Figurative

Language

This is a piece of cake!

From: http://hungrydarling.com/sunday-baking-rainbow-layer-cake/

This is a piece of cake!

From: http://www.rakuten.de/produkt/selecta-2051-zoo-greifpuzzle-holzpuzzle-knopfpuzzle-puzzle-aus-holz-

Down in the dumps...

From: http://malialitman.com/2014/03/29/the-branding-of-sarah-palin-the-non-patriot-as-a-patriot-is-

Down in the dumps...

From: http://blog.kounkuey.org/2012/10/10/visiting-dandora/

From:

http://futureisfiction.com/blog/against-the-figurative-use-of-the-word-

Literal
Means what it says

Figurati
ve

Actual meaning

From: http://www.someecards.com/usercards/viewcard/2483fa85f69a71fbeaee6804c00f5ea9

Another meaning

Beyond actual meaning

Figurative Language
Non-literal meaning
Connotative - makes you think about something in
addition to the words meaning
Implied - to express something in an indirect way
Implicit - understood though not clearly stated
Metaphorical - word/phrase for one thing used to
refer to another thing to show they are similar

Simile
Used to create clear
comparisons.
as or like are
used
Examples:
My brother eats like a pig.
Martha is like a walking dictionary.

From: http://tx.english-ch.com/teacher/julia/others/grammar-simile/

Metaphor

Used to imply comparison between two things that may

seem unlike but actually have something in common.

Expresses the familiar with the unfamiliar

Unlike similes, metaphors do not have the words like or

as.

Examples:
My brother is a pig.
Martha is a walking dictionary.
But my heart is a lonely
hunter that hunts on a
lonely hill. The Lonely
Hunter by William Sharp

Photo from: http://eksouth.weebly.com/uploads/6/5/2/3/6523461/8933221

Hyperbole
An exaggeration
Adds emphasis or heightens emotion
Examples:
If I dont get a perfect
score, my parents
will kill me!
Im so hungry I could
eat a horse.
She was so tired she
slept for a year!

Photo from: http://languagefeatures.weebly.com/uploads/8/0/7/3/8073269/1573516_or

Personification
Used to provide human
attributes to inanimate
objects or abstract ideas
Examples:
An army of clouds
disturbed the deep
slumber of the
night.
The flame danced in
the night.
Photo from: http://gcsdstaff.org/rank/?p=1036

Irony
When events are words appear to be the opposite of reality
Often sarcastic

From: http://www.elacommoncorelessonplans.com/literature-reading-standards/exemplars-g-9-10/short-story-guides-

Verbal Irony
Contrast between what is said to what is meant
(You got hit by a car) Wow, that doesnt hurt one
bit.
She is as pleasant as a shark.
The steak was as tender as a leather boot.
Prometheus said to Zeus: You are as kind as you
are wise. (Prometheus doesnt think Zeus is wise)

Dramatic Irony
Contrast between what
the character thinks to
be true to what the
audience knows
In the Disney film, Mulan,
the audience knows that
Mulan is a girl, but the
other characters do not
We know Juliet just took a
sleeping potion while the
other characters think
she is dead

From:
http://www.justjaredjr.com/2015/03/30/mulandream-cast-who-do-you-think-should-play-thedisney-princess/

Situational Irony
Contrast between what
happens to what was
expected
A man who is a traffic
cop gets his license
suspended for unpaid
parking tickets
Farmers who do not own
any land of their own

Photo from:
http://static.digg.com/images/7561c20e1ce34bc6b
9c8b2956167d01e_0ee06341db46489aafd1fe3418
e6ec92_original.jpeg

Synecdoche
Uses a part to represent the whole or the
whole to represent a part
Two heads are better than one.
He is my right arm.

From: http://englishmajorhumor.tumblr.com/post/67021093371/yo-litterms-whats-up-with-metonymy-and

Euphemism

Using an inoffensive term instead of

an offensive or inappropriate one
Vertically challenged instead of short
Informal settlers instead of squatters
Big-boned instead of fat
Passed away instead of died

Understatement
Used to make an

expression or idea
seem less
important than it
really is.

