Grade 9 Reading Worksheets
Writers hide meaning in plain sight: a storm that isn't just weather, a caged bird that isn't just a pet. Learn to see the layer beneath.
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What your child will learn: Literary Analysis: Symbolism & Figurative Language
- A symbol is an object carrying deeper meaning: a dove (peace), winter (death or hardship), a road (life's journey).
- Metaphor states one thing IS another ('time is a thief'); simile compares with like/as ('brave as a lion').
- Personification gives human traits to non-humans ('the wind whispered warnings').
- Ask of any repeated image: why does the author keep showing me this? Repetition signals significance.
Sample worksheet questions
1. Why does the story end with the friend's photo beside the new leaf?
Answer: Both are signs of new growth; the plant and Maya are 'unfurling' together
2. What did Maya tape beside the new leaf?
Answer: A photo of her first city friend
3. What does moving the plant to the window represent?
Answer: Maya choosing to seek out what she needs to thrive; effort toward hope
4. Find an example of personification.
Answer: 'The city outside roared, indifferent'
5. What figurative language appears in 'leaves curling like closed fists'?
Answer: A simile, comparing curling leaves to fists
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Try it at home
🎵 Lyric Lab: Take a favorite song and identify one metaphor, one simile or personification, and one possible symbol. Songs are poems in disguise!
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