Poetry is often hard to read, and less welcoming to the reader than text that uses a more literal, straightforward way of describing the world. This is largely because poetry relies on the reader’s ability to understand figurative language, which is more abstract and indirect. An ability to comprehend figurative language only comes from a mastery of more direct, concrete lower-order thinking and processing skills.
The strategy of Interpreting Figurative Language in the CARS & STARS Online program sees students tackle abstract language and the idea of thinking about text that might say something different to what it actually really means. The variety of texts that students are exposed to throughout the program means students undertaking CARS and STARS Online will have a healthy grounding in all types of figurative language as they progress on their reading journey.
Reading figurative language requires a more developed level of reading comprehension because it involves a student not simply understanding what is directly stated but moving to thinking in a more abstract and complex way. For this reason, the skill of being able to interpret figurative language is a vital one for any advanced reader, and as such it makes up one of the twelve main reading strategies that underpin the CARS & STARS Online reading comprehension program.