Saying that Its

just drizzling
outside when there
http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/greatestis a From:
storm
understatements-of-all-time#.grrnvm6NK

Litotes

A form of understatement that creates a

negative expression to mean the opposite
Usually uses double negatives
Shes not ugly.
The food is not bad.
You are not wrong.
There isnt anything I wont eat when Im
hungry.

Apostrophe

Addressing someone absent, dead,

or nonhuman as if that person or
thing were present
O death, where is thy victory? O
death, where is thy sting? I
Corinthians XV. 55
Hello darkness, my old friend, Ive
come to talk with you again.

Whats the difference?

Thedifference between
personification and apostropheis
that personificationgives human
qualities to animals, objects and
ideas, whileapostrophehas
characters talking aloud to objects
and ideas as if they were human.

Oxymoron

A set of contradictory terms that appear side by

side

Veggie meat
Fresh frozen chicken
Living dead
New antique furniture
New old stock
Open secret
Original copies
Seriously funny
Pretty ugly

Think!

Parting is such sweet sorrow From Romeo and

Juliet by William Shakespeare
Oxymoron provokes our thoughts and makes us
ponder on the meaning of contradicting ideas.
In everyday conversation, oxymoron is used to
show wit
The use of oxymoron adds flavor to their
speech.

Paradox

A statement that seems to contradict itself

but is actually true
I must be cruel to be kind From Hamlet
by William Shakespeare
Im nobody
You can save money by spending it
"Ignorance is strength. - George Orwell,
1984

A WONDERFUL MESSAGE
BY GEORGE CARLIN

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller

buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower
viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more,
but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families,
more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees
but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more
experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less
wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly,
laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too
late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much,
and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions,
but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom,
and hate too often.

Pun
A play on words,
sometimes on different
senses of the same word
and sometimes on the
similar sense or sound of
different words
A pessimists blood type is
b-negative.
Tomorrow you shall find
me a grave man. From
Romeo and Juliet by William
From:
http://christiancortes1.weebly.com/1/post/2012/3/visual-punShakespeare

Pun

From:
http://yvision.kz/post/334176

Pun
A horse is a very stable animal.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a
banana.
On the contrary, Aunt Augusta, Ive now
realized for the first time in my life the vital
importance of being earnest. From
Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
I'm glad I know sign language, it's pretty
handy.

Onomatopoeia
Creates a sound effect that mimics the thing
described, making the description more
expressive and interesting
The buzzing bee flew away.
The sack fell into the river with a splash.
The books fell on the table with a loud thump.
He looked at the roaring sky.
The rustling leaves kept me awake.

Alliteration

Stylistic device in which a number of words, having the

same first consonant sound, occur close together in a
series
Does not depend onlettersbut on sounds
The phrasenot knottyis alliterative, butcigarette
chaseis not alliterative
But a better butter makes a batter better.
A big bully beats a baby boy.

Alliteration

From:
http://bedbathandbeyonds.blogspot.com/2015/08/bed-bath-and-beyond-orego
n.html

Consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds within

sentences, phrases, or in poems
Blank / think
Spelled / scald
Sent / went
Far / jar
Litter / batter

Consonance

Mike likes his new bike.

It will creep and beep while you sleep.
He struck a streak of bad luck.
I wish you would mash potatoes in this dish.

Alliteration or Consonance ?

Pitter-patter

Whether the weather will be or

whether the weather will be not

Mammals named Sam are

clammy.

Hannah's home has heat

hopefully.

Assonance
Assonance takes place when two or more
words close to one another repeat the same
vowel sound but start with different
consonant sounds.
Try to light the fire
Men sell the wedding bells

Assonance

Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far.

It is among the oldest of living
things. So old it is that no man
knows how and why the first poems
came.
From Early Moon by Carl Sandburg

Activity

Search for the lyrics of your favorite English

song (with NO INAPPROPRIATE language)
Identify the lines that use figures of speech
Defend why the line uses that kind of figure
of speech. How does the figure of speech
contribute to the meaning of the song?