Reading stories and poems: word choice, tone, and point of view (grade 6) · lesson

Similes, metaphors, and more

💡 Figurative language compares or stretches the truth to help you see or feel something.

A simile compares two things using "like" or "as." A metaphor compares them without those words. Personification gives human actions to something that is not human. Hyperbole is a big stretch of the truth.

To find what it means, picture the comparison. Ask what the two things have in common. That shared trait is the meaning.

Figurative language is not meant to be true. If a line says a boy's feet were "made of lead," his feet are not really metal. They feel heavy.

🧠 Let's work it out

Line: "The wind howled like a lost dog."

Is there "like" or "as"? Yes, so it is a simile.
What do a lost dog's howl and the wind share? Both are loud and sad.
So the line tells you the wind is loud and lonely.

What do you think comes next?

simile: a comparison using "like" or "as"
metaphor: a comparison that says one thing is another
personification: giving human actions or feelings to a thing
hyperbole: a huge stretch of the truth for effect

🔗 Khan Academy: Craft and structure (grade 6) · Khan Academy ↗

Who is telling the story

💡 The narrator decides whose thoughts and feelings the reader gets to know.

In first person, a character tells the story using "I" and "me." You hear that person's thoughts, but no one else's.

In third person, a narrator outside the story uses "he," "she," and "they." Third-person limited shares one character's thoughts. Third-person omniscient shares many characters' thoughts.

Point of view changes how you feel. First person puts you inside one character's head, so you feel what they feel.

🧠 Let's work it out

Text: "Jon held his breath. Would she say yes? Mia just shrugged."

The narrator says "Jon" and "she," not "I," so it is third person.
We know Jon's thoughts, but only Mia's actions.
So it is third-person limited, through Jon.

What do you think comes next?

narrator: the voice that tells the story
first person: told by a character using "I"
third person: told by an outside voice using "he" or "she"

Details and words that mean more

💡 An author picks a detail or a line of talk to show something the story does not say outright.

Some objects in a story stand for something bigger. A trophy kept on a shelf might stand for a proud moment.

What a character says can show who they are. Read the words, then look at what the character does next. Actions tell you if the words were kind, joking, or sad.

Ask: why did the author include this? The answer usually connects to how a character feels or to the story's big idea.

🧠 Let's work it out

Story: Jae drops a plate, and it breaks. Mom looks at the pieces and says, 'Well, now I have an excuse to buy new ones.' Then she hugs him. Is she angry?

Her words are a joke, and the hug shows she isn't upset.
Her line shows she cares more about Jae than about the plate.

What do you think comes next?

symbol: an object that stands for a bigger idea
dialogue: the words characters say

How the parts fit together

💡 Each part of a story or poem has a job, and the ending often connects back to the beginning.

Authors often repeat a phrase at the end that came up at the start. When it comes back, it means more because of what has happened.

In a poem, compare stanzas. Look at how the speaker feels in each one. A change in feeling from one stanza to the next is often the heart of the poem.

The last scene is a choice. Ask what it shows about the characters now, compared with how they were earlier.

🧠 Let's work it out

Story: at the start, Coach says, "Real practice starts when you're tired." At the end, a tired girl keeps running. Coach nods: "Now you're practicing."

Go back to the first line to see what "practicing" means: pushing on when tired.
She has learned it.

What do you think comes next?

structure: how the parts of a text are put together
speaker: the voice in a poem