Mrs. Akers Figurative Language Definitions

a toolthat an author employs (or uses) to help

the readervisualize(or see) what is happening
in a story or poem.

Somecommon types of figurative
languageare

simile, metaphor,

alliteration,

onomatopoeia, idiom,

puns,

and sensory language.

Asimile is a comparison using like or as.
It usually compares two dissimilar objects.

For example:

•Those girls are like two peas in a pod.

•The baby was like an octopus, grabbing at all the cans on the
grocery store shelves.

•Ted was as nervous as a cat with a long tail in a room full

of rocking chairs.

•As the teacher entered the room she muttered under her
breath, "Thisclass is like a three-ring circus!"

A metaphor states that one thing IS
something else. It is a comparison, but it
DOES NOTUSE like or as to make the
comparison. For example:

•The giant’s steps were thunder as he ran toward Jack.

•The fluorescent light was the sun during our test.

•The bar of soap was a slippery eel during the dog’s bath.

•The pillow was a cloud when I put my head upon it after a long
day.

Alliterationis therepetitionof the
beginningconsonant sound.There should be
at least two repetitions in a row.

•Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
•Handsome Harry hired hundreds of hippos for Hanukkah.

The repetition of a vowel sound rather than a

consonant is assonance.

•Hear the mellow wedding bells. — Edgar Allan Poe
•I'm hunched over emotions just flows over these cold
shoulders are both frozen you don't know me. - Eminem

Consonance is the repetition of consonant
sounds anywhere within words,not just at
the beginning.

Count the “S” sounds as they appear in this verse of “The
Walrus and the Carpenter” by Lewis Carroll:

The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun

Had got no business to be there

After the day was done—

“It’s very rude of him,” she said,

“To come and spoil the fun!”

Onomatopoeiais theimitation of natural
sounds in word form.

These words help us form mental pictures about the
things, people, or places that are described.

Sometimes theword names a thing or action bycopying
the sound.

For example:

Splash!

Hiss!

Buzz!

An idiom is an expression that has a meaning
apart from the meanings of its individual
words.

For example:

It’s raining cats and dogs.

Its literal meaning suggests that cats and dogs are falling
from the sky. We interpret it to mean that it is raining
hard.
under the weather
means “feeling sick”

catch some Z’s

a “play on words”

A punis ahumorous useof wordsthat

involvesa word or phrasethat hasmore
than one possible meaning.

I recently spent money on detergent to unclog my
kitchen sink. It was money down the drain.

I used to be twins. My mother has a picture of me
when I was two.

I work as a baker because I knead dough.

Personificationisgiving human
qualities, feelings, action, or characteristics
toinanimate(non-living) objects.

The snow whisperedas it fell to the ground during
the early morning hours.

The strawberries seemed to sing, "Eat me first!“

The wind sang her mournful song through the
falling leaves

Hyperbole is an exaggeration.

It may be used due to strong feelings or is used
to create a strong impression and is not meant
to be taken literally.

I nearly died laughing.

I tried a thousand times.

I could eat a horse.

Imagery uses vivid description to refer to

the five senses: sight, touch, smell,
hearing, and taste. This allows the reader to
create mental images, or pictures.

Imagery allows a writer to SHOW a writer
what she means instead of just telling someone.

When you write your poem, remember: Show!
Don't Tell!

Imagery

If you're tired and
hopeless, how can you show
someone this instead of just
telling them?

I took a walk around the world to

Ease my troubled mind

I left my body laying somewhere

In the sands of time

I watched the world float to the dark

Side of the moon

I feel there is nothing I can do

--"Kryptonite" by Three Doors Down

The Road Not Taken ~Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
Andlooked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

--FrostSHOWS his reader the roads and his
decision to take the one less traveled.

Multiple Choice

What is a simile? 

• Comparing two things without  using  like and as
• Comparing two things in a text
• Comparing two things using  like and as
• None of the above

Multiple Choice

What is a metaphor?

• Comparing two things in a text
• Comparing two things using like and as
• An exaggeration 
• Comparing two things without using like and as

Multiple Choice

What is a hyperbole?

• An exaggerated statement not to be taken literally. 
• a comparison using like or as
• repeating the beginning consonant sounds
• none of the above

Multiple Choice

What is an example of an alliteration?

• The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plains.

• Powerful pandas punch parrots.

• I think I like the pink kite.

• I like to eat pie.

Multiple Choice

Onomatopoeia is...

• An exaggerated statement
• A type of bug
• A comparison of two things using like or as
• The use of a word associated with a sound.

Multiple Choice

An extreme exaggeration used for effect

• metaphor
• personification
• hyperbole
• simile

Multiple Choice

humorous use of words using a word or phrase that has more than one possible meaning.

• Simile

• Idiom

• Oxymoron

• Pun

Multiple Choice

A common phrase when the words that are said are completely different from what is meant

• Idiom

• Juxtaposition

• Oxymoron

• Hyperbole

Multiple Choice

Language that appeals to the five senses

• Imagery

• Metaphor

• Personification

• Onomatopoeia

Multiple Choice

What is an example of an assonance?

• The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plains.

• Powerful pandas punch parrots.

• I think I like the pink kite.

• I like to eat pie.