Figurative Language
Defining and analyzing
figurative language
Figurative Language
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Figurative Language refers to the use of literary
elements that add texture and interest to writing.
Figurative language is a word or phrase that
departs from everyday literal language for the
sake of comparison, emphasis, clarity, or
freshness.
 Used well, figurative language enhances your
writing and acts as a way of getting an image or
a point across to the reader in clear and precise
detail.
Alliteration
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Alliteration: the repetition of the same sound at the
beginning of a word, such as the repetition of b sounds
in Keats's "beaded bubbles winking at the brim" ("Ode to
a Nightingale") or Coleridge's "Five miles meandering in
a mazy motion ("Kubla Khan").
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A common use for alliteration is emphasis. It occurs in
everyday speech in such phrases as "tittle-tattle," "bag
and baggage," "bed and board," "primrose path," and
"through thick and thin" and in sayings like "look before
you leap."
Irony
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Irony is to stress the paradoxical nature of reality
or the contrast between an ideal and actual
condition, set of circumstances, etc., frequently
in such a way as to stress the absurdity present
in the contradiction between substance and
form.
 For example, “beautiful weather we are having!”
when it is raining is a statement meant to place
importance on the contrast.
 Irony in literature extends this idea to show the
disconnect between what should be and what
the reality truly is.
Simile
 A simile:
a comparison of two dissimilar
things using "like" or "as", e.g., "my love is
like a red, red rose" (Robert Burns).
 Watch for the differences between simile
and metaphor. A Metaphor does not use
“like” or “as”
 Her hair glistened as brown and luxurious
as a varnished Stradivarius violin
Metaphor
 A metaphor:
a comparison of two
dissimilar things which does not use "like"
or "as," e.g., "my love is a red, red rose"
(Lilia Melani).
 “The class was a ship and the teacher was
the captain.” Notice how this comparison
does not use “like” or “as”, differentiating it
from the simile.
Personification
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Personification: treating abstractions or
inanimate objects as human, that is, giving them
human attributes, powers, or feelings, e.g.,
"nature wept" or "the wind whispered many
truths to me."
 The tree rocked back and forth in the breeze, the
leaves gently cradling the bird’s nest from the
storm”
 Since leaves do not “gently cradle” a bird’s nest,
this is the attribution of human characteristics to
the tree. Thus, this is an example of
personification.
Hyperbole
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Hyperbole: exaggeration, often extravagant; it
may be used for serious or for comic effect.
 “My mother spends about a thousand years
shopping for groceries while I wait in the car.”
 Obviously, I do not stay in the grocery store for
“a thousand years”. Therefore, this is extreme
exaggeration on the part of the speaker. This is
what makes this a hyperbole.
Author’s Purpose
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As you read, you will be looking for these and
other elements of figurative language.
 Your goal is to identify the author’s purpose in
using that language. In other words, why did the
author insert that simile there? Why a metaphor
here or alliteration there?
 To determine author’s purpose, read carefully,
asking yourself, “What effect does this language
have? What is the author asking me to see, feel
or experience?”
Let’s look at an example
“Francesco was my father’s best worker,
someone who had risen from a position as
manager of the family’s silk business in
Genova. He was an honest soul who
savored numbers as others might delicate
dishes flavored with rosemary” (Beaufrand
11).
What figurative language is used here?
Can you find it?
Simile!
 You’re
right! It’s a simile.
 The author compares the man’s love for
numbers to another’s love for a fine dinner.
 Notice the choice of diction, “savor”. What
does it mean to savor? What’s the
connotation of that word? How does it
affect the meaning?
Examine the text
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So as we read through and find the language
that we need, we ask ourselves what the effect
is.
 What was the effect of that simile, that
comparison?
 How did the man feel about numbers? What kind
of a person did his motivation make him? What
would he have done or not done based on his
sincere appreciation for his trade? ALL the
answers to that are in TWO sentences!
 All that meaning in one simile! That’s the power
of words!
Theme
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Theme is nothing more than the overarching idea of the
story.
One theme in “On the Rainy River” might be the critical
importance of allowing your conscience to guide you in
your decisions. Another might be the ability to show
courage under tremendous pressure. Yet another might
be the true worth of the wisdom and experience that
comes with old age.
Can you think of more themes?
In determining the theme in your novel, think about the
key critical points in the novel. What are the characters
dealing with? Loneliness, isolation, maturing, escaping?
Those key moments in the text will guide you towards
defining your theme(s).