to a non-human subjects.
Example: "Father time; Whispering trees; Babbling brook"


The Task: Overview of our three-day assignment

Click on the Activity Sheets link on the previous page for assignments.

·  Read the poem, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth

·  Find the figures of speech: metaphors, similes, and personifications in the poem

·  Analyze the basic organizational structure of the poem (Activity sheets)

·  Write a poem using figurative language


Resources

To complete this lesson on metaphors, similes and personifications, the following resources are needed

·  "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth-print off copies for students

·  Paper and pencil

·  Activity Sheets (link on page 1) for analysis and study of the poem

The following web sites also have lessons dealing with figurative language.

·  The 1poe site has further information about metaphors and similes, in addition to student samples using these writing techniques.

·  This web site, poetry, contains lessons for writing a variety of poems. It also has some of your favorite authors and their poetry


The Process

This lesson will take approximately two days to do in class to complete the activity sheets. On the second day you will have homework, a poem to write.

First Day: You will be completing activity sheets to help you understand the poem. (The student link is at the top of page one under student activity sheets.

·  1. Go to the Internet (Figurative site) and read the definitions of metaphors, similes, and personification.

·  2. Read the poem ("I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud") from the Internet or print off a copy from the web site

·  3. Complete numbers 1-3 of the activity sheets. These are the topics

o  Finding metaphors (only 2), similes, and personifications

o  Vocabulary Development

o  Understanding the poem

·  4. You may work either as a team of 2,3, or 4. You may also work individually to complete this assignment

Second Day: You will complete activity sheets to help you understand the poem

1. Continue working on the activity sheets, complete numbers 4 and 5. These are the topics

·  Comprehension

·  Analyzing the organization of the poem

Third Day: You will write your own figurative poem, using an activity sheet to guide you through the process

·  1. Find and complete the activity sheet that says, "Create a poem that uses figurative language."

·  2. Create your own poem, remember to use Wordsworth's poem as a model

Evaluation

Completion marks and possible formal evaluation in your anthology. (Remember you pick your top 5 poems for a formal evaluation)

Conclusion

I hope this assignment helped you understand similes. When you write your own poem, concentrate on creating metaphors, similes, and personifications that are unusual, yet vivid comparisons. Organization and formatting of the poem are both important.