Bellringer
 Name as many figures of speech as you can.
 What is the difference between a metaphor and a
simile?
 What does figurative language add to a piece of
fiction? Why does an author use it?
Figurative Language in Poetry
Figurative Language
 Metaphor
 Simile
 Personification
 Hyperbole
 Onomatopoeia
 Alliteration
 Assonance
 Imagery
 Idiom
Metaphor
 Definition: figure of speech that compares
two unlike things where the two things
actually become the same (compare to
Metamorphosis)
Direct Metaphor: usually uses a form of the verb “to be”
and the comparison is directly stated.
 Extended Metaphor: continues throughout the poem or
section of the poem.
 Implied Metaphor: not said outright.

 Example: Her hair was a river of golden light.
Simile
 Definition: figure of speech that compares two unlike
things, usually with the words “like” or “as.”
 Example: The dog’s eyes were as bright as the sun.
Metaphor and Simile
 Metaphor and simile are easy to mix
up. They both compare two different
things.
 Remember that similes use the words
“like” or “as,” and metaphors do not.
 Simile is like “similar”
 Metaphor is like “metamorphosis” =
“to change”
Personification
 Definition: figure of speech that
gives the qualities of a person to an
animal, an object, or an idea.
 Example: The house wept when its
last child left.
Tricky Personification
 Personification should not to be confused with an
animal doing something a human could do, but that
is natural for the animal to do.
 Example:


The dog walked with me in the woods. (not personification)
The trees walked with me in the woods. (personification)
Hyperbole
 Definition: An exaggerated
statement, not to deceive, but to
make a point.
 My sister took a decade to answer
the phone.
Idiom
 Definition: Language specific
expressions.
 Example: I caught a bus to school.
 http://www.idiomsite.com/
Imagery
 Definition: Language that appeals to the
senses. Descriptions of people or objects
stated in terms of our senses.
 Example: The red dawn made the sky a fiery
battle scene.
Sound Devices
 Alliteration
 Assonance
 Onomatopoeia
Sound Devices contribute to
the rhythm of a poem.
Alliteration
 Definition: Repeated consonant sounds occurring
at the beginning of words or within words.

Alliteration is used to create melody, establish mood, call
attention to important words, and point out similarities
and contrasts.
 Example: The girly goose jumped to the top of the
tallest tree.
Assonance
 Definition: Resemblance of sound,
especially of the vowel sounds in words.
 Example: Hills of willy nilly sprites.
Alliteration and Assonance
 Alliteration usually comes at the beginning
of a word and repeats consonant sounds.

Example, Shakespeare parodies alliteration in Peter Quince's
Prologue in A Midsummer Night's Dream:
Whereat, with blade, with bloody blameful blade,
He bravely breach'd his boiling bloody breast.
 Assonance usually comes in the middle of
the word, and repeats vowel sounds.

Example, Assonance of the vowel "u" used by Robert Louis
Stevenson:
The crumbling thunder of seas
Alliteration and Assonance
 Can you find an example of these terms in one line of the
poem, "The Raven," by Edgar Allan Poe:
And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple
curtain
Assonance is the repetition of the ur sound in "purple"
and "curtain.”
2. Alliteration is the repetition of the s sound within
"uncertain" and "rustling.” and the repetition of the s
sound at the start of "silked" and "sad."
These terms are very closely related, though the distinction
between them comes in determining vowels versus
consonants.
1.
Onomatopoeia
 Definition: The use of words that mimic
sounds. They appeal to our sense of hearing.
A string of syllables the author has made up
to represent the way a sound really sounds.
 Example: The buzz of the bees made my
head spin.
Practice Time!
The girl in the purple dress had teeth like a horse.
simile
My dog was a beast before I fed him.
Metaphor (direct)
Sweetly Sang Sam with the starlit hair.
alliteration
Ella, my neighbor, is 500 years old.
hyperbole
When he saw the rolling of the ominous clouds, he knew a
storm was coming.
10. assonance
11. The grass by the house was like stringy hair around a
beggar’s face.
12. simile
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
More Practice
I definitely got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
idiom
The sun came up on the horizon and spread its delicate fingers
of light over the mountain
4. personification.
5. Ben smashed the perfectly round, red ball against the brick
wall.
6. Imagery, alliteration, assonance
7. The wasps hummed and buzzed around the grapevine.
8. onomatopoeia
9. The box listened and waited for the moving men to fill it with
our life’s belongings.
10. personification
11. The rooster’s comb is a red plumed hat.
12. Metaphor (direct)
1.
2.
3.
Tiny Feet by Gabriela Mistral
A child's tiny feet,
Blue, blue with cold,
How can they see and not protect you?
Oh, my God!
Tiny wounded feet,
Bruised all over by pebbles,
Abused by snow and soil!
Man, being blind, ignores
that where you step, you leave
A blossom of bright light,
that where you have placed
your bleeding little soles
a redolent tuberose grows.
Since, however, you walk
through the streets so straight,
you are courageous, without fault.
Child's tiny feet,
Two suffering little gems,
How can the people pass, unseeing.
Read the
poem
Find the
figurative
language
Tiny Feet figurative language
 Abused by snow and soil – alliteration (repeated s)
 Blue, blue – alliteration (repeated b)
 Feet=gems (metaphor, direct)
 Blossom of bright light – imagery, alliteration
(repeated b) assonance (i)
 Being blind – alliteration (repeated b)
 Bruised all over by pebbles (imagery)
References
 Jordan, Tonia. (2007). Alliteration, Assonance and
Consonance. Retrieved from
http://ezinearticles.com/?Alliteration,-Assonanceand-Consonance&id=675686
 No Author (2011). Metaphor and Simile. Retrieved
from
http://www.differencebetween.net/language/differe
nce-between-metaphor-and-simile/