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Firework 

by Katy Perry 

Figurative Language & 

Poetic Devices Activity 

Created by Tracee Orman 

www.traceeorman.com

Song Lyrics & Poetry 

Name: _______________________ 

Identify, label, and explain the type of figurative language or poetic device used in the song lyrics. 

Examples may include: imagery devices such as metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole; sound 

devices such as alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia, rhyme; and rhetorical devices 

such as anaphora and epistrophe. 

“Firework” by Katy Perry 

Identify & Label the Poetic Devices 

Explain the Poetic Devices Used 

1 Do you ever feel like a plastic bag 

2 Drifting through the wind 

3 Wanting to start again 

4 Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin 

5 Like a house of cards 

6 One blow from caving in 

7 Do you ever feel already buried deep 

8 Six feet under scream 

9 But no one seems to hear a thing 

10 Do you know that there's still a chance for you 

11 ‘Cause there's a spark in you 

12 You just gotta ignite the light 

13 And let it shine 

14 Just own the night 

15 Like the Fourth of July 

(Chorus) 

16 Cause baby you're a firework 

17 Come on show 'em what you’re worth 

18 Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!" 

19 As you shoot across the sky 

20 Baby you're a firework 

21 Come on let your colors burst 


23 You're gonna leave 'em fallin' down 

24 You don't have to feel like a waste of space 

25 You're original, cannot be replaced 

26 If you only knew what the future holds 

27 After a hurricane comes a rainbow 

28 Maybe you're the reason why all the doors are closed 

29 So you can open one that leads you to the perfect road 

30 Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow 

31 And when it's time, you'll know 





(Repeat Chorus) 

36 Boom, boom, boom 

37 Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon 

38 It's always been inside of you, you, you 

39 And now it's time to let it through 

Finding Figurative Language in Katy Perryʼs Firework Copyright©Tracee Orman, 2010-2011 www.traceeorman.com


Name: _______________________ 

TEACHER’S GUIDE 



1 Do you ever feel like a plastic bag 

2 Drifting through the wind 

3 Wanting to start again 

4 Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin 

5 Like a house of cards 

6 One blow from caving in 

7 Do you ever feel already buried deep 

8 Six feet under scream 

9 But no one seems to hear a thing 

10 Do you know that there's still a chance for you 

11 ‘Cause there's a spark in you 





(Chorus) 

16 Cause baby you're a firework 

17 Come on show 'em what you’re worth 


19 As you shoot across the sky 

20 Baby you're a firework 

21 Come on let your colors burst 


23 You're gonna leave 'em fallin' down 

24 You don't have to feel like a waste of space 

25 You're original, cannot be replaced 

26 If you only knew what the future holds 

27 After a hurricane comes a rainbow 

Explain the Poetic Device Used 

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag 

(simile: you=bag) 

Drifting through the wind 

Wanting to start again 

(alliteration: wind, wanting) 

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin 

(simile: you=paper/house of cards) 

Like a house of cards 

One blow from caving in 

(true rhyme: thin=in) 

(hyperbole: you caving in) 

Do you ever feel already buried deep 

Six feet under scream 

But no one seems to hear a thing 

(anaphora: Do you ever) 

(alliteration: Six, scream, seems) 

Do you know that there's still a chance for you 

‘Cause there's a spark in you 

You just gotta ignite the light 

(internal rhyme: ignite, light) 

And let it shine 

Just own the night 

Like the Fourth of July 

(true rhyme: light=night) 

(simile: you (you is implied)=Fourth of July) 

(personification: implied that Fourth of July 

owns the night) 

Cause baby you're a firework 

(metaphor: you’re a firework) 

Come on show 'em what you’re worth 

(alliteration: work, what, worth) 

(assonance: work, worth) 

Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!" 

(onomatopoeia: oh, oh, oh) 

As you shoot across the sky 

(hyperbole: you shoot across the sky) 

Baby you're a firework 

Come on let your colors burst 

(alliteration: Come, colors) 

Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!" 

You're gonna leave 'em fallin' down 

You don't have to feel like a waste of space 

(simile: you=waste of space) 

You're original, cannot be replaced 

If you only knew what the future holds 

(personification: future holds) 

After a hurricane comes a rainbow 

(irony: hurricane/rainbow) 

Continued 





Name: _______________________ 

Explain the Poetic Device Used 

28 Maybe you're the reason why all the doors are closed 

29 So you can open one that leads you to the perfect road 

30 Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow 

31 And when it's time, you'll know 





(Repeat Chorus) 

36 Boom, boom, boom 

37 Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon 

38 It's always been inside of you, you, you 

39 And now it's time to let it through 

Maybe you're the reason why all the doors are 

closed 

So you can open one that leads you to the 

perfect road 

(personification: door leads you - door is 

implied with the word “one”) 

(assonance: closed, road) 

Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow 

(hyperbole: heart will blow; personification: 

heart will blow) 

And when it's time, you'll know 

(true rhyme: blow=know) 

You just gotta ignite the light 

And let it shine 

Just own the night 

Like the Fourth of July 

(true rhyme: light=night) 

Boom, boom, boom 

(onomatopoeia: boom, boom, boom) 

Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon 

It's always been inside of you, you, you 

And now it's time to let it through 

(true rhyme: you=through) 

You and your students may find more examples. These are just a few. The repetition of words in lines 

36-38 can be an example of epistrophe; the chorus being repeated is also an example of epistrophe. 

Some words are not spoken, but implied from previous lines. For example, in lines 5-6 “you” is still being 

implied from line 4 in the comparison of “you” being “like a house of cards/One blow from caving in.” 

ADVANCED: The first three lines may be an allusion to the 1999 movie “American Beauty” and the iconic image 

of the plastic bag dancing in the wind, giving it a deeper metaphor (see this article by Alan Ball from Slate.com). 

Although, if you want to look at it in a cynical way, maybe the “house of cards” in line 5 is an allusion to The 

Brady Bunch episode where Tiger, the dog, knocks down the cards in the boys vs. girls contest. ;] 

Song lyrics from http://katy-perry.com/2010/10/08/firework-lyrics-video/ (Play the audio in class while they work.) 

Song released August 24, 2010; from the album Teenage Dream, Copyright owned by Capitol Records; lyrics written by Perry, 

Tor Hermansen, Mikkel Eriksen, Sandy Wilhelm, Ester Dean THIS LESSON IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH KATY PERRY OR 

CAPITOL RECORDS; IT IS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. 

Find this lesson and more in my Poetry Resources bundle download. 

Also available on CD: POETRY RESOURCES ON CD, with 10 times the files and presentations/ 

videos to use in your classroom.*Now comes with an audio CD of lessons & poems* 

My Store: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Tracee-Orman 

My Website: http://www.traceeorman.com 

Thanks for supporting your fellow teachers! 

And don’t forget to show your support for the teachers all across the U.S. 

who are fighting to keep their jobs (and rights!). 

We stand with you!

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