HYPERBOLE
Time
25-30 minutes
Materials
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out-give a copy the poem to each student
Where the Sidewalk Ends 25th Edition CD
Overhead of 3 Column Notes
Literary Terms Folder-each
student has his/her own
Purpose
The purpose of this lesson is
to define hyperbole, examine how it is used in literature, and discuss how
students can use it to enhance their writing.
Objectives
This lesson will meet the
North Carolina Standard Course of Study Competency Goal 5.01-The learner will
respond to various literary genres using interpretive and evaluative
processes. He/she will increase fluency,
comprehension, and insight through a meaningful and comprehensive reading
program by analyzing the effects on texts of such literary devices as
figurative language. 5.02-The learner
will study the characteristics of poetry.
This lesson meets NCTE/IRA Standards 1-Students read a wide range of
print to build an understanding of texts, of themselves and of the cultures of
the United States; 3- Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend,
interpret, evaluate and appreciate texts; 4-Students adjust their use of spoken
and written language to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and
for different purposes;6-Students apply knowledge of figurative language to
create, critique, and discuss texts.
Description of Activities
This mini-lesson would be
taught in a series of lessons on figurative language. It would be taught after simile, metaphor and
personification have been taught as a poetry unit. You could vary this by bringing in other
genres that contain hyperbole.
1. Define hyperbole
2. Create examples of
hyperbole
3. Examine a poem using
hyperbole
Script
5-10 minutes
I’m so hungry I could eat a horse! Does anyone have
something I could eat? (laugh)
Could I literally eat an
entire horse? No. Why would I say that if I didn’t mean it? (Responses)
To show you are really,
really hungry.
To be funny.
To get our
attention.
(Teacher)
I said it for all of those
reasons. Authors do the same thing. To exaggerate a statement for effect is
called hyperbole. Open your Literary
Terms folder to your three column notes on figurative language. In the first column, write the word
Hyperbole. (Teacher has a copy of the running three column notes and takes the
same notes on the overhead.) In the
second column-the definition column- write “a statement of extreme exaggeration
to show emphasis.” In
the third column-the example column-come up with your own example of hyperbole. Who would like to share you example? (Write
several on the overhead.)
(Responses)
My backpack weighs a ton.
It took forever to get to the
beach.
That dog is so ugly, it fell
off the ugly tree and hit every branch.
15 minutes
We are going to listen to a
poem by Shel Silverstein that has many examples of
hyperbole in it. I have a CD with him reading the poem. (Handout the poem) As you listen to the poem, I want you to
underline examples of hyperbole. The
poem is called “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take The
Garbage Out. (Listen to the poem twice)
Who can give me an example of
hyperbole from the poem?
(Responses)
It piled up to the ceiling.
It covered the floor.
It blocked the door.
It went down the hall.
It raised the roof.
At last the garbage reached
so high finally it touched the sky.
All the neighbors moved away
None of her friends would
come out to play
The garbage reached across
the state
The whole poem is hyperbole.
Synthesize
5 minutes
How does Silverstein use
hyperbole to get his theme across to readers?
What is the theme? (Response) Take the garbage out. (Teacher) Think
about what he is saying beyond what you read on the surface. (Response) Kids should listen to their
parents, and if you don’t bad things will happen. Kids today are lazy.
How does the hyperbole make this message very clear?
(Response) Sarah didn’t listen and she lost everything, and ruined an entire
state.
That wouldn’t really happen, but it really emphasizes the
point doesn’t it? When you read and recognize hyperbole, notice what the author
is placing emphasis on.
As a writer, this is a very effective and fun tool to
emphasize something.
Follow up Lessons
You could do additional lessons
with the same poem addressing rhyme or alliteration.
Additional Resources
“Yarns” by Carl Sandberg
(more examples of hyperbole)
Hyperbole Poster by American
Teaching Aid
|
Word |
Definition |
Example |
|
Simile |
Comparing two unlike things using the words like or as |
Her eyes sparkled like diamonds. |
|
Metaphor |
Comparing two unlike things without using like or as |
Your eyes are pools of deep blue water. |
|
Personification |
Giving nonhumans human characteristics |
The leaves danced in the wind. |
|
Hyperbole |
A statement of extreme exaggeration to show emphasis |
My backpack weighs a ton! |
Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
Would Not Take The Garbage Out by Shel Silverstein
Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
Would not take the garbage
out!
She’d scour the pots and
scrape the pans,
Candy the yams and spice the
hams,
And though her daddy would
scream and shout,
She simply would not take the
garbage out.
And so it piled up to the
ceilings:
Coffee grounds, potato
peelings,
Brown bananas, rotten peas,
Chunks of
sour cottage cheese.
It filled the can, it covered
the floor,
It cracked the window, it
blocked the door
With bacon rinds and chicken
bones,
Drippy ends of ice cream
cones,
Prune pits, peach pits,
orange peel,
Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal,
Pizza crests and withered
greens,
Soggy beans and tangerines,
Crusts of black burned
buttered toast,
Gristly bits of beefy roasts.
. .
The garbage rolled down the
hall,
It raised the roof, it broke
the wall. . .
Greasy napkins, cookie
crumbs,
Globs of gooey bubble gum,
Cellophane from green baloney,
Rubbery blubbery macaroni,
Peanut butter, caked and dry,
Curdled milk and crusts of
pie,
Moldy melons, dried up
mustard,
Eggshells mixed with lemon
custard,
Cold french fries and rancid meat,
Yellow lumps of Cream of
Wheat.
At last the garbage reached
so high
That finally it touched the
sky.
And all the neighbors moved
away,
And none of her friends would
come out to play.
And finally Sarah Cynthia
Stout said,
“OK, I’ll take the garbage
out!”
But then, of course, it was
too late. . .
The garbage reached across
the state,
From New
York to the Golden Gate.
And there, in the garbage she
did hate,
Poor Sarah met an awful fate,
That I cannot right now
relate
Because the
hour is much too late.
But children, remember Sarah
Stout
And always take the garbage out!