FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE (1)

Simile, Metaphor, Allegory,

and Antithesis

 Objectives
After finishing this unit, the students
are expected to be able define and
explain simile, metaphor, allegory, and
antithesis in a poem
Materials
simile, metaphor, allegory, and
antithesis

A. INTRODUCTION
1. What do you know about figurative
language?
2. Have you ever heard people use
figurative language in daily
conversation? If you ever heard it,
can you give the example?
3. In your opinion, what is the function
of figurative language used in
poetry?

B. DISCUSSION

Figurative language is a way to deliver

meaning other than the literal meaning of
the words. Sometimes, the words are used
to describe thing or condition by comparing
it to something else. In short, figurative
language is a kind of language which
employs various figures of speech. Using
figurative language is a way to captivate
readers interest. It allows us to deliver our
idea and imagination in more entertaining
way.

 There are a lot of kinds of figurative

language.
Some of them are:
1. Simile
2. Metaphor
3. Allegory
4. Antithesis
5. Personification
6. Apostrophe
7. Hyperbole
8. Euphemism

a) Simile
Simile is a figure of speech in which
two
things are compared using as, as when,
like, than, or other equivalent
constructions. Simile asserts similarity.

Example:
"My love is like a red, red rose" (Robert
Burn).

Simile is a figure of speech in which two

a) Simile
things are compared using as, as
when,
like, than, or other equivalent
constructions. Simile asserts similarity.
Example:
"My love is like a red, red rose" (Robert
Burn).
In this example, the speaker compares his
love to a red rose using the word like,
suggesting that the two objects are similar,
so the figure of speech used in this line is
simile.

b) Metaphor
Metaphor is a figure of speech which directly compares
one thing to another. It is used when a writer feels that
two terms are identical instead of merely similar. It
established an analogy between two objects.
Generally, it is formed through the use of some form of
the verb to be.
Example: All the worlds a stage (Shakespeare).
From the example above, the speaker directly
compares all the world to a stage using the verb is.
This kind comparison can be categorized as a
metaphor.
Both metaphor and simile contain two parts. The first
one is the principle or primary term, which is the one
that conveys the literal statement. The second one is
the secondary term, which is used figuratively to add
color to the principle or primary term.

c) Allegory
Allegory is an extended or prolonged metaphor.
We can say that an allegory has two meanings,
the literal meaning and the symbolic one. The
literal meaning is a metaphor for the real meaning
behind it. Using allegory, an author can present
one thing in the guise of something else. A story
which contains of allegory usually contains a
series of actions which are in fact represent other
actions.
Example: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farm is a fable about a

group of animal in a certain
farm that want to gain their
own freedom, which leads
them into a series of events.
This fable is actually an
allegory of the Russian
Revolution.

d) Antithesis
Antithesis is a condition where a pair or more of
strongly contrasting ideas or terms are presented
together. It produces an effect of tension caused
by the contradiction of the words
Example:
In doubt to deem himself a God, or Beast;
In doubt his Mind or Body to prefer;
( Alexander Pope )
The words God and Beast, as well as Mind
and Body, which are contradictory to each
other, are presented together to produce a
certain effect caused by the contradiction of the
words.

2. Practice
Identify and explain the metaphor and simile used in the
poems.
Daffodils
by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought
For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in
pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,

The Adversary
by Phyllis McGinley
A mothers hardest to forgive.
Life is the fruit she longs to
hand you,
Ripe on a plate. And while you
live,
Relentlessly she understands
you.

Daffodils
by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud => simile. He likens
Fluttering +
himself to a lonely cloud
dancing:balance,
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
which means
When all at once I saw a crowd,
harmony and
A host, of golden daffodils;=>metaphor melody that must be
in dancing with
The lines depict the quantity of
music and
movement.
the flowers to that of a crowd of people
Fluttering is a
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
metaphor to
butterflies and
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
young birds when
Continuous as the stars that shine => simile.
likens
theyhe
learn
how to fly
the daffodils to the stars in the sky and twinkle
on the milky way
And twinkle on the milky way, => metaphor He means
the heavens and universe

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
Metaphor: wealth: he
In such a jocund company:
doesn't mean having
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
money but he means
What wealth the show to me had brought
believing in God
For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or inthat
pensive
and thinking about his
mood,
greatness; give us a
They flash upon that inward eye
comfortable life
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

The Adversary
by Phyllis McGinley

A mothers hardest to forgive.

Life is the fruit she longs to hand
you,=> metaphor
Ripe on a plate. And while you live,
Relentlessly she understands you.