Figurative Language

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

Figurative language can be classified in five categories:(according to Meriam – Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature)

resemblance or relationship emphasis or understatement figures of sound verbal games error

1. Simile

compares two unlike objects with the common quality

uses the words “like” or “as”

Examples:1. My love for you is as deep as the sea.2. My father is busy as a bee.3. The still lake reflects the mountain like a mirror.

2. Metaphor a form of comparison that directly

compares two unlike things created when there are common

characteristics between a literal concept and a figurative one

Examples:1. Her teeth are pearls.2. Time is gold.3. You are the sunshine of my life.

3. Personification

the attribution of human characteristics to non-human/ inanimate objects (an animal, an object or a concept)

reader visualizes the literal term as human form/trait

Examples:1. Fear grabbed me as I heard footsteps behind me.2. The flood waters swallowed the trees in one big gulp.3. The stars winked at us from the night sky.

4. Onomatopoeia

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.

5. 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.

6. 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

often used in informal writing contexts

• Creative writing and persuasive essays that lean heavily on emotional strength are ideal places for apostrophe.

Examples:1. “ Apostrophe! We thus address

More things than I should care to guessApostrophe! I did invokeYour figure even as I spoke.”

- John Hollander

2. “ Blue Moon, you saw me standing aloneWithout a dream in my heartWithout a love of my own.”

- Lorenz Hart, “Blue Moon”

7. Hyperbole

an overstatement or exaggeration for effect of humor

Examples:1. You snore louder than a freight train.2. I will love you till the seas run dry.3. I have reminded you a million times to keep away from bad friends.

8. Litotes

a figure of speech in which understatement is employed for rhetorical effect, principally via double negatives

emphasizes truth

Examples:Litotes As a means of saying:

“Not bad.” “Good.”“(…) no ordinary city.” “ (…) a very impressive

city“You are not wrong.” “You’re correct.”

9. Epithet

also known as byname

a descriptive word or phrase added to or substituted for the name of somebody or something, highlighting a quality or figure

Examples:

1. Alexander the Great; Aristides the Just

2. “Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns…” (Odysseus)

3. Calypso, the bewitching nymph

Atlas, wicked Titan

10. Allegory

an extended metaphor a literary device in which characters or events

represent or symbolize ideas and concepts present high truths with vividness and power

(illustrate complex ideas and concepts in ways that are easily digestible and tangible to the readers)

Examples: Aesop’s FablesThe Ant and the Grasshopper The Fox and the Grapes The wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

11. 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?

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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!

15. Oxymoron

a figure of speech in which a pair of opposite or contradictory terms is used together for emphasis

Examples:

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.

16. Pun

an expression intended for a humorous or rhetorical effect by exploiting different meaning of words

Examples:1. When a son said that his ambition was to drive an army tank, his father said, “I won’t stand in your way.”2. I wondered why the ball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

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