Figurative language breathes life into literature. It’s the heartbeat of poetry, the secret spark in stories, the tool that transforms simple words into images that linger. But in many classrooms, figurative language is treated as a checklist—students memorize a definition, underline an example on a worksheet, and move on. They never gain a true understanding of the value of it nor have the ability to enhance their reading experience as a result of interacting with it.

To help students grow into confident readers, thoughtful writers, and genuine lovers of literature, we have to take them beyond surface-level definitions. This post explores why figurative language instruction matters beyond simple identification, how to weave it naturally into stories, novels, and poetry, and how to bring students along on that journey with non-threatening, low-stakes activities that make the process fun, approachable, and exciting—so middle- and high-schoolers are eager to spot metaphors, personification, and symbolism hiding in plain sight.

Why Figurative Language Matters Beyond Definitions

All too often, student success is measure by their ability to recite a definition such as A simile compares two things using ‘like’ or ‘as’.” As teachers, our goal is to move them beyond this low level skill to one that is cognitively more complex. Real understanding comes when students gain the ability to think about:

• Why did the author choose this simile?
• What mood or theme does it build?
• How does it shape the reader’s understanding of the character or conflict?

Building Deeper Comprehension

When students understand how figurative language shapes meaning, they unlock the power to:

• Decode tone, mood, and theme with more confidence.
• Appreciate the author’s craft, noticing the intentional choices behind every word and image.
• Strengthen inferencing skills which are crucial for gaining a deeper understanding (which doesn’t hurt on standardized testing either).
• Write with vivid imagery, weaving metaphors, similes, and other devices into their own essays, narratives, and creative pieces.

A classroom that treats figurative language as a lens for interpretation—not just a vocabulary list—helps students become critical readers and confident communicators.

Figurative Language as a Re-Occurring Skill

Figurative Language is complex therefore an approach where it is touched upon and then forgotten does not benefit the learning of students. To build a solid foundation, the concept must be revisited all year long:

• Building the Foundation – Begin by introducing or reviewing the essential figurative language devices—simile, metaphor, personification, idiom, hyperbole, alliteration, symbolism, oxymoron, paradox, and allusion. Keep explanations simple, paired with familiar examples, so students build confidence with the basics before tackling more complex devices. Add additional concepts based on grade appropriateness.
• Continuance: Embedding in Literature – Once students have a working knowledge of the terms, weave figurative language naturally into your short stories, novel studies, and class discussions. Make it an expectation to use the terminology in both class discussions and their writing. Show them how these devices bring depth and richness to the text—like how Shakespeare’s metaphors often mirror those in The Outsiders or The Hunger Games. Encourage students to analyze how figurative language reveals character traits, sets tone, and shapes theme.
• Mastery in Action: Keep skills active and low-pressure throughout the year with bell-ringers, annotation challenges, seasonal poetry warm-ups, and quick reinforcement activities whenever there’s a few spare minutes at the end of class. Introduce more advanced devices as students are ready—such as synecdoche, extended metaphor, motif, or symbolism in poetry and drama—to help them make deeper interpretive connections across genres. Finish a lesson early, spend a few minutes engaging in a quick figurative language activity.

A re-occurring approach ensures that students see figurative language as part of all literature, not an isolated hurdle that they need to maneuver over.

Building Natural Connections in Stories and Novels

Instead of stopping the flow of a novel to “hunt for metaphors,” embed figurative language analysis within regular reading:

Middle-School Favorites

• The Giver – symbolism of color and memory
• The Outsiders – metaphors that reveal Ponyboy’s perspective on class conflict
• Esperanza Rising – personification of nature to mirror Esperanza’s emotions
• Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart – onomatopoeia and hyperbole that create suspense

High-School Staples

• Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – extended metaphors (“Juliet is the sun”) and oxymorons (“brawling love, loving hate”)
• Of Mice and Men – natural imagery and symbolism of the farm animals
• Night by Elie Wiesel – haunting personification to convey loss and despair
• Bradbury’s The Veldt – irony and vivid imagery to create tone

Students begin to recognize figurative language as a bridge between the words on the page and the deeper ideas that drive a story.

Bringing Figurative Language to Life with Art Projects

A powerful way to deepen students’ understanding of figurative language is to take it off the page and into creative expression. When students illustrate a metaphor, craft a collage inspired by a symbol, or analyze the figurative language in a favorite song’s lyrics, they move beyond memorizing definitions to truly interpret meaning and see how imagery, tone, and symbolism come alive through art and music. For many learners—especially visual and kinesthetic thinkers—these hands-on projects transform abstract concepts into something concrete, personal, and unforgettable.

Examples of Figurative Language + Art Projects

• Metaphor Mood Boards: Choose a metaphor from a novel and create a digital or physical mood board that captures its meaning and tone.
• Personification Art Exhibit: Illustrate objects or ideas brought to life in the text (like “The wind whispered secrets” or “Time stood still”).
• Simile Story Sketchbooks: Have students pick similes from a short story and design sketches or watercolors that depict each one.
• Symbol Collage: Create a collage of images and textures representing symbols from a class novel.
• Idioms in Action Comics: Turn idioms into a 3-panel comic strip to show both the literal and figurative meaning.
• Lyric & Figurative Language Remix: Analyze the figurative language in a favorite school-appropriate song—then let students pair the lyrics with visuals or short video clips that reflect the imagery and tone.
• Poetry + Art Showcase: Pair students’ original figurative language poems with complementary artwork or a curated playlist of songs that match the poem’s mood for a multimedia gallery walk.

