Recognising the techniques writers use - imagery, simile, metaphor and personification - and explaining why a writer chose a particular word and the effect it has on the reader.
Where your child meets this in real life: Noticing how adverts, song lyrics and stories use language tricks to make you feel a certain way
SEAGReady breaks how writers use language into 2 steps, taught in order so each skill builds on the last.
Identify and name the technique a writer is using - simile, metaphor or personification - by checking each one's defining test.
Explain why a writer chose one word rather than a plainer one, and describe the effect the choice has on the reader - the picture it paints or the feeling it creates.
Read the passages below, then try these free sample questions from our how writers use language course. Every question comes with a full explanation, and hints that guide without giving the answer away.
Read the passage
In 'The Storm at Ballintoy', the writer says that 'spray leapt over the wall like a shoal of silver fish'. Which technique is the writer using?
Answer: A. a simile
The writer compares the spray to 'a shoal of silver fish' USING the word 'like'. - A comparison with 'like' or 'as' is always a simile - A metaphor would drop the 'like' and say the spray WAS a shoal of silver fish - Personification would give the spray human actions with no comparison word The phrase 'like a shoal of silver fish' is a simile.
Stuck? Start here: The writer is comparing the spray to something else. Find the small word that joins the two things together.
Read the passage
In 'Saturday Morning at St George's Market', the writer says the children 'dart between the stalls'. What does the word 'dart' suggest about how the children move?
Answer: A. quickly and suddenly
A dart flies fast and straight, so 'dart' means moving quickly and suddenly. - 'The children dart between the stalls' paints excited children zipping from stall to stall - The plain word 'walk' would lose all that energy The word choice helps the whole market feel busy and alive.
Stuck? Start here: Think of a dart flying through the air. How does it move?
At the end of 'Saturday Morning at St George's Market', the writer says 'the market sleeps until next Saturday'. Which technique is the writer using?
Answer: B. personification
A market is a building - it cannot really sleep. The writer gives the market a human action to make it seem alive. - Giving human actions or feelings to a non-living thing is personification - There is no 'like' or 'as', so it is not a simile The passage does the same thing earlier when 'Belfast wakes up around you'. 'The market sleeps' is personification.
Stuck? Start here: Can a building really sleep? Who or what usually sleeps?
This is the exact interactive worked example your child sees in SEAGReady. Step through it and watch the method build up.
Read this extract from a story. 'The storm reached the harbour at midnight. Waves clawed at the sea wall, and the wind howled around the cottages like a hungry wolf. By morning, the beach was a blanket of seaweed.'
Which technique is the writer using in 'the wind howled around the cottages like a hungry wolf'?
Step 1 of 6
Read this extract from a story. 'The storm reached the harbour at midnight. Waves clawed at the sea wall, and the wind howled around the cottages like a hungry wolf. By morning, the beach was a blanket of seaweed.'
Which technique is the writer using in 'the wind howled around the cottages like a hungry wolf'?
It is a simile - the wind is compared to a hungry wolf using the word 'like'.
The key insight: 'Like' or 'as' = simile. 'Is' or 'was' = metaphor. A thing acting human = personification. Three quick tests catch them every time!
Watch out: Calling 'like a hungry wolf' a metaphor. A metaphor says one thing IS another. Because this comparison uses 'like', it is a simile - always check for 'like' or 'as' first.
These are the misconceptions we see most often in how writers use language, including the ones our practice questions are specifically designed to catch.
Struggling with how writers use language? The real gap is often in one of these earlier topics.
SEAGReady finds the exact step where your child gets stuck, teaches it with worked examples like the one above, and brings it back for review so it sticks.
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