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AAPI Women Voices: Identity & Activism in Poetry

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LESSON 3

Simile and Metaphor

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Image Credits: Asian American Education Project & Pixabay

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Literal and Figurative Language

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A. Literal language

is used to mean exactly what is written.

It was raining a lot, so I rode the bus.

B. Figurative language

is used to mean something other than what is written; something symbolic, suggested, or implied

It was raining cats and dogs, so I rode the bus.

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Simile and metaphor are figurative language

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	Simile	Metaphor
	using “like” or “as”	Not using “like” or “as”
1	Life is like a journey.	Life is a journey.
2	You are like sunshine on a cloudy day.	You are my sunshine on a cloudy day.
3	You are like a hurricane: there's calm in your eye, but I'm getting blown away.	You are a hurricane.

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Simile

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	Simile
4	Her wit is as sharp as a razor.
5	For I knew his eyes like an old, old song.
6	They only know our love was brief And passing like an autumn leaf
7	A single dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice.
8	The pale moon like a petal floats in the dusk of Spring.
9	My good intent has fallen short like an arrow.

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Metaphor

	Metaphor
10	His answer to the problem was just a Band-Aid, not a solution.
11	The path of resentment is easier to travel than the road to forgiveness.
12	The teacher planted the seeds of wisdom.
13	The wheels of justice turn slowly.
14	And therefore I went forth with hope and fear into the wintry forest of our life.

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Which is a simile? �Which is a metaphor?

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		Simile or Metaphor
15	He is as tall as a tree.
16	My book bag feels like a bag of rocks.
17	He is fishing in troubled waters.
18	She dances like she was trying to shake a spider off her leg.
19	He is the Stephen Curry of his basketball team.

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		Simile or Metaphor
15	He is as tall as a tree.	Simile
16	My book bag feels like a bag of rocks.
17	He is fishing in troubled waters.
18	She dances like she was trying to shake a spider off her leg.
19	He is the Stephen Curry of his basketball team.

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Which is a simile? �Which is a metaphor?

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Which is a simile? �Which is a metaphor?

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		Simile or Metaphor
15	He is as tall as a tree.	Simile
16	My book bag feels like a bag of rocks.	Simile
17	He is fishing in troubled waters.
18	She dances like she was trying to shake a spider off her leg.
19	He is the Stephen Curry of his basketball team.

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Which is a simile? �Which is a metaphor?

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		Simile or Metaphor
15	He is as tall as a tree.	Simile
16	My book bag feels like a bag of rocks.	Simile
17	He is fishing in troubled waters.	Metaphor
18	She dances like she was trying to shake a spider off her leg.
19	He is the Stephen Curry of his basketball team.

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		Simile or Metaphor
15	He is as tall as a tree.	Simile
16	My book bag feels like a bag of rocks.	Simile
17	He is fishing in troubled waters.	Metaphor
18	She dances like she was trying to shake a spider off her leg.	Simile
19	He is the Stephen Curry of his basketball team.

Which is a simile? �Which is a metaphor?

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		Simile or Metaphor
15	He is as tall as a tree.	Simile
16	My book bag feels like a bag of rocks.	Simile
17	He is fishing in troubled waters.	Metaphor
18	She dances like she was trying to shake a spider off her leg.	Simile
19	He is the Stephen Curry of his basketball team.	Metaphor

Which is a simile? �Which is a metaphor?

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Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner

Born in the Marshall Islands. Moved to Hawai’i at the age of 7. Moved back to the Marshall Islands at the age of 25
Earned MA from University of Hawai’i Mānoa
Climate activist. Addressed UN’s Climate Summit in 2014
Writes about nuclear testing conducted in the Marshall Islands, militarism, the rising sea level as a result of climate change, forced migration, racism in America
From 1946 to 1958, the U.S. conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. Equals 1.6 Hiroshima-size explosions per day

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Image Credits: Untold Stories Through Poetry and Asian American Education Project

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“Tell Them” by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner

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Image Credit: United States Department of Energy (public domain image)

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toasted dark brown as the carved ribs of a tree stump

“Tell Them” by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner

Simile

Stanza 4:

show them where it is on a map�tell them we are a proud people

Flag of Republic of the Marshall Islands

Image Credit: Pixabay (Royalty Free)

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Location of Republic of the Marshall Islands

Image Credit: Pixabay (Royalty Free)

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tell them we are descendants of�the finest navigators in the world�tell them

our islands were dropped�from a basket�carried by a giant

“Tell Them” by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner

Metaphor

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Image Credit: Holger Behr (public domain image)

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as fast as the wind

slicing through the

pacific sea

“Tell Them” by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner

Metaphor

Simile

tell them

we are the hollow hulls of canoes

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Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons (public domain image)

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we are wood shavings�and drying pandanus leaves�and sticky bwiros at kemems�tell them we are sweet harmonies�of grandmothers mothers aunties and sisters�songs late into night

“Tell Them” by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner

Identify the similes and metaphors

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Images Credit: Pixabay (Royalty Free)

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we are wood shavings�and drying pandanus leaves�and sticky bwiros at kemems�tell them we are sweet harmonies�of grandmothers mothers aunties and sisters�songs late into night

“Tell Them” by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner

metaphors

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tell them we are whispered prayers�the breath of God�a crown of fuschia flowers encircling�Aunty Mary’s white sea foam hair�tell them we are styrofoam cups of Kool-Aid red�waiting patiently for the ilomij

“Tell Them” by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner

Identify the similes and metaphors

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Image Credit: Pixabay (Royalty Free)

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tell them we are whispered prayers�the breath of God�a crown of fuschia flowers encircling�Aunty Mary’s white sea foam hair�tell them we are styrofoam cups of koolaid red�waiting patiently for the ilomij

“Tell Them” by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner

metaphors

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Simile Metaphor Homework

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Finish the interpreting simile and metaphor chart in the “Simile Metaphor Worksheet.”
Read Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner’s biography in the “AAPI Women Voice” story.
Answer the discussion questions.
Complete the simile metaphor exercise.

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�Simile Metaphor Homework 2

Read Monica Ferrell’s biography in �the “AAPI Women Voices” story.
Read Monica Ferrell’s poem, �“Geburt des Monicakinds.”
Complete the interpreting simile �and metaphor chart on Monica �Ferrell’s poem, “Geburt des Monicakinds.”
Complete discussion questions.

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Image from Untold Stories Through Poetry

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Curriculum Developer:

Megan Roberto

Curriculum Contributors:

Prabhneek Heer, Kristy Phan

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AAPI Women Voices: Identity & Activism in Poetry