Figurative Language

Figurative Language
 Defined:  Language that goes
beyond the normal
meaning of the words
used; it is used to create a
special effect or feeling.
 It compares, exaggerates,
or means something other
than what it first appears
to mean.
Figure of Speech
 A literary device used to create a special
effect or feeling by making some type of
interesting or creative comparison.
 Most common types are: hyperbole,
metaphor, metonymy, personification,
simile, and understatement
Antithesis: an-ti-thE-sis
 Definition  An opposition, or
contrast, of ideas
 Example:  “It was the best of
times, it was the worst
of times, it was the
age of wisdom, it was
the age of
foolishness…” -
Charles Dickens, A
Tale of Two Cities
Hyperbole: hi-pur’ba-li
 Defined:  Is an exaggeration, or
overstatement

 Example:
Idiom: id-I-um
 Defined:  A phrase or expression that
means something different
from what the words actually
say.
 Usually understandable by a
particular group of people.
 Example:  It’s raining cats and dogs.
Metaphor: met-a-four
 Defined:  A comparison of two
unlike things in which
no word of comparison
is used (like, as, than)

 Example:
 He is a real rat.
Metonymy: ma-tone-a-mi
 Defined:  The substituting of one
word for another that
is closely related to it.
 Example:  The pen is mightier
than the sword.
 Pen and sword
represent publishing and
military force,
respectively.
Personification: pur-son-i-fi-k-shun
 Defined:  Literary device in
which the author
speaks of or describes
an animal, object, or
idea as if it were a
person
 Example:  The clouds cried.
Simile: sim-a-lee
 Defined:  A comparison of two
unlike things in which
a word of comparison
(like, as, than) is used
 Example:
 He was tall as a
giraffe.
Practice:
 On the next few slides there will be
examples. Use your notes to try and figure
out which type of figure of speech is being
used.
Practice:
1. You hit the nail on the head.
2. She was quiet as a mouse.
3. My friend is the funniest person in the world.
4. As she walk it sounded like the wind was
whispering.
5. I won’t tell anyone, I’ll keep it in my mental vault.
6. A jumbo shrimp
7. The Whitehouse did not want to comment.