Literal vs. figurative meaning — Hughes 'Harlem,' Neruda odes, Nye and Harjo

Read aloud: 'My homework is going to kill me.' Is this literal or figurative? How do you know?

• Affirm: figurative — hyperbole
• Connect: how do we know? Because the literal reading is implausible

Today we work on one of the most important close-reading moves: distinguishing LITERAL from FIGURATIVE meaning. Every literary phrase has at least two possible readings — what the words SAY at face value (literal) and what the words DO when read as metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, or symbol (figurative). The 2-CHECK ROUTINE: CHECK 1 — does the phrase work read LITERALLY? CHECK 2 — does the phrase work read FIGURATIVELY? Both work = layered meaning, often intentional. Only figuratively = name the figure. Only literally = the phrase is not figurative. We will run the routine on Hughes's 'Harlem' (every line is figurative), Neruda's ode (concrete figurative), Nye's 'Famous' (layered), and Harjo's 'Remember' (figurative + literal blended).

• When the literal reading doesn't work, the figurative IS the meaning.

  model Literal: a dream cannot literally dry up. Figurative: SIMILE comparing dream to raisin. The figurative is the entire point — the question is how dreams change when delayed.

  prompt Hughes: 'Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun?' Literal? Figurative?
• Metaphor compresses two unlike things into one. The compression IS the work.

  model Literal: a watermelon is not a whale. Figurative: METAPHOR (one thing IS another). The metaphor makes the watermelon enormous, oceanic, alive.

  prompt Neruda: 'The watermelon — green whale of summer.' Literal? Figurative?
• Layered meaning. Both readings are valid; the figurative deepens the literal.

  model Literal: a pulley does interact with a rope. Figurative: PERSONIFICATION — fame as a relationship a pulley can have. BOTH work — Nye intends both.

  prompt Nye: 'The pulley is famous to the rope.' Literal? Figurative?

• Pair-share: name the figure in one phrase from 'Harlem.'
• Cold Call: define personification and find an example in Neruda or Nye.

M-7-S-VOC-06-A Chart

MG-15 anchor: 2-band card with literal vs. figurative checks and worked examples from Hughes 'Harlem' (raisin in sun), 'My homework is going to kill me' (hyperbole), and Nye (layered). Print-ready 11x17.

MG-15 Chart

Literal vs. figurative meaning anchor (CCSS L.7.5.a): 2-band card with worked examples. RULE: every literary phrase has at least two possible readings — LITERAL (what the words SAY at face value) and FIGURATIVE (what the words DO when read as metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, symbol). 2-CHECK ROUTINE: CHECK 1 — does the phrase work read LITERALLY? CHECK 2 — does the phrase work read FIGURATIVELY? Both? The writer may intend layered meaning. Only one? That's the intended meaning. WORKED EXAMPLE 1: 'The wind whispered through the trees.' LITERAL: wind makes a sound. FIGURATIVE: PERSONIFICATION (wind given human capacity to whisper). Both work; the figurative is the writer's primary intent. WORKED EXAMPLE 2: 'My homework is going to kill me.' LITERAL: homework will cause death. FIGURATIVE: HYPERBOLE (exaggeration for emphasis — speaker is overwhelmed). Only the figurative works in context. WORKED EXAMPLE 3: from Hughes's 'Harlem': 'What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun?' LITERAL: a dream cannot literally dry up. FIGURATIVE: SIMILE (comparing dream to raisin). The figurative is the entire point — the question is how dreams change when delayed. Bottom rule: 'A LITERAL reading mistakes the figurative; a FIGURATIVE reading mistakes the literal. Skilled analysts check both.' Print-ready 11x17.

• Apply the 2-check routine to 6 phrases (2 from each of Hughes, Neruda, Nye). For each: literal? figurative? name the figure.

  scaffold MG-15 anchor at desk; 2-check worksheet
• Read Harjo's 'Remember.' Identify 2 phrases that are LAYERED (work both literally and figuratively). Explain how both readings deepen the poem.

  scaffold Layered-reading sentence frame

• Give one example of a phrase that works ONLY figuratively and name the figure. Give one example that works LAYERED (both literally and figuratively) and explain how both readings deepen meaning.

• Restate: 2-check routine — literal? figurative? both? neither?
• Preview tomorrow's CEA paragraph introduction

• Find one figurative phrase in any text you are reading. Apply the 2-check routine. Bring tomorrow.