Sequence, then, is an aid to both attention and memory.

While it is giving strength to the power to heed it is also aiding the retentive faculty. It follows, therefore, that all those rules of association for the cultivation of memory will be of assistance to the student of sequence, as for example: 1. Linking together ideas that are similar, either as synonymous, abstract and concrete, genus and species, or part and whole. 2. Giving ideas prominence by contrast. 3. Using connotation or force of suggestion, as in historic or personal associations, references to that which is already in the mind. By the use of such means it is within the power of the writer so to fasten the parts of a theme together, even before it is written, that he can not by whatsoever interruptions or vagaries of thought lead the reader astray. There are places in the body of an article where it would seem that the matter of sequence seems to be of paramount importance, positions where it should have its strongest hold. These are of no less importance to the writer in the proper guidance of his theme than they are to the reader in comprehension and retention of the thought. For many of us realize often to our sorrow what a willful beast is Pegasus; and frequently discover that we have started in faithfully with one premise, a premise selected after much deliberation and with reckonings of a correct judgment, that our deliberate plans are set aside in some unaccountable way, and the final conclusion is reached by an altogether different course. For this we have to blame only the lack of training in sequence, the inability to see the closest associations and to follow them out. In the first few paragraphs there should come some closely associated thoughts; there should be no breaks here in the attention; everything should be done at this point to awaken interest and hold attention. This should be done not only to get the reader to continue the reading, but also to aid his memory of these facts when he has come to the later and dependent parts of the story. These may be associations of likeness or contrast. Just before the climax there should be something to fix the attention upon that important point. This may be contrast, an alternative, a possibility of a different ending, or a doubt of some kind. In the conclusion there should be some references that appeal strongly to the reader as the reader of that particular story, that h Resource Link Sequencing Graphic Organizer Other Notes (supplies needed, tips on using the resource, or directions for accessing the resource at the above link, etc.) In this lesson activity, your chid will select and read a very short fiction book. Then, using a graphic organizer, he or she will sequence the story by writing the beginning, middle, end as well as a summary. Help your child see that by sequencing the events of the story, he or she can better come up with a summary for the story.

Look in the top right-hand corner of the page for the the small box titled "Materials," and click where it says "print here," and the page will open in a PDF file. You will need Adobe Reader to open the PDF file. Use the print button on your browser to print the graphic organizer. You will need the following supplies: Printer supplies Pencil Short fiction book to read

Types of Figurative Language in Poetry Make sure what you learn is valuable beyond the walls of the classroom. As you study examples of poetry using figurative language, focus on the lasting benefits of becoming a master of figurative language. Use the following guidelines. You should know the what figurative language is if you are studying figurative language in poetry. Simply knowing the definitions, however, is not sufficient. metaphor - a comparison between two seemingly unlike things. Examples of poems containing metaphors abound. simile - a comparison between two seemingly unlike things using like or as. Examples of poems containing similes abound. personification - giving human characteristics to inanimate objects. Examples of poems using personification abound. allusion - a reference to a famous person, event, or other literary work. Examples will follow. apostrophe - a speech given to an inanimate object, an idea, or someone who is dead. Examples will follow. hyperbole - a deliberate exaggeration. Examples will follow. meiosis - a deliberate understatement. Examples will follow. pun - when a word or phrase is used with two different meanings.

You should be able to identify examples of figurative language in poetry on your own. You should be able to explain the purpose for the figurative language and analyze how it contributes to the theme of the poem. You should be able to write poetry using figurative language. You should be able to use figurative language in your own writing to communicate more clearly.

Once you are able to own figurative language and use it to present your ideas clearly, you will have become a figurative language master. Let's begin by analyzing the following examples of figurative language in poetry.

How to Analyze a Poem

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How to Analyze a Poem in 10 Easy Steps Okay, so you have to analyze a poem. First, lets change the wordanalyze and make it less scary. We prefer the word approach because a poem can have different meanings for different readers. As Billy Collins says, you should not be trying to beat a confession out of a poem. 1) Read through at least twice. You will have to read a poem multiple times before even attempting to approach it for deeper meanings. Give yourself a chance to thoroughly and fully experience the poem. 2) Is there a title? Dont forget to take this into consideration. Readers often skip over a poems title, which may contain important clues for understanding the piece. Often the title is an introduction that can guide you; for example, Langston Hughes Mother to Son immediately lets you know who the speaker of the poem is and to whom she is speaking. 3) Stay calm! If there are any unfamiliar words or even a few foreign terms, dont panic and dont obsess. On your first read through, just let them go and try instead to focus on the larger meaning of the poem. On the second and subsequent passes, you should then look up those troublesome words or anything else that is problematic for you. 4) Read it aloud. Yes. You must do this. Poems are meant to be heard. Often you will find that places in the poem that gave you trouble on the page suddenly make sense when read out loud. You may feel silly at first, but soon youll be comfortable. (Cats and dogs, by the way, make particularly good audiences...though cats tend to be more critical and may leave at a pivotal point in your performance.) Read in your normal voice. Dont try to sound like Maya Angelou. Unless you are Maya Angelou. 5) Pay attention to punctuation. Most poems use punctuation to help guide the voice of its reader. You need to pay attention because the end of a line is frequently not the end of a sentence. Consider these lines from Robert Frosts Birches: When I see birches bend to left and right Across the lines of straighter darker trees, I like to think some boys been swinging in them. If you stop reading or pause at the end of the first line, it will sound broken and unnatural. If you read smoothly through, pausing briefly at the comma and making a full stop at the period, the poem will have its proper conversational tone. 6) Try paraphrasing. It may be best for you to write in your own words what the poet is saying in each line of the poem. As you work through it, youll see which areas you need to concentrate on. But again, avoid the notion that there is one true meaning. 7) Who is the speaker? Remember not to confuse the poet with the speaker of the poem. More often than not, the speaker is a character, just like in a novel or a play. Determining who the speaker is will help you approach the work more easily. 8) Be open to interpretation. Give it a chance. For example, William Carlos Williams poem The Red Wheelbarrow is often dismissed as cryptic, confusing, and ultimately unknowable. But being

open to the poets intentions can lead you to some interesting ideas and questions (in this case, what is important to life?). 9) There are no useless words. Poets select each and every word carefully. None should be dismissed. Images and symbols all have a purpose in the overall meaning of the poem. 10) Dont expect a definitive reading. Many poems are intentionally open-ended and refuse to resolve their internal tensions. While it is desirable to understand what a poem is saying, remember that there are approaches and interpretations other than your own.

