NAIC WEST POINT COLLEGE, INC.
Ibayo SIlangan, Naic, Cavite
LESSON 1: IMAGERY, DICTION AND FIGURES OF
SPEECH
BRIEF INTRODUCTION
CREATIVE WRITING
1st SEMESTER
Quarter 1
Creative Writing is any writing that is original, artistic and selfexpressive.
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It is an act of creation and a translation of thought and feeling into
organized language.
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Its purpose is to entertain and share human experiences and it does so
by expressing feelings or thoughts that are borne out of the imagination.
Genres of Creative Writing
1. Poetry – said to be the oldest kind of literature. In earliest form,
poems were recited and passed on from person to the next.
2. Fiction – Form of prose that depicts imaginary events and place.
3. Drama – fiction written to be performed.
Ms. Rochelle S. Buena
Subject Teacher
1|Creative Writing
4. Creative Non-Fiction – uses literary techniques to write about facts,
actual events and people.
Imagery as a general term covers the use of language to represent
objects, actions, feelings, thoughts, ideas, states of mind and any sensory
experience. It is a figurative language used to appeal to the senses through
vivid descriptive language. Imagery creates mental pictures in the reader as
they read the text.
Example:
An excerpt from Peter Redgrove’s Lazarus and the Sea contains
imagery:
The most common figures of speech are simile, metaphor,
onomatopoeia, personification, apostrophe, hyperbole, synecdoche,
metonymy, oxymoron, and paradox.
The tide of my death came whispering like this
Soiling my body with its tireless voice.
I scented the antique moistures when they sharpened
The air of my room, made the rough wood of my bed, (most dear), Standing
out like roots in my tall grave.
1. Simile – a stated comparison (formed with “like” or “as” between two
fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common.
Diction refers to the selection of words in a literary work. A work’s
diction forms one of its centrally important literary elements as writers use
words to convey action, reveal character, imply attitudes, identify themes,
and suggest values. It includes the formality of the language, the emotional
content, the imagery, the specificity, and the sounds of the words.
Example:
“I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,
Or all the riches that East doth hold.”
Anne Bradstreet, “To My Dear and Loving Husband”
 The use of antiquated words such as “thy” instead of “your” and
“doth” instead of “do” gives the poem a formal diction.

These antiquated words are considered grand, elevated, and
sophisticated language.
Example:
“Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”
– Langston Hughes, “Harlem”
2. Metaphor – an implied comparison between two unlike things that
have something in common.
Example:
“Hope is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –”
- Emily Dickinson, “Hope is the Thing with Feathers”
3. Onomatopoeia – uses words that imitate sounds associated with
objects or actions.
Example:
“The crooked skirt swinging, whack by whack by whack.”
- James Joyce, “Ulysses”
4. Personification – endows human qualities or abilities to inanimate
objects or abstraction.
Criteria to be Considered in Writing
1.
2.
3.
4.
Accuracy
Precision
Concreteness
Appropriateness
FIGURES OF SPEECH
Figures of speech are words or phrases used in a non-literal sense
for rhetorical or vivid effect.
2|Creative Writing
Example:
“Ah, William, we’re wary of the weather,” said the sunflowers shining with
dew.
– William Blake, “Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room”
5. Apostrophe – is addressing an absent person or thing that is an
abstract, inanimate, or inexistent character.
Example:
“Death be not proud, though some have called thee.”
- John Donne, “Death Be Not Proud”
6. Hyperbole – a figure of speech which contains an exaggeration for
emphasis.
Example:
“To make enough noise to wake the dead.”
– R. Davies, “What’s Bred in the Bone”
7. Synecdoche – a figure of speech in which the part stands for the
whole, and thus something else is understood within the thing
mentioned.
Example:
“Give us this day out daily bread”
*Bread stands for the meals taken each day.
8. Metonymy – a figure of speech in which the name of an attribute or
a thing is substituted for the thing itself.
Example:
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.”
– William Shakespeare, “Julius Caesar”
*Lend me your ears = to pay attention; to listen
9. Oxymoron – a figure of speech which combines incongruous and
apparently contradictory words and meanings for a special effect.
Example:
“Here’s much to do with hate, but more with love.
Why then, O brawling love! O loving hate!
O anything! of nothing first create!
O heavy lightness! serious vanity!
Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms!”
- William Shakespeare, “Romeo and Juliet”
10. Paradox – a statement which seems on its face to be logically
contradictory or absurd yet turns out to be interpretable in a way that
makes sense.
Example:
“One short sleep past, we wake eternally
3|Creative Writing
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.”
- John Donne, “Death Be Not Proud”
11. Irony
a. Verbal Irony – refers to a statement where the intended meaning
is different from what was stated.
