Figurative Language Introduction

Figurative Language Introduction

Figurative Languge

​Figurative language is used to make your writing and reading more interesting. It can contribute to things like feelings, setting, and help with proving or supporting a point in an essay.

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​You probably already know some figurative language. In the follow slides, there will be a definition. Your job will be to try tell me what figurative language device I'm defining.

Fill in the Blank

Comparing two things using like or as.

​Simile

​Comparing two different things using like or as.

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​"As sly as a fox, as strong as an ox

As fast as a hare, as brave as a bear

As free as a bird, as neat as a word

As quiet as a mouse, as big as a house."

​-"Everything at Once" by Lenka

Fill in the Blank

Comparing two different things without using like or as.

​Metaphor

​Comparing two different things WITHOUT using like or as.

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​"You ain't nothing but a hound dog." - "Hound Dog" by Elvis Prestly

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​"You're a falling star. You're a getaway car." - "Everything" by Michael Buble

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Fill in the Blank

An extreme exageration

​Hyperbole

​An extreme exaggeration.

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​I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse.

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​If I don't go home right now, I'll die.

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​They're the most annoying person on the face of the planet.

Fill in the Blank

Representing something as smaller or less important than it actually is.

​Understatement

​Representing something as smaller or less important than it really is.

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​Someone who just got a 20% on a test saying that it, "didn't go well."

Fill in the Blank

A common phrase that means something other than what it literally says

​Idiom

​A phrase that means something other than what it literally says.

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​It's raining cats and dogs.

​Let's break the ice.

​You're barking up the wrong tree.

​He's the bees knees.

Fill in the Blank

When someone says or does one thing, while meaning the opposite

​Irony

​When someone says or does one thing, while meaning the opposite.

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Three types (we'll talk about them later):

• ​Verbal

• ​Dramatic

• ​Situational

Fill in the Blank

An expression or reference that's supposed to bring up a comparison, without naming it explicitly

​Allusion

​An expression or reference that's supposed to bring up a comparison, without naming it explicitly.

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​"His smile is like kryptonite to me."

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​"This lady is an Einstein, I swear."

Fill in the Blank

When two opposing words are used to represent one thing.

​Oxymoron

​When two opposing words are used to represent one thing.

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​Jumbo shrimp

Old news

​Small crowd

​Pretty ugly

Fill in the Blank

Giving human traits to non-human things.

​Personification

​Giving human traits to non-human things.

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​The wind whispered through the trees.

​The waves danced on the shore.

​The plane screamed through the sky.

Fill in the Blank

A statement that contradicts itself.

​Paradox

​A statement that contradicts itself.

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​"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."

​"The following sentence is false. The previous sentence is true."

Fill in the Blank

Using language to bring to mind specific images, senses, or scenes.

​Imagery

​Using language to bring to mind specific images, senses, or scenes.

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​Her home smells of fresh bread, oranges, and a bonfire.

​The long grass brushed against my legs as I walked out into the dazzling sun.

​The chill of the drizzling rain left the students huddled and shaking at the bus stop.

Fill in the Blank

Repeating the same sounds at the beginning of words throughout a phrase, sentence, or paragraph

​Alliteration

​Repeating the same sounds at the beginning of words through out a phrase, sentence, or paragraph.

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​The busy bee buzzed and bumbled in my begonias.

​Clipping and clopping through cobblestone streets.

Fill in the Blank

A word that mimics a sound

​Onomatopoeia

​A word that mimics a sound.

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​Meow

​Woof

​Bang!

​Crash!

​Woops!

​Thump