Figurative Language

Figurative and Literal Language Literally: words function exactly as defined The car is blue. He caught the football. Figuratively: figure out what it means I’ve got your back. You’re a doll. ^Figures of Speech

Figurative Language The opposite of literal language is figurative language. Figurative language is language that means more than what it says on the surface. It usually gives us a feeling about its subject. A writers tool It helps the reader to visualize (see) what the writer is thinking –It puts a picture in the readers mind

Metaphor Two things are compared without using “like” or “as.” Examples All the world is a stage. Men are dogs. Her heart is stone.

Simile Comparison of two things using “like” or “as.” Examples The metal twisted like a ribbon. She is as sweet as candy.

Important! Using “like” or “as” doesn’t make a simile. A comparison must be made. Not a Simile: I like pizza. Simile: The moon is like a pizza.

Personification Giving human traits to objects or ideas. Examples The sunlight danced. Water on the lake shivers. The streets are calling me.

Hyperbole An exaggerated statement used to heighten effect. It is not used to mislead the reader, but to emphasize a point. Examples: She’s said so on several million occasions. I will love you forever. My house is a million miles away. She’d kill me.

Alliteration (continued) Alliteration: when the first sounds in words repeat. Example Peter Piper picked a pickled pepper. We lurk late. We shoot straight. Tiny Tommy Thomson takes toy trucks to Timmy’s on Tuesday.

Onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia: When a word’s pronunciation imitates its sound. Examples BuzzFizzWoof HissClinkBoom Beep VroomZip

Idiom The language peculiar to a group of people A saying that isn’t meant to be taken literally. Doesn’t “mean” what it says Don’t be a stick in the mud! You’re the apple of my eye. I have an ace up my sleeve.

Pun A form of “word play” in which words have a double meaning. I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger and then it hit me. I’m reading a book about anti- gravity. It’s impossible to put it down. I was going to look for my missing watch, but I didn’t have the time.

Oxymoron When two words are put together that contradict each other. “Opposites” Jumbo Shrimp Pretty Ugly Freezer Burn

A reference to another piece of literature or to history. Example: “She hath Dian’s wit” (from Romeo and Juliet). This is an allusion to Roman mythology and the goddess Diana. The three most common types of allusion refer to mythology, the Bible, and Shakespeare’s writings.

Types of Figurative Language Simile-A figure of speech comparing two unlike things often using like or as. Metaphor-Comparing two things by using one kind of object or using one in place of another to suggest the likeness between them. Personification-Giving something human qualities Pun-A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words. Alliteration-The repetition of usually initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables Onomatopoeia-Naming a thing or an action by imitating the sound associated with it Oxymoron- A figure of speech in which contradictory terms appear side by side. Hyperbole-Big exaggeration, usually with humor Idioms-The language peculiar to a group of people Allusion-A reference to another piece of literature or to history.