LITERARY LANGUAGE

What an amazing experience it was watching my 3/4 class exploring Jackie French's picture story book, "Fire, for literary devices. Their excitement was palpable. Here's what they had to say!

Rosie: Dear Jackie French,

Today we read, “Fire.” “I really enjoyed how you used personification, similes and metaphors. Some examples are, "King fire has a short harsh reign" and "earth’s green children have come back, Peering from the word of black. "I also liked "hills bleached gold".

From Rosie!    

Alexa:

My favourite thing was all the great personification such as, ‘Earth's green children have come back.” I just could not stop myself from reading it over and over again. Can you please please write a book like this one . Bye from Alexa 

Patrick:

Dear Jackie,

Today we read, “Fire”. It was a fantastic book and the part I enjoyed was when used a simile with, “Winding like a small black snake”. I liked it because it went into the detail and fire is like a small black snake. And the illustrations were really realistic ...I loved the illustrations. I also I like how you called fire the "monster" or the "beast."

Zach:

Dear Jackie ,

Today we read the book “Fire.” I really loved it when you used personification and wrote, “Trees licked by tongues of fire, Flames are laughing, higher, higher.” I also loved that simile when you wrote, “Winding like a small black snake.” But the reason why I really loved it was because you really got in there and described it very well.        

PERSONIFICATION

After reading a poem entitled, The Wind, we discovered it used many examples of personification. We decided to have a go at writing our own examples about the sun.  
Ciaran: The sun glared and pounced onto the hillside. He covered the earth with a bright, red cloak, and slapped sunburn onto helpless victims as he devoured the earth with his boiling flames. Stephanie:The sun baked the earth until it was golden brown. Her eyes watched over us until the moon rose. She guarded the sky until morning was nigh. Eden: The sun jumped into the sky. His long, warm fingers tickled the earth. His bright, yellow face glowed cheerfully at me. Joe:As the sun went for a rest, the moon, his friend, took his place. Travis:The sun spread his red arms across the land, hitting creation with his gentle hand. Hiding or shining bright, the sun goes to sleep when it reaches night.

PERSONIFICATION

Experimenting with Personification: look at what we wrote!

Everyone knows what a person is, but do you know what personification is? Personification is when you assign the qualities of a person to something that isn't human or, in some cases, to something that isn't even alive. There are many reasons for using personification. It can be used as a method of describing something so that others can understand. It can be used to emphasize a point. It is a commonly favoured literary tool, and you may in fact use personification without even knowing it.

Today we learnt about personification. We looked at some examples and shared our favourites with the class. We then were able to create our own personification- here are some examples from the class. (Katherine and Mia)

Mia: Happiness shone in my heart!
Katherine: Joy swept through my body until it came rushing out my eyes.
Daniel: The waffle jumped out of the toaster.
Corinne: I held bravery's hand through the cave.
Tessa: As I leapt out the door, I heard the wind calling to me, "Freedom, freedom!"

Jonathan: Death was closing in on me!
Nicholas: Bad luck wouldn't leave me alone!
Will J: When I woke up, joy sprang through my window.
Akon: Bravery followed me as I was fighting for my life!
Isabella: Hunger controlled my stomach when I was in class.

Ava: The moon winked at me through the clouds.
Madison: The rainbow lifted me from my sadness.
Cooper: Bravery told me to stand up.
Will C: Joy hit me in a flash when I found out I had won.
Jacob: Freedom gave me the chance to live.

Connor: Joy struck me as quickly as a flash of light.
Tia: Hunger is nobody's friend.
Jamie: Freedom patted me on the shoulder and set me on my journey.
Madeline: Fear towered over me!
Joe: Bravery was by my side the whole way.

Ivan: Loneliness consumed me as I sat in my cell.
Tom: The tower leered at me nastily.
Natalia: Moonlight danced on the water.
Gemma: When I listen to the song called, "Happy," happiness shines down upon me.