Figurative Language in The Tiger Rising

Activity Overview

Kate DiCamillo uses many different types of figurative language throughout the story. Some other examples of figurative language that are used are similes, metaphors, personification, idioms, and onomatopoeia. For this activity, students will identify and illustrate three examples of figurative language in The Tiger Rising. Teachers may want to give the students a list of examples, or have them do a “scavenger hunt” either as they read or as an activity after reading.

Examples of Figurative Language from The Tiger Rising

• Page 2: “Fog was hugging the ground.” (Personification)


• Page 3: “Waiting for him like chained and starved guard dogs, eager to attack.” (Simile)


• Page 4: “He made all of his feelings go inside the suitcase.” (Personification)


• Page 24: “The two of them sat apart from it all, as if their seat was an island in the sea of sweat and exhaust.” (Simile)


• Page 35: “Her face was smooth and dark, like a beautiful piece of wood.” (Simile)


• Page 39: “The bus coughed and sputtered and finally roared away.” (Personification)


• Page 46: “Rob felt a familiar loneliness rise up and drape its arm over his shoulder.” (Personification)


• Page 56: “Every night, the house lit up like a constellation, and they were all inside it together, the three of them.” (Simile)


• Page 76: “At three o’clock, the school bus pulled up, belching and gasping and sighing.” (Personification)


• Page 87: “He concentrated on that green. He let it seep through a crack in his suitcase of not-thoughts and fill his head up with color.” (Personification)


• Page 101: “The truth circled over him and above him and then came and landed lightly on his shoulder.” (Personification)


• Page 107: “The tiger stopped pacing and turned to stare at them both clinging like monkeys to the cage.” (Simile)


• Page 121: “The tiny neon Kentucky Star rose and fell and rose and fell, competing bravely with the light of the morning sun.” (Personification)