Figurative Language
Definition
Also called Figures of Speech, writing or
speech meant to be understood
imaginatively instead of literally. They
include metaphors, similes, hyperbole,
onomatopoeia, personification, idioms,
analogies, imagery, alliteration,
assonance, and symbolism.
Metaphors
●
●
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A direct comparison between two dissimilar
items
One thing is spoken or written about as if it
were another
Formula: The (first subject) is a (second
subject).
Juliet
Romeo
Juliet
is the
Sun!!!
This is
SO
not worth it!
Simile
●
●
An indirect comparison between two
dissimilar items
Uses the words: like, as, than, appears, and
seems.
●
A comparison using like or as
●
Formula: (Subject A) is like (Subject B)
As good as gold.
- Charles Dickens
She walks in
beauty like
the night
- Lord Byron
“Life is like a box of
chocolates, you
never know what
you're gonna get.”
- Forest Gump
Difference Between Metaphor and Simile
Juliet
Metaphor
Simile
Direct
Indirect
Like/As
Hyperbole
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●
A boldly exaggerated statement
that adds emphasis without
intended to be literally true
An exaggeration made for effect
Your hiding
something cuz it's
burning through
your eyes.
- New Found Glory
An hundred years
should go to praise
thine eyes and on
they forehead gaze
- Andrew Marvell
Onomatopoeia
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●
The use of words or phrases that sound
like what they name
Can also refer to an entire line of text
where the sounds of the words are used
to convey the meaning of the text
My stick fingers click
with a snicker and
chuckling, they
knuckle the keys.
- John Updike
Oh
CRASH!
my
BASH!
it's
BANG!
the
ZANG!
Fourth
WHOOSH!
of
BAROOM!
July
WHEW!
Personification
Human characteristics are
attributed to nonhuman things
● Something not human is
described as if it were human
●
Rage, rage
against
the dying
of the
light.
- Dylan
Thomas
Quoth the Raven,
“Nevermore!”
- Edgar Allen Poe
Idioms
●
●
An expression whose
meaning cannot be
determined by the literal
meanings of the words,
but has a figurative
meaning based on
conventional use
Very similar to a slang
term
Wild Goose
Chase
Threw him a
curve ball
I'll cross that bridge
when I come to it
Analogies
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An analogy is a
comparison of things
that are alike in some
ways but different in
others
Formally seen as:
“Shoes are to feet as
tires are to cars.”
Formula: A:B::C:D
A country boy in the
city acts like a small
fish in a big pond in
that they're both
completely
unprepared, and
both have a lot of
adapting to do.
Alliteration
●
●
the same sound
appears at the
beginning of two or
more consecutive
words
Commonly seen in
Tongue Twisters
●
●
●
Kit Carson County
Community College
Descending
Dewdrops
Keen Car
Assonance
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Repetition of the
The black cat whacked
same vowel sound in
the rat with a bat.
nearby words
Hear the mellow
Most commonly
wedding bells
found within the
word, not at the
beginning
Imagery
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Language that
creates a concrete
representation of an
object or experience
Anything that
addresses the senses,
sights, sounds,
smells, tastes,
feelings, or actions
●
●
●
●
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Sizzling bacon
Scent of fresh
flowers
Feel of sand beneath
your feet
Dark clouds looming
on the horizon
Bitter taste of
saltwater
Symbolism
●
●
Something that
stands for or
represents itself and
something else
Something that
evokes a range of
meaning beyond its
literal meaning
Tyger, tyger burning bright in the
forests of the night, what
immortal hand or eye could
frame thy fearful symmetry
- William Blake
The Tyger stands as an actual
tiger but also all other
things considered evil
Your Assignment
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Using your poetry booklet, you are to find 5
examples of each type of Figurative
Language which the following exceptions:
Alliteration, Assonance, Analogies
Along with identifying it, pick one example
and explain how it meets the definition of the
Figure of Speech on your Graphic Organizer
She is sly like a fox
Clank
It feels like I
hit a brick wall!
The mountain
held the town
The sea will be his
watery grave
He ate everything
at the house
Squeeze the silent,
startled snake in
September
The jingling bells
All the world
is a stage
Dead as a doornail
Kicked the bucket
I could eat
a horse
The pen ran
across the paper
The big bee buzzed
behind the bonnet
Flash in the pan
His voice is the roar
of a lion
The pig sighed
in disbelief
He threw it
a thousand
miles per hour
As big as the sky
Boom
The clouds cried
Hanging by a moment
Spun like a top
Always arrest
angry alligators
War rages on like
a forest fire
The wind
whispered a
secret
She appeared
like an angel from
the sky