Read It On your own, identify each type of figurative language from "With a little
Help From My Friends." Then, share your work with your group.
EFFECT
EXAMPLE FROM THE TEXT
TYPE OF FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE
My life became one long-running Oprah
show, minus the free luxury accommodations
in Chicago, and Oprah. (paragraph 1)
I tried my best to be a worthy representative
of my homeland, but, like a Hollywood
celebrity relentlessly pursued by paparazzi,
I sometimes got tired of the questions.
(paragraph 9)
This avalanche of kindness did not make
our impending departure any easier.
(paragraph 16)
If someone had been able to encapsulate
the kindness of these second-graders in
pill form, the pills would undoubtedly put
many war correspondents out of business.
paragraph 15)

Read the excerpts from “take the tortillas out of your poetry” and “speaking arabic.” my friend had concluded that if he took his language and culture out of his poetry, he stood a better chance of receiving a fellowship. he took out his native language, the poetic patois of our reality, the rich mixture of spanish, english, pachuco and street talk which we know so well. in other words, he took the tortillas out of his poetry, which is to say he took the soul out of his poetry. at a neighborhood fair in texas, somewhere between the german oom-pah sausage stand and the mexican gorditas booth, i overheard a young man say to his friend, “i wish i had a heritage. sometimes i feel—so lonely for one.” and the tall american trees were dangling their thick branches right down over his head. which best states how the structures of both excerpts support ideas about cultural diversity? each incorporates non-english words. each incorporates academic words. each incorporates offensive words. each incorporates nonsense words.