The poem describes the speaker's clothes as being made of different foods, with their shirt being red tomato soup, pockets being green peas, khakis being brown dog biscuits, and socks being cottage cheese. Their shoes are described as vanilla ice cream with limp spaghetti bows. The speaker wishes they could eat their clothes but then they would have no clothes left. The document defines and provides examples of different types of figurative language, including metaphor, simile, personification, allusion, pun, oxymoron, hyperbole, idiom, and cliché. It analyzes the nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle" and identifies the figurative language devices used.

1. Open your mind…

2. My shirt is red tomato soup,
My pockets are green peas.
My khakis are brown dog biscuits.
My socks are cottage cheese.
I have vanilla ice-cream shoes
with limp spaghetti bows.
I wish I could eat everything,
but then I'd have no clothes!
•--Jacqueline Sweeney

3. Figurative Language
• Meaning
• Poetic or creative language used to create a greater
impact on the reader.
• Figurative vs Literal language
Figurative Language Literal Language
He’s as strong as an ox. He is extremely strong.
I’m lightning. I run very fast.
I could eat a cow. I am very hungry.

4. Metaphor
• Meaning
• Comparing the qualities of two unlike things to achieve
a creative effect.
• Example
• Her hair is silk. (texture)
• The truck is a monster. (size and strength)

5. Simile
• Meaning
• A figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is
often introduced by like or as.
• Example
• The many-colored fish is like a rainbow.
• Her smile is as bright as the sun.

6. Personification
• Meaning
• Giving something human qualities.
• Example
• The smoke grabbed hold of my nose.
• The green light shouted at me to go.

7. Allusion
• Meaning
• When you make reference to something from history,
literature, current events, or popular culture.
• Example
• When Jane looked into the greenhouse she thought
that she had entered the Garden of Eden.

8. Pun**
• Meaning
• Using words that have more
than one meaning for a
humorous effect
• Example
• Sir Lancelot once had a very
bad dream about his horse. It
was a knight mare.

9. Oxymoron**
• Meaning
• A figure of speech that combines two contradictory
terms
• Example
• Act naturally
• Awfully pretty
• Pretty ugly

10. Hyperbole
• Meaning
• Big exaggeration, usually with
humor.
• Example
• It weighed a ton!
• I’m so hungry I could eat a
cow!

11. Idiom
• Meaning
• Language that is peculiar to a group of people, or
readily understood to pertain to a specific context
• Example
• Singing at the top of your lungs
• Hit the books

14. Cliché
• Meaning
• A phrase that has become overly familiar or
commonplace
• Example
• Live and learn
• What goes around comes around

15. Hey Diddle Diddle, the cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon
The little dog laughed to see such sport
And the dish ran away with the spoon.