A Type of Rhetoric
What is figurative language?
a way of saying something other than the
literal meaning of the words
Types of figurative language
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Connotation
Imagery
Metaphors
Sounds
http://www.theodora.com/wfb/photos/greece/greece3.jpg
The Connotation of Words
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Euphemisms
Irony
Sarcasm
Euphemism
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Use of “polite” or humorous words for a possibly
controversial subject.
Very arbitrary
Death
Passed away, gone to puppy heaven
Pushing up daisies, keeled over
Kicked the bucket, bit the dust
Irony
A result appears
to be incompatible
with normal expectations
Situational
Justice is Blind
NICE HOUSE, BUDDY!
SARCASM
Imagery
© Gaumond 2007
Wine dark sea
Rosy fingered dawn
-Homer The Iliad
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/Photography/Images/
POD/a/aurora-acadia-national-park-1042610-ga.jpg
Ocean
 Swan Road
 Whale Road
King
 Ring Giver
-Beowulf
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/object/5894734_neptune_sculpture.php?id=5894734
SIMILE
HYPERBOLE
PERSONIFICATION
PARADOX
SYMBOLISM
SIMILE
A comparison using "Like"
or "as."
Quick like bunny
As fast as a jack rabbit
HYPERBOLE
An exaggeration
“This is the fastest bike in
the world!” said the
kindergartener.
http://www.schwinnbike.com/products/bikes_detail.php?id=740
PERSONIFICATION:
Making an inanimate object act like a person
or animal
The sun lays its warm muzzle on my lap.
-Linda Pastan
“I am Learning to Abandon the World”
http://www.maniacworld.com/sleepy-cat.jpg
PARADOX
Something that at first seems to contradict
itself, but upon thought, doesn’t.
A little learning is a dangerous thing.
-Alexander Pope
The accidental mercy of machines
-Linda Pastan
“The Answering Machine”
SYMBOLISM
Something represents a completely different
thing or idea.
Red roses=Love
Yellow roses=Friendship
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”
-Maya Angelou
http://thunderyoga.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/Light
ning_Side_Long.349224116_std.jpg
ALLITERATION
Repeated consonant sounds
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
World Wide Web
ASSONANCE
Repeated vowel sounds
You do not do, you do not do
Any more, black shoe . . .
--Sylvia Plath “Daddy”
ONOMATOPOEIA
 Words that sound
like what they are
Pop
Bang
Smash
Kaboom
Burble
http://www.blendernation.com/2006/05/15/realistic-blender-explosion-tutorial/
Figurative language uses
connotation, imagery,
metaphors, and
sounds to convey
meaning.
©Gaumond 2007
The
End
Pictures
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http://www.theodora.com/wfb/photos/greece/greece3.jpg
http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/cblfineart_2005_7691753
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/Photography/Images/
POD/a/aurora-acadia-national-park-1042610-ga.jpg
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/object/5894734_neptune_sculpture.php?id=5894734
http://www.schwinnbike.com/products/bikes_detail.php?id=740
http://thunderyoga.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/Lightning_Side_Long.349224116_std.jpg
http://www.blendernation.com/2006/05/15/realistic-blender-explosion-tutorial/
Information links
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literal_and_figurative_language
http://www.westga.edu/~scarter/Figurative_Language1.htm