1. Metaphors Similes Personification
Figurative Language
Metaphors
Similes
Personification

2. Metaphors, Similes, & Personification
Belong to a class of language called figurative language
Figurative language:
Is any language NOT used in a literal way
Is a way of saying one thing, but meaning another
Doesn’t make sense if taken literally

3. Examples of Figurative Language
“The catcher at the baseball game was the bomb!”
Figurative meaning: the catcher is skilled, practiced, and maybe cute?
“That ball sat in the outfield.”
Figurative meaning: no one was quick enough to get the ball.
“Jimmy ran like a cheetah to first base.”
Figurative meaning: Jimmy is a fast runner-the fastest-like a cheetah.

4. Metaphors, Similes, Personification
Figurative Language
-Saying one thing, but meaning another
(Not literal)
Literal Language
-Means exactly what it says

5. Why use Figurative Language?
It is a rich, strong, and vivid way to express meaning
By using it, we are able to say more in fewer words
For example:
The poet Robert Burns says, “My love is like a red, red rose.”
He is saying many things:
His love is beautiful, soft and fragrant.
The rose is red - the color of passion. This adds another layer of meaning
A rose has thorns, which says that there is a potential danger in loving her (She may hurt him)
Thus, by comparing his love to a red rose, the poet is able to squeeze many ideas into a single line

6. Metaphors and Similes
Metaphors and similes are used to compare things that are not usually seen as similar
Metaphors imply the comparison
Similes state the comparison directly

7. Examples Suppose that you have just taken an extremely hard test…
To turn this into a metaphor you could say, “That test was a bear!”
You are not saying that the test was a literal bear, but that it was unpredictable and hard to deal with.
The comparison between the test and the bear is not directly stated - it is implied or suggested
This is what a metaphor does-it implies a comparison in a fresh, interesting way

8. Metaphors and Similes Continued
Now let’s take the same idea and turn it into a simile
To make the test into a simile, you make the comparison direct
For example: “Taking that test was like struggling with a bear!”
It is still non-literal language
Taking the test is not exactly like struggling with a bear, but with a simile you must come right out and state the comparison
Signal words give you a hint that similes are coming…hint/signal words include: as, like, than, similar to, and resembles.
Be careful, though!
These words don’t always indicate similes
For example: The sentence “I look like my sister,” does not contain a simile-it is a literal statement
In using similes or metaphors, two unlike things must be compared

9. Metaphors and Similes Continued
Metaphors and similes have literal terms and figurative terms
The literal term is what we are comparing to something else. It’s what is real; it means what it is.
For example, the literal term in the metaphor, “That test was a bear!” is test; we are really talking about a test.
The figurative term is what is being compared to the literal term. The figurative terms means something other than itself, something non-literal.
The figurative term in the metaphor is bear
The test is not a bear, but it has some bear-like qualities that can help us understand how hard the test was.

10. Practice I got a flood of mail yesterday. Mail Flood
Figure of speech
Metaphor or simile?
Literal term
Figurative term
I got a flood of mail yesterday.
Mail
Flood
Alice sang like a crow.
Jeff was taller than the Empire State Building.
The shoes cost a king’s ransom.

11. Personification
Special kind of metaphor that gives human-like qualities to something that is not human (such as an animal, an object, or an idea)
For example: “The tree sighed sadly in the cold.”
A tree can’t really sigh or be sad-it is an inhuman object that is being given human-like qualities