Figurative Language

1. Figurative Language Top 20 Techniques

2. 1. Simile An indirect relationship where one thing or idea is described as being similar to another. Similes usually contain the words “like” or “as,” but not always. “The moon appeared crimson, like a drop of blood hanging in the sky.”

3. 2. Metaphor • A direct relationship where one thing or idea substitutes for another. “The poor rat didn’t have a chance. Our old cat, a bolt of lightning, caught his prey.”

4. 3. Personification • Where inanimate objects or abstract concepts are given human qualities. The wind stood up and gave a shout. He whistled on his fingers andKicked the withered leaves about And thumped the branches with his handAnd said he'd kill and kill and kill, And so he will and so he will. James Stephens, The Wind

5. 4. Alliteration • The repetition of consonant usually in consecutive words within the same sentence or line. “While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping as if someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.” Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven

6. 5. Assonance • Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words. “And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming.” Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven

7. 6. Hyperbole • A description that exaggerates, usually employing extremes and/or superlatives to convey a positive or negative attribute. “I’ve told you a million times to clean up your room.” A direct quote from every mother in America

8. 7. Onomatopoeia • When words describing sounds actually sound like the sounds they describe. "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is." Slogan of Alka Seltzer

9. 8. Irony • Use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. A statement or situation where the meaning is directly contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea. (Three types: Verbal, Situational, Dramatic) In “The Most Dangerous Game,” a professional hunter finds himself being hunted.

10. 9. Symbol • The use of specific objects or images to represent abstract ideas. A symbol must be something you can see or touch, while the idea it symbolizes must be not seen or universal. “It’s a shell! I seen one like that before. On someone’s back wall. A conch he called it. He used it to blow and then his mum would come. It’s ever so valuable --.” William Golding, Lord of the Flies

11. 10. Imagery • Language that describes something in detail, using words to substitute for and create sensory stimulation, including visual imagery and sound imagery. “The plane rolled to the right and blew through the trees, out over the water and down, down to slam into the lake, skip once on water as hard as concrete, water that tore the windshield out and shattered the side windows, water that drove him back into the seat. Somebody was screaming, screaming as the plane drove down into the water.” Gary Paulsen, Hatchet

12. 11. Allusion • A brief, usually indirect reference to a person, place, or event--real or fictional. Allusions are commonly made to the Bible, nursery rhymes, myths, famous fictional or historical characters or events, and Shakespeare. “Christy didn't like to spend money. She was no Scrooge, but she seldom purchased anything except the bare necessities.”

13. 12. Slant Rhyme The rhymed words share either the same vowel or consonant sound but not both. Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all. ~Emily Dickinson

14. 13. Consonance Like alliteration, it is the repetition of consonant sounds but in the middle or at the end of words. Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. ~Robert Frost

15. Test Your Knowledge Choose the technique used in the following examples.

16. 1. • He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way . . . Involuntarily I glanced seaward – and distinguished nothing except a single green light. (The Great Gatsby) • A. Symbol • B. Simile • C. Imagery • D. Assonance

17. 1. A&C – Symbol and Imagery • He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way . . . Involuntarily I glanced seaward – and distinguished nothing except a single green light. (The Great Gatsby) • A. Symbol • B. Simile • C. Imagery • D. Assonance

18. 2. • Language is a road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going. (Rita May Brown) • A. Personification • B. Metaphor • C. Paradox • D. Metonymy

19. 2. B – Metaphor • Language is a road map of a culture. (Rita May Brown) • A. Personification • B. Metaphor • C. Paradox • D. Metonymy

20. 3. • Even King Solomon would find my parent’s disagreements hard to resolve. • A. Anecdote • B. Assonance • C. Allusion • D. Alliteration

21. 3. C – Allusion • Even King Solomon would find my parent’s disagreements hard to resolve. • A. Anecdote • B. Assonance • C. Allusion • D. Alliteration

22. 4. • War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. (George Orwell, 1984) • A. Irony • B. Metaphor • C. Personification • D. Paradox

23. 4. B- Metaphor • War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. (George Orwell, 1984) • A. Irony • B. Metaphor • C. Personification • D. Paradox

