FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE How to figure it out!

Figurative Language v.s. Literal Language What’s the Difference??

Figurative Language Language that does NOT mean exactly what it says. Literal Language Language that means exactly what it says.

HYPERBOLE A deliberate exaggeration often used for effect. Making a point by exaggerating or using an overstatement or magnification of something. Example: I’m so hungry I could eat a horse!

SIMILE A comparison of two dissimilar things using “like” or “as” Example…”The test was as easy as pie!”

METAPHOR Comparison of two dissimilar things WITHOUT using “like” or “as” in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else. Example…Life is a broken winged bird.

ALLITERATION consonant The repetition of the initial consonant sound two or more times. Example…Fourteen foul fungi Frank fought Fred for the phone. The moon was motionless in the sky.

PERSONIFICATION Giving a nonhuman object (thing or idea) some sort of human characteristic or quality Examples… –The darkness devoured me. –The wind screamed through the house. –The house was lonely after the people moved out. –The trees waved in the storm. –The ocean whispers sweet melodies in my ear.

ONOMATOPOEIA Use of words to imitate sounds Use of words to imitate sounds; the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it Example…whirrrrr, buzzzzz, hiss

Allusion A reference to a person, place, or thing in another artistic work (literature, art, music, history, painting, or mythology). Example: Paul’s obsession with money reminds me of King Midas.