Figurative Language in The Poet X

There are so many examples of figurative language present throughout The Poet X, adding to its powerful poetry. In this activity, students will identify figurative language such as similes, metaphors, personification, imagery, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, etc. and illustrate the examples from the text. Teachers may ask them to identify one type of figurative language and find multiple examples, or select one example for different types. To differentiate or scaffold, teachers can provide students with a list of types of figurative language to look out for, or have students identify them on their own!

Examples of Figurative Language in The Poet X

• Metaphor: "It has brought me the most light. And isn't that what a poem is? A lantern glowing in the dark”


• Metaphor: “My brother was birthed a soft whistle: quiet, barely stirring the air, a gentle sound. But I was born all the hurricane he needed to lift - and drop - those that hurt him to the ground”


• Metaphor: "In science we learned that thermal conductivity is how heat flows through some materials better than others. But who knew words, when said by the right person, by a boy who raises your temperature, move heat like nothing else? Shoot a shock of warmth from your curls to your toes?"


• Metaphor: "I wanted to tell her that if Aman were a poet he'd be written slumped across the page, sharp lines, and a witty punch line written on a bodega brown paper bag."


• Simile: “My parents probably wanted a girl who would sit in the pews wearing pretty florals and a soft smile. They got combat boots and a mouth silent until it’s sharp as an island machete"


• Simile: "I thought tenth grade would be different but I still feel like a lone shrimp in a stream where too many are searching for someone with a soft shell to peel apart and crush."


• Simile: "Ms. Galiano is young, has on bright colors, and wears her hair naturally curly. She's also little - like, for real petite - but carries herself big, know what I mean? Like she's used to shouldering her way through any assumptions made about her."


• Imagery: Mami on the Subway - "Mami Works"


• Irony: Mami's harsh interpretation of Christianity


• Irony: Xiomara's meaning of her name "Gave me this gift of battle and now curses how well I live up to it"