The Call of the Wild Figurative Language Chapters 1-4
Figurative
Language Term
Definition
Foreshadowing
To hint at future events,
creating a sense of tension
and anticipation in the reader
Personification
To give human characteristics
to animals, allowing them to
express complex emotions
and ideas.
Allusion
The use of references of
historical periods or other
works of literature, science, etc
to provide context and
richness to the story
Imagery
To use vivid, detailed
descriptions (often of setting,
appearances, etc.)
Simile
Comparing two things using
‘like’ or ‘as’
Example from Text
And this was the manner of dog Buck was in the fall of 1897, when the Klondike strike dragged
men from all the world into the frozen North.
For the moment he forgot Sandburg, and was lost in the feeling of mastery which the
movement of the sled and the sharp-cutting swish of the runners under foot imparted to him.
He learned to bite the ice out with his teeth when it collected between his toes; and when he was thirsty
and there was a thick scum of ice over the water hole, he would break it by rearing and striking it with stiff fore legs.
Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone
for himself, but for every tide-water dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego.
Buck did not like it, but he bore up well to the work, taking pride in it after the manner of
Dave and Sol-leks, and seeing that his mates, whether they prided in it or not, did their fair share.
It was a monotonous life, operating with machine-like regularity. One day was very like another.