HANDOUT- ENGLISH LANGUAGE Prepared by: The Experts Figurative Languages `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ````````````````````````````Metaphor When you use a metaphor, you make a statement that doesn't literally make sense. For example, "Time is a thief." Time is not actually stealing from you but this conveys the idea that hours or days sometimes seem to slip by without you noticing. 1) Time is money. 2) He has a heart of stone. 3) America is a melting pot. 4) You are my sunshine Simile A simile also compares two things. However, similes use the words "like" or "as." Examples include: 1) Busy as a bee. 2) Clean as a whistle. 3) Brave as a lion. 4) The tall girl stood out like a sore thumb. 5) It was as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. Personification Personification gives human characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, or ideas. This can really affect the way the reader imagines things. Personification is often used in poetry, fiction, and children's rhymes. Examples include: 1) Opportunity knocked at his door. 2) The sun greeted me this morning. 3) The sky was full of dancing stars. Hyperbole Hyperbole is an outrageous exaggeration that emphasizes a point. It tends toward the ridiculous or the funny. Hyperbole adds colour and depth to a character. Examples include: You snore louder than a freight train! She's so dumb, she thinks Taco Bell is a Mexican phone company. I had to walk 15 miles to school in the snow, uphill, in bare feet. You could've knocked me over with a feather. Symbolism Symbolism occurs when a word has its own meaning but is used to represent something entirely different. Examples in everyday life include: Incorporating a red rose in your writing to symbolize love. Using a chalkboard to represent education. Incorporating the colour black in your writing as a symbol for evil or death. Using an owl to represent wisdom. Literary Sound Devices Alliteration Alliteration is a sound device. It is the repetition of the first consonant sounds in several words. Examples include: We're up, wide-eyed, and wondering while we wait for others to awaken. Betty bought butter but the butter was bitter, so Betty bought better butter to make the bitter butter better. Onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is also a sound device where the words sound like their meaning, or mimic sounds. They add a level of fun and reality to writing. Here are some examples: The burning wood hissed and crackled. Sounds of nature are all around us. Listen for the croak, caw, buzz, whirr, swish, hum, quack, meow, oink, and tweet. Activity- Figurative Devices SYNONYMS: are words that have a similar meaning e.g. begin/start. HOMONYMS include: Homophones: the same sound but different spelling and meaning e.g. ate/eight ANTONYMS: are words that are opposite in meaning to another e.g. accept/refuse. Activity- Synonyms, Homonyms and Antonyms Words to Find meaning and practice spelling this week 1. 5. 9. 2. 6. 3. 7. 4. 8. 10. SYNONYMS HOMONYMS ANTONYMS (similar meaning) (homophones: same sound) (opposites) answer reply aloud allowed accept refuse ask request ate eight attack defend brave courageous bare bear admit deny broad wide bow bough beautiful ugly difficult hard cell sell begin end end finish cereal serial better worse fix repair deer dear brave cowardly gather collect dew due broad narrow glad happy fair fare cheap expensive intelligent clever flour flower clever stupid jump leap hair hare dangerous safe loyal faithful hear here difficult easy mistake error hole whole forbid allow odd strange mail male full empty particular specific pair pare guilty innocent quick rapid plain plane join separate rare scarce right write knowledge ignorance real genuine root route lazy hardworking reliable dependable sail sale married single rich wealthy sole soul minority majority sad unhappy some sum noisy quiet TEACHER ONLY safe secure suite sweet remember forget scared frightened toe tow similar different try attempt wait weight true false vast huge week weak whisper shout + Activity- Figurative Devices State which figurative device each sentence contains. 1. Let it be forgotten as a flower is forgotten. Answer: This is a simile because it compares a thing that should be forgotten to a flower. 2. Your hand was honey-comb to heal, your voice a web to bind. Answer: This is a metaphor because the subject was compared without the use of like or as. 3. Freedom weeps, Wrong rules the land, and waiting Justice sleeps. Answer: This is personification because freedom is given the ability to weep, wrong is given the ability to rule, and justice is given the ability to sleep. 4. It was many and many a year ago, that a maiden there lived whom you may know and this maiden she lived with no other thought. Answer: This is a Hyperbole, since there is a lot of exaggeration with the years and the maiden having no other thought.
