English Language Arts · 7th Grade · The Poetic Voice: Structure and Figurative Language · Weeks 28-36

Writing Poetry: Using Figurative Language

Craft original poems that effectively use metaphors, similes, personification, and imagery.

• Common Core State Standards
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.3.d
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.7.5

About This Topic

Figurative language is how poets create meaning beyond literal description. When students write their own poems, they move from identifying metaphors, similes, personification, and imagery in published work to making those choices themselves -- which requires a different kind of understanding. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.3.d and L.7.5 ask students to use precise language and figurative language effectively, and poetry writing is one of the most concentrated contexts in which these skills develop.

The most common challenge is that students often reach for familiar, generic figures of language ('eyes like stars,' 'heart of gold') rather than constructing original ones. Building an expectation of specificity from the start -- asking students what makes a comparison surprising or apt -- helps. The most effective metaphors find a connection between two things that readers recognize as true once they see it, even if they would not have thought of it themselves.

Active approaches are particularly valuable here because figurative language is inherently social: we know a metaphor works when someone else responds to it. Peer response, oral sharing, and workshop critique give students real audience feedback on whether their language choices land.

Key Questions

1. Construct a metaphor that creates a surprising and insightful comparison.
2. How can a writer use sensory details to create vivid and memorable imagery in a poem?
3. Evaluate the impact of different figurative language choices on the reader's emotional response.

Learning Objectives

• Create an original metaphor that establishes a surprising yet insightful comparison between two unlike things.
• Compose a poem utilizing at least three distinct types of figurative language (simile, metaphor, personification) to convey a specific mood or idea.
• Analyze the impact of specific imagery choices on a reader's emotional response by comparing two poems with similar themes but different sensory details.
• Explain how the use of personification can imbue an inanimate object or abstract concept with relatable human qualities.
• Critique a peer's poem, identifying specific examples of figurative language and suggesting improvements for clarity and impact.

Before You Start

Identifying Figurative Language in Poetry

Why: Students need to be able to recognize and name different types of figurative language before they can effectively use them in their own writing.

Descriptive Writing: Using Sensory Details

Why: A strong foundation in using sensory details is essential for creating vivid imagery, a key component of poetic writing.

Key Vocabulary

Metaphor	A figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things without using 'like' or 'as', suggesting a resemblance or analogy.
Simile	A figure of speech that compares two unlike things using 'like' or 'as' to highlight a shared quality.
Personification	Attributing human qualities, characteristics, or behaviors to inanimate objects, animals, or abstract ideas.
Imagery	The use of vivid and descriptive language that appeals to the reader's senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) to create a mental picture.
Figurative Language	Language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation, often for rhetorical effect.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

More figurative language always makes a poem better.

What to Teach Instead

Figurative language works through precision and fit, not quantity. A single unexpected, well-placed metaphor can carry more meaning than five forced ones. Students benefit from exercises where they revise an overwritten poem to identify which figurative devices actually add meaning and which are merely decorative.

Common Misconception

Personification means just saying an object 'feels' or 'thinks.'

What to Teach Instead

Effective personification assigns a human quality to a non-human subject in a way that creates meaning. 'The clock laughed at him' is personification, but the question is whether that specific quality (laughter) creates the right implication. Students should evaluate not just whether they used personification but whether the attribution is illuminating.

Common Misconception

Imagery means describing something visual.

What to Teach Instead

Imagery refers to language that appeals to any of the five senses -- not just sight but also sound, touch, taste, and smell. Encouraging students to deliberately choose non-visual sensory language often produces more original and vivid writing than prompts focused on visual description alone.

Active Learning Ideas

Think-Pair-Share: Constructing Original Metaphors

Students receive a list of abstract concepts (grief, courage, boredom, anticipation) and must write one original metaphor or simile for each that they haven't heard before. Partners share their constructions and identify the most surprising or precise comparison. The class collects the strongest examples to use as mentor texts for their own poems.

25 min·Pairs

Inquiry Circle: Sensory Image Map

Small groups choose a single subject (a storm, a crowded hallway, a fading sunset) and brainstorm specific sensory details for each of the five senses. Each group writes a stanza using at least three sense-based images, aiming for language that is concrete and specific rather than generic. Groups share and peer-evaluate for vividness.

35 min·Small Groups

Gallery Walk: Generic vs. Specific Figurative Language

Post paired stanzas around the room -- one using generic figurative language, one using original and specific language on the same subject. Students annotate each pair with their analysis of why one is more effective. Discussion focuses on what makes specific language work: precision, surprise, and concrete detail.

30 min·Whole Class

Role Play: Poet's Circle Reading

Students read their completed poems aloud in small groups. After each reading, listeners identify the single most effective figurative language choice and explain why it worked for them. Writers note which choices their audience responded to and which missed, then revise one line based on the feedback received.

35 min·Small Groups

Real-World Connections

• Songwriters frequently employ metaphors and similes to express complex emotions and create memorable lyrics, like comparing love to a battlefield or a journey.
• Advertising copywriters use vivid imagery and personification to make products relatable and appealing, such as describing a car as 'purring like a kitten' or a coffee as 'waking up your senses'.
• Journalists and essayists often use figurative language to make abstract concepts more concrete for readers, explaining economic trends with metaphors or describing historical events with evocative imagery.

Assessment Ideas

Quick Check

Present students with a short poem or stanza. Ask them to identify one example of a metaphor, one simile, and one instance of imagery. Then, have them write one sentence explaining the effect of the imagery.

Peer Assessment

Students exchange poems they have drafted. Using a checklist, they identify at least two examples of figurative language used by their partner. They then write one specific suggestion for how one of these examples could be made more original or impactful.

Exit Ticket

Ask students to write a single sentence that uses personification to describe a common object (e.g., a clock, a tree, a computer). Then, have them write a second sentence that creates an original metaphor for a feeling (e.g., happiness, frustration).

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I help students move beyond cliche figurative language in their poems?

Show students what makes a cliche recognizable: they have heard it so many times it carries no real meaning. Challenge them to generate 5-10 possible comparisons for a single subject, then select the most surprising or specific one. Reading contemporary poetry with unusual comparisons also expands students' sense of what is possible.

What is the difference between a metaphor and a simile?

Both comparisons connect two unlike things, but a simile uses 'like' or 'as' while a metaphor makes the connection directly. Metaphors are often more forceful because they insist on the identification rather than suggesting resemblance. Students can use both -- what matters is that the comparison creates genuine insight rather than mere decoration.

How do sensory details create vivid imagery in a poem?

Sensory details anchor abstract ideas in physical experience, making them more immediate for readers. A poem about grief is more powerful when readers can smell a specific perfume on an empty jacket than when it simply states 'she was gone.' Specificity is what transforms general description into imagery that stays with a reader.

How does active learning support figurative language writing in poetry?

Peer feedback is particularly powerful for figurative language because writers often don't know if their comparisons land until they see how readers respond. Oral readings, structured response protocols, and revision rounds give students real evidence about which language choices create the intended effect -- and which fall flat. Writing for a real audience produces stronger, more risk-taking work.