Figurative Language

Figuring it Out
Figurative and Literal Language
Literal: words function exactly as defined
The boy’s room was messy.
The left fielder dropped the baseball.

Figurative: You have to figure it out

The boy’s room was a pigsty.
The left fielder has butterfingers.
^These are figures of speech.
Figurative Language
 used by poets to say something
different from the usual way
 use of words that go beyond their
ordinary meaning
 requires imagination to figure out
the author’s meaning
 can heighten senses
Simile
A comparison of two different things
using the word “like” or “as.”

Examples

Telephone wires hung like a musical score

Compares telephone wires to a musical score
Those faces, sour as vinegar;
Compares facial expressions to the taste of vinegar
Warning!
“Like” and “as” don’t always make similes.
A comparison must be made.
Not Simile: I washed the dishes as she dried
them.
Simile: The dishes were as clean as the
inside of a full bottle of soap.
In the first example, no comparison is made.
In the second, the cleanliness of the dishes
is compared to the inside of a soap bottle.
Metaphor
A comparison of two different things
without using the word “like” or “as.”

Examples
Flowers of thought blossom while reading
Compares thinking to blossoming flowers
Drink of sweet courage until drunk of it
Compares courage to a liquid drink
She was my lute, by her I sang
Compares the girl to a lute
Personification
Giving human traits to objects or ideas.

Examples
The stars are hiding now
Gives stars the ability to hide.
Or trees that whisper in some far, small town
Gives trees the ability to whisper.
A tree may wear a nest of robins in her hair
Gives the tree hair and the ability to wear things.
Hyperbole
Exaggerating to express a strong feeling

Examples
I will love you until the end of time.
It is unlikely that the speaker will live that long.
My dad would kill me if he knew about this.
Dad probably wouldn’t actually kill his own child.
My book bag weighs a million pounds.
The bag isn’t even close to a million pounds.
Understatement
Expression with less strength than
expected.
The opposite of hyperbole.

Examples
The guillotine will give you a bad hair day.
The results will be much worse than bad hair.
Kidnapping your host is considered rude.
This is a serious crime much worse than rudeness.
ONOMATOPEIA

- the use of a word whose sound suggests

the meaning

Examples
1.Six burgers were sizzling on the grill.
2.The hissing of the snake scared me.
3. The bee buzzed to my ears.
IRONY
- a figure of speech which a person is saying
the opposite of what he means

Examples
1.The bad news is that everybody got
perfect in yesterday’s test.
2.It is so nice of you to tell my secrets.
3.It is good of you for scolding me in front of
my friends.
APOSTROPHE

- identified by the addressing of someone

absent, dead, or nonhuman as if the
person or thing were alive and could
answer the speaker talking.
 “ Apostrophe! We thus address
More things than I should care to
guess Apostrophe! I did invoke
Your figure even as I spoke.” -
John Hollander

 “ Blue Moon, you saw me standing

alone Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own.” -
Lorenz Hart, “Blue Moon”
METONYMY
- the use of one object in place of another word of
another which it closely suggests

Examples
1. “The pen is mightier than the sword.” pen – the
written word sword – military aggression and
2. We must wait to hear from the crown until we
make any further decisions.
3. Can you please give me a hand carrying this box
up the stairs?
SYNECDOCHE
- May use part of something to represent the
entire whole
- may use the entire thing to represent part of it

Examples:
1. Fifty sails entered the harbor.
2. Two heads are better than one.
3. At the Olympians, you will hear that United
States won gold medal in an event.
ALLITERATION
- characterized by the repetition of initial vowel or
consonant sounds
- great way to help you remember names and
phrases

Examples:
1. Peter piper picked a peck of pickled pepper.
2. Quincy’s quilters quit quilting quickly.
3. Fred’s friends fried Fritos for Friday’s food.
ALLUSION
- a reference made to some familiar fact of history
of literature

Examples:
1. There is no Open Sesame to the treasures of
learning.
2. The girl’s love of sweets was her Achilles’ heel.
3. He was a Romeo with the ladies. 4. David was
being a scrooge!
OXYMORON
- a figure of speech in which a pair of opposite or
contradictory terms is used together for emphasis.

Examples:
1. Ever noticed that it’s simply impossible to find
seriously funny oxymorons online? The only
choice is to ask one of those paid volunteers at
the library for an original copy of some
obviously obscure documents that were found
missing.
ANTITHESIS
- is a figure of speech which refers to the juxtaposition of
opposing or contrasting ideas. It involves the bringing out of a
contrast in the ideas by an obvious contrast in the words,
clauses, or sentences, within a parallel grammatical structure.

Examples:
• 1. "Man proposes, God disposes." - Source unknown.
• "Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing." - Goethe.
• "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
- Neil Armstrong.
• "To err is human; to forgive divine." - Alexander Pope.
• "Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice." - William
Shakespeare.
• "Many are called, but few are chosen." Matthew 22:14.
 END 

THANK YOU! ♥
Quiz
On a separate sheet of paper…

1. I will figurative language examples on the

board.
2. You will write whether each is an example
of simile, metaphor, personification,
hyperbole, or understatement.
3. You can use your notes.
 1

Let it be forgotten as a flower is forgotten,

 Answer
This is a simile because it compares a thing
that should be forgotten to a flower.
 2

Your hand was honey-comb to heal,

Your voice a web to bind.
 Answer
This is a metaphor because the subject’s
hand was compared to honey-comb and
the subject’s voice was compared to a
web. The speaker did not use like or as.
 3

After smashing through the garage door

Alex acknowledge that he may have parked
a little too close to the house.
 Answer
This is an understatement because Alex
parked more than a little too close.
 4

The brooks laugh louder when I come,

The breezes madder play.
 Answer
This is personification because the brooks
are given the ability to laugh and the
breezes are given the ability to play.
 5
There are some, like stars, that dwell apart,
In a fellowless firmament;
 Answer
This is simile because some are compared
to stars using the word like.
 6
And there will I keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And molder in dust away!
 Answer
This is hyperbole because the speaker is
exaggerating how long he will keep the
person. You can’t add a day to forever
without exaggerating.
 7
Freedom weeps,Wrong rules the land, and
waiting Justice sleeps.
 Answer
This is personification because freedom is
given the ability to weep, wrong is given
the ability to rule, and justice is given the
ability to sleep.
 8
The painted leaves are strewn
Along the winding way.
 Answer
This is a metaphor because the coloration
of the leaves is compared to paint without
using the word like or as.
 9

Jeff probably should have said “Thanks”

after Vic saved his life.
 Answer
This is an understatement because if
someone saves another’s life, more
gratitude is expected than the informal
“Thanks.”
 10
The graveyard of my soul is filled with
flowers, so that I may stroll in meditation,
at my ease.
 Answer
This is a metaphor because the speaker
compares his soul to a graveyard without
using the word like or as.