24. 5. • All right, let’s huddle up. I expect you to give one hundred and one percent. Let’s own the paint. There’s no I in team. • A. Imagery • B. Cliché • C. Motif • D. Hyperbole

25. 5. D –Hyperbole • All right, let’s huddle up. I expect you to give one hundred and one percent. Let’s own the paint. There’s no I in team. • A. Imagery • B. Cliché • C. Motif • D. Hyperbole

26. 6. • Under her small black-freckled hand her cane, limber as a buggy whip, would switch at the brush as if to rouse up any hiding things. (A Worn Path) • A. Personification • B. Simile • C. Imagery • D. Motif

27. 6. B and C – Simile and Imagery • Under her small black-freckled hand her cane, limber as a buggy whip, would switch at the brush as if to rouse up any hiding things. (A Worn Path) • A. Personification • B. Simile • C. Imagery • D. Motif

28. 7. • Bang! Went the pistol.Crash! Went the window. Ouch! Went the son of a gun. • A. Onomatopoeia • B. Hyperbole • C. Repetition • D. Personification

29. 7. A – Onomatopoeia • Bang! Went the pistol. Crash! Went the window. Ouch! Went the son of a gun. • A. Onomatopoeia • B. Hyperbole • C. Repetition • D. Personification

30. 8. • The lightning lashed out with anger. • A. Onomatopoeia • B. Hyperbole • C. Alliteration • D. Personification

31. 8. C&D – Personification and Alliteration • The lightning lashed out with anger. • A. Onomatopoeia • B. Hyperbole • C. Alliteration • D. Personification

32. 9. • She sells sea shells down by the sea shore. • A. Assonance • B. Alliteration • C. Allusion • D. Anecdote

33. 9. B – Alliteration • She sells sea shells down by the sea shore. • A. Assonance • B. Alliteration • C. Allusion • D. Anecdote

34. 10. • My backpack weighs a ton. • A. Hyperbole • B. Idiom • C. Imagery • D. Metaphor

35. 10. A – Hyperbole • My backpack weighs a ton. • A. Hyperbole • B. Idiom • C. Imagery • D. Metaphor

36. 11. • For every sound that floats From the rust within their throats Is a groan. ( Edgar Allan Poe, The Bells) • A. Imagery • B. Symbol • C. Assonance • D. Alliteration

37. 11. C – Assonance • For every sound that floats From the rust within their throats Is a groan. ( Edgar Allan Poe, The Bells) • A. Imagery • B. Symbol • C. Assonance • D. Alliteration

38. 12. • Water, water, every where,And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink. (Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner) • A. Paradox • B. Parallelism • C. Imagery • D. Irony

39. 12. C&D – Irony and Imagery • Water, water, every where,And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink. (Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner) • A. Paradox • B. Parallelism • C. Imagery • D. Irony

40. 13. • When I see birches bend to left and rightAcross the lines of straighter darker trees,I like to think some boy's been swinging them.But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay.Ice-storms do that. Often you must have seen themLoaded with ice a sunny winter morningAfter a rain. They click upon themselvesAs the breeze rises, and turn many-coloredAs the stir cracks and crazes their enamel. • Metaphor • Repetition • Imagery • Hyperbole

41. 13. C – Imagery • When I see birches bend to left and rightAcross the lines of straighter darker trees,I like to think some boy's been swinging them.But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay.Ice-storms do that. Often you must have seen themLoaded with ice a sunny winter morningAfter a rain. They click upon themselvesAs the breeze rises, and turn many-coloredAs the stir cracks and crazes their enamel. • Metaphor • Repetition • Imagery • Hyperbole

42. 14. • O pardon me thou bleeding piece of earth that I am meek and gentle with these butchers . . . That was the most unkindly cut of all . . . • A. Symbol • B. Imagery • C. Motif • D. Personification

43. 14. D –Personification • O pardon me thou bleeding piece of earth that I am meek and gentle with these butchers . . . That was the most unkindly cut of all . . . • A. Symbol • B. Imagery • C. Motif • D. Personification

44. Congratulations!