used by writers and poets to say something different from the usual way use of words that go beyond...
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Figurative Language
Figurative Language
used by writers and 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 Merriam – 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 Olympics, 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.
END =)