Fun & Low-Stakes Practice Activities

To keep figurative language approachable—and to avoid student fatigue—incorporate short, engaging tasks throughout the year:

• Color-Coded Annotations: Highlight devices in different colors during class readings.
• Scavenger Hunts: Challenge students to find examples of specific devices in their independent reading or a chapter of a novel.
• Figurative Language Bell-Ringers: Use a quick daily prompt like “Spot the hyperbole in this ad” or “Explain the metaphor in today’s quote.”
• Holiday-Themed Passages: Bring seasonal fun—Halloween descriptions, Thanksgiving poems, or winter similes—to keep interest high. Use figurative language sentences & stories to practice in short, non-intimidating contexts. Use materials that are age appropriate to create engagement.
• Lyric Connections: Display a snippet of a popular, school-appropriate song and ask students to identify and analyze its figurative language.

These low-stakes activities ensure frequent exposure and give students opportunities to practice without pressure, reinforcing skills in authentic ways.

Poetry in Motion: Turning Figurative Language Readers into Writers

The Transition from Reading to Writing
Poetry is the ideal bridge that helps students transition from simply recognizing figurative language to truly understanding how it works. By studying well-chosen poems, students can see firsthand how authors use metaphors, similes, and personification to shape meaning and tone. Middle school classes might read Langston Hughes’s “Dreams” to explore how metaphors give abstract concepts vivid life or Emily Dickinson’s “Hope is the Thing with Feathers” to see how extended metaphor conveys emotion. High schoolers might analyze the personification and imagery in William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” or the striking symbolism in Amanda Gorman’s “The Hill We Climb”. These works give students concrete examples of how figurative language transforms a simple idea into a powerful image or feeling

Putting Figurative Language into Students’ Writing
Once students have seen these devices in action, they’re ready to experiment as writers themselves. Encourage them to create metaphor-based poems about dreams, emotions, or personal challenges, or write personification poems that give voice to everyday objects like a school bus or the first snowfall. Short forms such as haikus, free-verse nature poems, or shape poems help students focus on one device at a time—like using alliteration to capture the sound of rain or crafting a simile that describes the glow of a winter sunset. By moving from readers to creators, students internalize how figurative language works and discover its power as a tool for their own self-expression

Found & Blackout Poetry: Revealing Figurative Language in Unexpected Places
Found Poems:
Found poetry invites students to discover figurative language hidden in plain sight. Using an existing text—such as a newspaper article, a history passage, or a chapter from a novel—students “find” words and phrases that stand out and rearrange them into a poem. For instance, while reading The Giver, students might pull lines about color, memory, and choice to create a new poem that highlights symbolism and tone. This activity demonstrates that figurative language often emerges naturally from carefully chosen words, even without starting from scratch.

Blackout Poems:
Blackout poetry adds a visual, artistic twist. Students begin with a page of text (like a photocopied article or a discarded paperback) and use markers to blackout all the words they don’t want, leaving only those that form a poem. The final product often reveals unexpected metaphors, personification, or vivid imagery—all brought to life by the students’ intentional selections.

Mirror Poems: Reflecting Meaning and Figurative Language

Mirror poems—popularized by educator Cynthia Platt—offer a powerful way for students to explore opposites, dual perspectives, and figurative expression. The poem’s second half mirrors the first, often reversing lines or ideas to reveal a contrasting viewpoint or tone.

To make the activity richer, challenge students to weave in at least two figurative language devices—such as metaphor, personification, or imagery—to deepen the emotional resonance.

For example:

I rise with the dawn, a golden flame in the sky,
The meadow hums a melody of promise as birds fly.
But when twilight drapes its velvet curtain low,
The golden flame fades, and the meadow hums no more.

Here, the sun is personified as a “golden flame,” the twilight as a “velvet curtain,” and the meadow hums—a blend of personification and imagery that enhances the mood.

Classroom Prompt Ideas:

• Write a mirror poem where the first half gives voice to spring (flowers blooming, rivers rushing) and the second half reflects winter (branches bare, rivers frozen).
• Create a mirror poem exploring courage vs. fear, where each half uses metaphors or similes to portray the emotion.
• Craft a mirror poem about a city by day and by night, using sensory imagery to highlight the shift in tone and energy.

This assignment not only teaches students the structure of a mirror poem but also helps them see how figurative language can shift tone, build imagery, and convey deeper meaning across contrasting perspectives.

These creative projects are low-pressure yet powerful, encouraging students to experiment with tone, mood, and symbolism in a playful way. Both activities help students see figurative language as something organic and dynamic, turning the act of reading into an opportunity for discovery and artistic expression.

Closing Thoughts

Figurative language instruction shouldn’t be a brief, stand-alone unit on the calendar; it should be a recurring thread woven through every reading and writing experience. By embedding it into novels, poetry, and creative projects—and incorporating low-stakes, engaging, and even artistic or musical activities—teachers can help students uncover the deeper meaning behind the words.

Many students initially view figurative language as “extra” or intimidating. As teachers, our role is to make it relatable by breaking down its complexity and creating a classroom environment where struggle is normalized and students feel safe to take risks with something new. By doing so, we are allowing for a world where students gain the ability to engage at a deeper level with literature as well as the skills necessary to express themselves with a greater voice.