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1. Preview Name as many figures of speech as you can. What is the difference between a direct, an implied and an extended metaphor? Give an example of a sound device. What does figurative language add to a piece of literature? Why does an author use it?

2. Figurative Language in Poetry

3. Figurative Language Main Figures of Speech Metaphor Simile Personification Hyperbole Understatement Synecdoche Metonymy Other Figures of Speech Imagery Idiom Oxymoron Paradox Litotes Sound Devices Onomatopoeia Alliteration Assonance Consonance

4. Metaphor • Definition: figure of speech that compares two unlike things where the two things actually become the same (compare to Metamorphosis) • Direct Metaphor: usually uses a form of the verb “to be” and the comparison is directly stated. • Extended Metaphor: continues throughout the poem or section of the poem. • Implied Metaphor: not said outright. • Example: Her hair was a river of golden light.

5. Simile • Definition: figure of speech that compares two unlike things, usually with the words “like” or “as.” • Example: The dog’s eyes were as bright as the sun.

6. Metaphor and Simile Metaphor and simile are easy to mix up. They both compare two different things. Remember that similes use the words “like” or “as,” and metaphors do not. Simile is like “similar” Metaphor is like “metamorphosis” = “to change”

7. Personification • Definition: figure of speech that gives the qualities of a person to an animal, an object, or an idea. • Example: The house wept when its last child left.

8. Tricky Personification • Personification should not to be confused with an animal doing something a human could do, but that is natural for the animal to do. • Example: • The dog walked with me in the woods. (not personification) • The trees walked with me in the woods. (personification)

9. Hyperbole • Definition: An exaggerated statement, not to deceive, but to make a point. • My sister took a decade to answer the phone.

10. Understatement Definition: A statement that is restrained in ironic contrast to what might have been said Example: The Sahara Desert has a little sand.

11. Synecdoche Definition: A figure of speech involving the substitution of a part for a whole Example: A hundred head of cattle were scattered throughout the field

12. Metonymy Definition: A figure of speech involving the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant Example: The White House is expected to release a statement later today. The future looks bright and sunny for the US!

13. Metonymy and Synecdoche • Metonymy is often interpreted so widely that synecdoche can be regarded as a special case of it. • The difference, to the extent that it exists at all, is whether the attribute that is substituting for the whole is part of the whole (synecdoche), or merely associated with it (metonymy). • Synecdoche • A part means the whole thing • Patrick O’Brian has Captain Jack Aubrey tell his first lieutenant to “let the hands go to dinner” = using a part (the hand) for the whole man. • Also can be reversed - the whole and the part, using a word for something when you only mean part of it. • “The West Indies has lost to England”=the West Indian team has lost to the English one. • Metonymy • uses something more generally or loosely associated with a concept to stand in for it. “the container for the thing contained • ”“The Oval Office” = the position or function of the President. • “suits" = businessmen or officials • The difference between synecdoche and metonymy is that in metonymy the word you employ is linked to the concept you are really talking about, but isn’t actually a part of it.

14. Other Devices Sometimes Included Under the Heading of Figurative Language Imagery Idiom Paradox Litotes Oxymoron

15. Imagery • Definition: Language that appeals to the senses. Descriptions of people or objects stated in terms of our senses. • Example: The red dawn made the sky a fiery battle scene.

16. Idiom • Definition: Language specific expressions. • Example: I caught a bus to school. • http://www.idiomsite.com/

17. Paradox Definition: The expression of a nonsensical underlying truth through the use of seemingly contrary ideas Example: “What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young.” – George Bernard Shaw

18. Litotes Definition: This is the strategy of understatement often employed to provide subtle emphasis, frequently for ironic effect or to underline a passionate opinion Example: The assassin was not unacquainted with danger.

19. OXYMORON Definition: deliberate combination of seemingly contradictory words Example: jumbo shrimp; bittersweet

20. Sound Devices Alliteration Assonance Onomatopoeia Sound Devices contribute to the rhythm of a poem.

21. Alliteration • Definition: Repeated consonant sounds occurring at the beginning of words or within words. • Alliteration is used to create melody, establish mood, call attention to important words, and point out similarities and contrasts. • Example: The girly goose jumped to the top of the tallest tree.

22. Assonance • Definition: Resemblance of sound, especially of the vowel sounds in words. • Example: Hills of willynilly sprites.

23. Consonance Definition: the repetition of consonant sounds within words. Consonance in "The Silken Tent" by Robert Frost: "as in guys she gently sways at ease”

24. Consonance and Alliteration Consonance is very similar to alliteration, but the distinction between the two lies in the placement of the sounds. If the repeated sound is at the start of the words, it is alliteration. If it is anywhere else, it is consonance. In most cases, consonance refers to the end sound (like "nk" in blank and think)

25. Alliteration and Assonance • Alliteration usually comes at the beginning of a word and repeats consonant sounds. • Example, Shakespeare parodies alliteration in Peter Quince's Prologue in A Midsummer Night's Dream: Whereat, with blade, with bloody blameful blade, He bravely breach'd his boiling bloody breast. • Assonance usually comes in the middle of the word, and repeats vowel sounds. • Example, Assonance of the vowel "u" used by Robert Louis Stevenson: The crumbling thunder of seas

26. Alliteration and Assonance Can you find an example of these terms in one line of the poem, "The Raven," by Edgar Allan Poe: And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Assonance is the repetition of the ur sound in "purple" and "curtain.” Consonance is the repetition of the s sound within "uncertain" and "rustling.” Alliteration is the repetition of the s sound within "uncertain" and "rustling.” and the repetition of the s sound at the start of "silked" and "sad." These terms are very closely related, though the distinction between them comes in determining vowels versus consonants, and then placement within the words.

27. Onomatopoeia • Definition: The use of words that mimic sounds. They appeal to our sense of hearing. A string of syllables the author has made up to represent the way a sound really sounds. • Example: The buzz of the bees made my head spin.

28. Practice Time! The girl in the purple dress had teeth like a horse. simile My dog was a beast before I fed him. Metaphor (direct) Sweetly Sang Sam with the starlit hair. alliteration Ella, my neighbor, is 500 years old. hyperbole When he saw the rolling of the ominous clouds, he knew a storm was coming. assonance The grass by the house was like stringy hair around a beggar’s face. simile

29. More Practice I definitely got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Idiom We dressed for our night out in society. Synecdoche The sun came up on the horizon and spread its delicate fingers of light over the mountain personification. Ben smashed the perfectly round, red ball against the brick wall. Imagery, alliteration, assonance The wasps hummed and buzzed around the grapevine. onomatopoeia We will protect the crown! Metonymy The rooster’s comb is a red plumed hat. Metaphor (direct)

30. More Practice Hear the mellow wedding bells Assonance Glory be to God for dappled things Alliteration The pen is mightier than the sword Metonymy Some people consider assisted suicide as mercy killing. Oxymoron Why do computers need maintenance so often when they are meant to save people time? Paradox

31. References Jordan, Tonia. (2007). Alliteration, Assonance and Consonance. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Alliteration,-Assonance-and-Consonance&id=675686 No Author (2011). Metaphor and Simile. Retrieved from http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-between-metaphor-and-simile/