Example: Saying “Thanks for the vote of support” when someone
undermines you.
b. Dramatic Irony – refers to a situation where the reader or
audience knows information that a character or characters in the
story do not.
c. Situational Irony – refers to an incongruity between what the
reader or audience expects to happen and what actually occurs.
Idiomatic Expressions – Idioms are group of words whose
meaning cannot be deduced from their individual parts.
Euphemisms - this figure of speech substitutes negative
description for a milder and less harsh way of stating. It is often used
for delicate matters, such as death, violence, sex and embarrassing
topics.
CHECKING YOUR UNDERSTANDING
A. Directions: Below are excerpts from different literary texts.
Identify what figure of speech is exemplified in each number.
Choose your answer from the box.
Simile
Metaphor
Onomatopoeia
Personification
Apostrophe
Hyperbole
Synecdoche
Metonymy
Oxymoron
Paradox
1. “Ebony and ivory / Live together in perfect harmony” (McCartney
& Wonder)
2. “Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health,
Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!” (Shakespeare)
3. “Pity, your ancient stones, those tender babes
Whom envy hath immured within your walls” (Shakespeare)
4. “He watches from his mountain walls, and like a thunderbolt he
falls.” (Tennyson)
5. “That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow me.” (Donne)
6. “Even at night time, Mama is sunrise.” (Hunt)
7. “The western wave was all a-flame. The day was well-nigh done!”
(Coleridge)
8. “A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer. There was
no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money
to buy it with…” (Lee)
9. “…the glish of squirting taps plus slush of foam knocked off and a
faint piddle of drops...” (e.e. cummings)
10. “Fall had barely touched the full splendor of trees…” (Knowles)
3. ______________ is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is
described in terms of another thing associated to it.
A. Simile
B. Metaphor
C. Metonymy
D. Synecdoche
4. A figure of speech in which a thing, a place, an abstract quality, an idea,
a dead or absent person, is addressed as if present and capable of
understanding is called:
A. Alliteration
B. Apostrophe
C. Synecdoche
D. Metonymy
5. Which of the following is NOT true about diction?
A. It is the prescribed words used by the writers.
B. It is the word choice an author uses to convey a particular tone.
C. It includes formality of the language, the emotional content, and
the sounds of words.
D. It is the combination of denotation, connotation, concrete and
abstract words, and sound devices.
6. A figure of speech which combines incongruous and apparently
contradictory words and meanings for a special effect.
A. Paradox
B. Oxymoron
C. Metaphor
D. Personification
7. Imagery is characterized by the following EXCEPT:
A. it is considered as a figure of speech
B. it consists of descriptive language
C. it draws on the five senses
D. it is a literary device
B. Directions: Choose the letter of the correct answer.
1. Figurative language is a language that:
A. uses words or phrases which is different from the literal meaning
B. deviates from the normal language to convey an unusual meaning
C. makes writing interesting and vivid
D. All of the above
2. “Like as the armed knight appointed to the field” is an example of:
A. Simile
B. Metaphor
C. Personification
D. Hyperbole
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8. It is a direct and explicit address either to an absent person or to an
abstract or nonhuman entity.
A. Synecdoche
B. Onomatopoeia
C. Oxymoron
D. Apostrophe
9. All of the following are examples of figures of speech except:
A. Metonymy
B. Synecdoche
C. Symbol
D. Hyperbole
10. Which of the following does NOT describe diction?
A. It is the writer’s manner of speaking.
B. It is a special style used by writers in creating a literary text.
C. It is the writer’s distinctive choice and use of language.
D. It is the linguistic choices a writer makes to effectively convey
action or reveal a character.
C. Directions: Select one song inside the boxes which piqued your
interest. Using your smartphone or computer, listen to the song in any
video or music streaming website you prefer. After listening, read and
accomplish what is described below.
“Imagine” by “Photograph”
John Lennon
by Ed Sheeran
“The Scientist” “Fast Car” by
by Coldplay
Tracy
Chapman
“Rainbow” by “In the End” by “You
Belong “Out of My
Southborder
Linkin Park
With
League”
by
Me” by Taylor Stephen
Swift
Speaks
Write a about a memory triggered by the music you have chosen. Think of
where you are when you last heard the music and what it meant for you.
Include any images that come into mind. Be sure to make your paragraph
interesting by using different figures of speech. (Minimum of 300 words)
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REFERENCES:
5|Creative Writing
Abrams, M. H., & Harpham, G. G. (1999). A glossary of literary terms.
Boston, Mass: Thomson Wadsworth.
Cuddon, J. A. (2013). A dictionary of literary terms and literary theory.
Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.,
Publication.
https://www.litcharts.com/literary-devices-and-terms
https://ccsearch.creativecommons.org/photos/2e452542-ef22-402ba3f78527da483e0f