Figurative Language & Fiction Elements

Comparing two very different things using the word "like" or "as" to link the comparison

Ex. Tommy ran around the track like a cheetah coming in first place.

• metaphor

• personification

• idiom

• simile

Giving human qualities or characteristics to something that is not human.

Ex. The flowers danced in the wind.

• idiom

• personification

• alliteration

• metaphor

Vivid and descriptive language that appeals to any of the human senses

Ex. As I walked outside, the crisp, cold wind hit me in my face. The newly fallen snow crunched under my feet as I walked through the yard. By the looks of the wintery, gray clouds in the sky, more snow would be falling soon.

• alliteration

• idiom

• imagery

• simile

A phrase or expression that means something different from its literal meaning

Ex. You are driving me up a wall.

• idiom

• onomatopoeia

• hyperbole

• imagery

Comparing two very different things WITHOUT using the word "like" or "as"; use linking verbs "is" "was"

Ex. Life is a highway.

• metaphor

• simile

• idiom

• personification

The repetition of beginning or consonant sounds with words that are closely connected to one another (tongue twisters)

Ex. The wind whistled wildly in the wilderness under the wintery sky.

• onomatopoeia

• alliteration

• idiom

• hyperbole

sound words

Ex. bang, pow, crash

• imagery

• simile

• idiom

• onomatopoeia

Using extreme exaggeration to emphasize an important point

Ex. I felt like I could sleep forever after returning home from vacation.

• hyperbole

• simile

• imagery

• personification

the events that happen while the main character tries to solve the conflict

• rising action

• climax

• exposition

• falling action

the outcome of the story

• falling action

• climax

• exposition

• resolution