Figurative Language!
Learning goal: Students will create poetry that
emphasizes various forms of figurative
language.
Write down whatever is in red!
A stated comparison
between two basically
unlike things that have
something in common.
Uses “like” or “as”
Today will soon be
Gone, like yesterday is gone,
Like history is gone,
The world keeps spinning on,
You’re going, going, gone,
Like summer break is gone
Like Saturday is gone
Just try to prove me wrong
You pretend like you’re immortal
From “Gone” by Switchfoot
A comparison between
two basically unlike
things where the first
thing is said to be the
second. Uses “is,” “was,”
“are,” “were”
I’m that star up in the sky
I’m that mountain peak up high
I made it
I’m the world’s greatest
And I’m that little bit of hope
When my back’s against the ropes
I can feel it, mmm
I’m the world’s greatest
From “The World’s Greatest” by R. Kelly
The attributing of human
qualities to nonhuman or
nonliving things—
abstractions, ideas,
animals, objects.
Describes the thing the
way you would describe
a person
Hello, Mr. Heartache, I’ve been expecting you
Come in and wear your welcome out
The way you always do
You never say if you’re here to stay
Or only passin’ through
So hello, Mr. Heartache
I’ve been expecting you
From “Hello, Mr. Heartache” by the Dixie Chicks
Exaggeration for effect;
effect may be humorous,
satiric, or sentimental
But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles
To fall down at your door
From “I’m Gonna Be” by the Proclaimers
Inversion of the usual
order of the parts of a
sentence, usually for
emphasis or to achieve a
certain rhythm or rhyme
Love, love me do
You know I love you
I’ll always be true
So please, love me do
From “Love Me Do” by the Beatles
A brief reference to a
person, event, or place,
real or fictitious, or to a
work of art
Well I miss Mayberry
Sittin’ on the porch drinking ice cold Cherry—Coke
Pickin’ on a six string
Where people pass by and you call them by their first name
Watching the clouds roll by
Bye, bye
From “Mayberry” by Rascal Flatts
The author’s attitude
toward his/her subject
matter or audience
(Love stinks)
Love stinks, yeah, yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks, yeah , yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks, yeah, yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks, yeah, yeah
From “Love Stinks” by J. Geils Band
An overused
expression or
idea.
Think:
The Jaws Theme Song
A play on words,
sometimes on different
senses of the same
word and sometimes on
the similar sense or
sound of different
words.
I think I’m a clone now
There’s always two of me just a-hangin’ around
I think I’m a clone now
‘Cause every chromosome is a hand-me-down.
Weird Al Yankovich
“I Think I’m a Clone Now”
A phrase where
incongruous or
contradictory terms
are combined.
Country Music?
The repetition of the
same consonant
sound in words
occurring near one
another.
Fluffy is the friendly but frightening threeheaded dog hidden in the third-floor
corridor.
The use of a word that
sounds like its
meaning.
David listened to the honks, screeches ,
sirens, and other sounds of the city.
Examples: sizzle, woof/bark, buzz, hiss,
hiccup, boom, crash
Using sceptre and crown to
represent rulers:
Using the specific to
represent the general
(or vice versa). Useful
for replacing vague or
colorless words with
vibrant images.
Sceptre and Crown
Must tumble down,
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade.
- Death the Leveller, by James Shirley
More examples of figurative language:
• http://www.creativejuicesbooks.com/figurat
ive-language.html