Words with Multiple Meanings

Many words with multiple meanings exist in the English language. Technically, almost every word has a multiple meaning. How often do you go into the dictionary to look up a word, and find that only one meaning is listed next to it? Practically never! Many words have slightly varying meanings, or they can be used as different parts of speech. However, we will primarily focus on words that have multiple meanings in a broader sense. Basic Definitions When we start talking about words with multiple meanings, there are some basic definitions that we need to discuss first. Those defintions are the ones attached to homonyms, homophones, and homographs.
Homonyms are words which have the same spelling and pronounciation, but have different meanings. Homophones are words which have the same pronounication, but different spellings and meanings. Homographs are words that are spelt the same, but have different pronounications and meanings.

Since the topic of words with multiple meanings is so broad, we will cover examples from each of these three unique areas. What follows are lists of homonyms, homophones, and homographs, and an explanation as to why each word belongs in that category if it is not apparent from the spellings.

Homonyms crane: That bird is a crane./They had to use a crane to lift the object./She had to crane her neck to see the

movie. date: Her favorite fruit to eat is a date./Joe took Alexandria out on a date. engaged: They got engaged on March 7th./The students were very engaged in the presentation. foil: Please wrap the sandwich in foil./They learned about the role of a dramatic foil in English class. leaves: The children love to play in the leaves./They do not like when their father leaves for work. net: What was your net gain for the year?/Crabbing is easier if you bring a net along.

point: The pencil has a sharp point./It is not polite to point at people. right: You were right./Make a right turn at the light. rose: My favorite flower is a rose./He quickly rose from his seat. type: He can type over 100 words per minute./That dress is really not her type.

Homophones is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning. The words may
be spelled the same, such as rose (flower) and rose (past tense of "rise"), or differently, such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two, and too. Homophones that are spelled the same are also both homographs and homonyms.[1] Homophones that are spelled differently are also called heterographs. The term "homophone" may also apply to units longer or shorter than words, such as phrases, letters or groups of letters that are pronounced the same as another phrase, letter or group of letters. Two or more words which

are pronounced the same but have different spelling and meaning e.g. 'saw' (to cut) and 'sore' (hurting). Many puns are based on homophones.
The word derives from the Greek homo- (-), "same", and phn (), "voice, utterance". The opposite is heterophone: similar, but not phonetically identical words.

pale/pail ate/eight alter/altar band/banned buy/bye/by red/read blew/blue boar/bore canon/cannon coarse/course fair/fare genes/jeans foul/fowl grate/great in/inn hour/our knight/night no/know nose/knows

maize/maze meddle/metal rain/reign sea/see role/roll their/there/theyre veil/vale

Homographs read: She is going to read the book later./He read the book last night.

bass: They caught a bass./His voice belongs in the bass section. bow: She put a bow in her daughter's hair./Please bow down to the emperor. minute: That is only a minute problem./Wait a minute! learned: The class learned that information last week./He is a very learned individual. sewer: The rats crept through the sewer./She is a fine sewer. wound: They wound up the toy as soon as they got it./She received a wound from the punch. does: He does his homework every night./There were many does in the forest. wind: The wind swept up the leaves./Wind the clock up before you go to bed. sow: A sow is a female pig./We'll sow the seeds in springtime.

Using Words with Multiple Meanings Pay extra attention to your writing and speaking when you are using any of these words! Using the wrong form could entirely change the meaning of what you are trying to say.

Figurative Language Definitions Alliteration

Alliteration is the repetition of a single letter in the alphabet (as in "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickle peppers.") or a combination of letters (as in "She sells seashells by the seashore."). It's just about the easiest form of repetition a poet can use. Metaphor A metaphor compares two unlike things. "My baby sister's a doll," you might say, compares your sister's size and sweetness to that of the perfection of a doll. At another time you might say, "My brother is a rat." This compares your brother to the nastiest little creature you can think of. In both cases you would be making a metaphor - a form of comparison that directly compares two unlike things. A metaphor wastes no time in getting to the point. Simile If you said, "My sister is like a doll," or maybe, "My brother's good as gold," you would be making a simile - a form of comparison in which one thing is compared to another unlike thing by using specific words of comparison like like, as, and resembles. Poets try to find unusual metaphors and similes. Onomatopoeia In its simplest form, onomatopoeia is produced by a single word that sounds like the thing it refers to: "Six burgers were sizzling on the grill." "A snake slithered through the grass." Personification One of the most familiar kinds of comparison is personification---that is, speaking of something that is not human as if it had human abilities and human reactions. Hyperbole A great exaggeration used to emphasize a point, and is used for expressive or comic effect. A hyperbole is not to be taken literally. Example: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." We know that eating an apple every day will not keep you from ever getting sick and having to go to the doctor.

Idiom Idioms are groups of words whose meaning is different from the ordinary meaning of the words. The context can help you understand what an idiom means. For example: "Put a lid on it." Our teacher tells us to put a lid on it. She's not really telling us to put a lid on something but to be quiet and pay attention.