Key Takeaways:
- Figurative language often carries important clues about tone, mood, emotion, and implied meaning in comprehension passages.
- Students should explain meaning in context, not just name the device.
- Guided practice helps students give more precise answers.
Introduction
Figurative language appears frequently in English comprehension passages, but many students still struggle to explain its meaning in context. The difficulty is that the writer may not mean exactly what the words say on the surface. Instead, a phrase may suggest an emotion, create an image, reveal an attitude, or shape the mood of a passage.
In our lessons, we often see students recognise that a sentence “sounds figurative” but stop there. The stronger skill is being able to explain what the phrase means in plain language and why the writer has used it. Understanding figurative language helps students interpret meaning more accurately, which can improve their responses to vocabulary, inference, tone, and writer’s intent questions.
What We Want Students to Notice About Figurative Language
Figurative language uses words or expressions beyond their literal meaning to communicate an idea, emotion, or effect more vividly. For example, if a passage says, “The classroom was a zoo,” the writer is not referring to actual animals. The phrase suggests noise, disorder, and a lack of control.
In our teaching, we want students to notice these expressions because they often carry important clues. Simply identifying a metaphor or simile is not enough. Students also need to explain what the expression reveals in that particular context.
Take the sentence, “Her words cut through him.” A stronger interpretation would explain that the words caused emotional pain or had a harsh impact, instead of merely stating that the phrase is figurative.
This is especially important in comprehension questions that test inference, writer’s intent, or vocabulary in context. Our English tuition in Singapore guides students to look beyond identifying the technique and explain how the expression shapes meaning within the wider passage.
Common Forms Students Should Recognise
Students do not need to memorise long lists of literary terminology. They do, however, need to recognise several common forms and understand what each one is doing.
Simile
A comparison using “like” or “as”. If a character “ran like the wind”, the important idea is speed, not the wind itself.
Metaphor
A direct comparison. “Time is a thief” suggests that time takes away opportunities, youth, or moments that cannot be recovered.
Personification
Giving human qualities to something non-human. “The wind howled through the trees” can create a threatening or unsettling atmosphere.
Hyperbole
Deliberate exaggeration. “I’ve told you a thousand times” expresses frustration; not an exact number.
Idiom
A fixed expression with a meaning that cannot be understood word by word. “Spill the beans”, for example, means to reveal a secret.
Symbolism
When an object, place, colour, or action represents a wider idea. Darkness may suggest uncertainty or danger, while a road may represent a journey or choice.
The key is not just recognising which category a phrase belongs to. Students should ask what quality, emotion, or idea the writer is emphasising.
Our Take on Why Students Misinterpret Figurative Expressions
A recurring issue we see is students reading too literally. For example, if a passage says, “The news hit him like a storm,” some students paraphrase it as “the news was like a storm”. That simply repeats the comparison. In contrast, a stronger answer would explain that the news affected him suddenly and powerfully.
Another common problem is giving an interpretation that is possible but not supported by the passage. A student may see the phrase “her voice was ice” and write that the character was angry. But depending on the surrounding context, the phrase may instead suggest that she sounded cold, distant, or unemotional.
We also remind students that the same image can create different effects in different passages. Our O-Level English tutors help students justify their interpretations using the surrounding context, instead of relying on memorised meanings or isolated phrases.
How We Teach Students to Interpret Figurative Language
When students encounter an unfamiliar figurative expression, the challenge is usually not recognising that the wording is unusual, but working out what it means in context. We guide them to:
Step 1: Notice When The Literal Meaning Does Not Fit
If the phrase sounds exaggerated, impossible, or unusual in context, there is a good chance the writer is communicating something indirectly.
Step 2: Identify The Quality Being Emphasised
Ask what the comparison or image makes you think of. Is it speed, danger, coldness, confusion, strength, isolation, or something else?
Step 3: Check The Surrounding Context
Look at what happens before and after the phrase. Consider the character’s situation and the writer’s tone before settling on an interpretation.
Step 4: Translate It Into Plain Language
A good comprehension answer should explain the meaning directly instead of repeating the original phrase.
For example:
“The crowd swallowed him.”
A weak answer would be: “The crowd was swallowing him.”
A stronger answer would be: “He became lost or overwhelmed within the large crowd.”
How We Help Students Build Stronger Comprehension Skills
When students are unsure about a figurative expression, we often encourage them to pause and ask three simple questions:
• What does the phrase say literally?
• What would be strange or impossible if I took it literally?
• What idea, feeling, or quality is the writer actually trying to communicate?
This short check helps students move beyond surface reading and improves several comprehension skills at once. They become better at identifying tone, making inferences, and paraphrasing meaning accurately.
For example, understanding that “The disappointment weighed heavily on her” suggests that she felt deeply burdened requires the student to interpret the implied meaning before rephrasing it clearly. That same process also helps with vocabulary, inference, and explanation questions.
Supporting Stronger Reading and Interpretation
Students improve most when they practise interpreting figurative expressions in context rather than memorising literary terms in isolation. Short extracts, guided paraphrasing, and comparison of different possible interpretations can help them see how tone, imagery, and implied meaning work together.
At Blue Herring Academy, we use students’ own comprehension work to identify recurring gaps in interpretation and guide them toward more precise answers. Instead of only correcting a response, our tutors explain why an interpretation is too literal, incomplete, or unsupported by context. At our English tuition centre, students practise with unseen passages and compare their responses with stronger model answers.
Get in touch to find out how we can support you in building stronger English comprehension skills.
