Figurative Language vs. Literal Language

What does it mean?

Standard

ELACC8RL4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

Literal Language

• Literal language is language that means exactly what it says.

For example, if I said, “Sit down,” I literally mean “take a seat in your chair”

Figurative Language

• Figurative language is language that does not mean exactly what it says.

• It is understood that the words mean something different.

Ex. I am burning up!

Figurative and Literal

Literal: Would you please chill these sodas in the refrigerator?

Figurative: Would you please chill out!

Don’t mix them up!

In basketball, if we say, “He is on fire,” we mean that he hasn’t missed a shot in a while.

But what if….

What if we took that literally….He’s on fire!

Examples

She is a peach!

Literal: She is a fuzzy piece of fruit that we can cook in a pie!

Figurative: She is really sweet!

Examples

I’ll do that when pigs fly.

Literal: As soon as I look out my window and see a flying pig, I will get right on that.

Figurative: It’s never going to happen.

Examples

You are one smart cookie!

Literal: You are a real, live cookie with a very big brain.

Figurative: You are an intelligent person.

Remember…

Figurative is language that you have to “figure out.” You can’t go exactly by what it means.

Types of Figurative Language

Simile, Metaphor and Personification

Standard

ELACC8RL4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

Simile

A simile is a comparison of two people, objects, or ideas that uses the words

“like” or “as” or “than”

Example

The shop owner is as busy as a bee.

Example

It was quiet like a library at midnight.(Brenda Woods)

Example

She floated gracefully down the halls like a butterfly.

Poem SampleFlint by Christina Rossetti

An emerald is as green as grass,A ruby red as blood;A sapphire shines as blue as heaven;A flint lies in the mud.

A diamond is a brilliant stone,To catch the world's desire;An opal holds a fiery spark;But a flint holds a fire.

Metaphor

A metaphor compares people, things or ideas without using the words like or as. It makes a direct connection.

Example

You are what you eat.

Example

He was a solid rock against his enemies.

Example

That test was a nightmare!

Metaphor Poem by Lill PlutaMy brother is a dragon.My Mom’s a teddy bear.I am a shaggy sheep dogWith a ton of tangled hair.

My father is a monkeyHe likes to make us laugh, Especially my sisterWho is a tall giraffe

We are a busy familyWith many things to do.Our home is always happy,But sometimes it’s a zoo.

Personification

• Personification describing something that isn’t human by giving it human-like qualities.

Example

The stars danced playfully in the moonlit sky.

Example

Most pianos have pretty good manners but Steven can make them sound rude.

Example

The trees dropped their leaves and rested.

Example

Any trust I had for him walked right out the door.

My Dinner is Dancing

My food loves to prance, to jump, to dance; I wait for the time, I wait for the chance! As mommy goes in and out of the room;tables and chairs become their ballroom! I flick my fingers; swing my wrist. Beans and turkey are doing the twist! Peas, plumbs, apples or a mango; on to the walls, they're doing the tango!

Types of Figurative Language 2

Hyperbole and Idiom

Standard

ELACC8RL4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts

ELACC8L5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

a. Interpret figures of speech (e.g. verbal irony, puns) in context.

Hyperbole

• Hyperbole An exaggerated statement used to create an effect. It is used to emphasize a point.

Example: She’s said for you to be quite on several million occasions.

Poetry SampleOn a Snowy Day

Everyone looks like snowmen.So much snow that it’s piling up to heaven.The fireplace is aglow like a giant’s oven.Our cups of hot chocolate are piledTo the roof of the houseWith marshmallows.We scurry in the house, a bunch of hurried mice,On a snow day.

Poetry SampleSchool Fight

You can’t hear a pin dropAs all the kids gather around;They are vulturesWaiting for the corpseOf the one who loses.The tall kid…He swings his fist with his hurricane force.A torrential spray of bloodExplodes from the smaller boy’s noseAnd covers the tiled floor.The vultures fly awayAs the teachers quickly approach.

Idiom

• An idiom is an expression in one language that cannot be matched or directly translated word-for-word in another language. It is commonly known that it’s meaning is not literal.

Example

It’s raining cats and dogs outside!

Example

• Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

Example

He is head over heels for her!

Example

You are the cheese to my macaroni.

Poem Sample'You can't cry over spilled milk! '

my mother always said.

'Life's not a piece of cake! 'she hammered in my head.

'That's the way it goes, ' that's the way the cookie crumbles'

My mother saved her idiomsfor all my idiotic troubles.

--John Randal

Poem Sample

Cat Got Your TongueI was feeling shy when my uncle came."Has the cat got your tongue?" he said.He must have meant, "Why aren't you talking?“Because my tongue was still in my head.

—Adele Tolley Wilson

I’ll give you the moon!

The Difference

HyperboleThis is general

exaggeration for an effect. It is not a specific saying.

Ex. I am about to starve to death.

IdiomThis is a special

expression used for an effect. It would not make sense literally.

Ex. I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.

Task

• Requirement: Create a poem using two of the following: personification, metaphor, idiom, hyperbole or simile.

Form: Author’s ChoiceTopic: Author’s Choice