Figurative Language Notes

Literal Language

Definition: the phrase means what it says

Example:

I love pizza.

Figurative Language

Definition: the phrase does NOT mean exactly what it says; writers use this technique to make images more vivid.

Figurative language includes: similes, metaphors, alliteration, hyperboles, onomatopoeia, personification, idioms, symbolism, imagery, and cliches.

Example: Pizza is food from heaven. (figurative language = metaphor)

Simile

Definition: a comparison using “like” or “as”

Example:

She swam like a dolphin.

James was as tall as the Empire State Building!

Metaphor

Definition: a comparison NOT using “like” or “as”

Example:

He was a lazy lion who slept until noon.

Jerry’s legs are sticks; he is so skinny.

Idiom

Definition: a common expression used to mean something else; its literal meaning may be ridiculous

Example: It’s raining cats and dogs!

Check on your brother, please!

You have ants in your pants.

Hyperbole

Definition: an extreme exaggeration (common in tall tales)

Example:

There were a thousand people at my party.

Onomatopoeia

Definition: Sound words; words that sound like their meaning

Example:

The bells clang loudly in the night.

A wind swooshed through the window.

Assonance

Definition: a series of words that have the same or a similar vowel sound

Example:

In June, flowers bloomed underneath the moon’s light.

Alliteration

Definition: a group of words that have a common sound

Example:

Peter picked peppers.

Cool, cold Coca-Cola quenches his thirst.

Personification

Definition: giving human characteristics to a non-human entity.

Example:

Fog tip-toed across the ocean.

The butterfly danced in the wind.

Imagery

Definition: sensory words used to make the image more vivid to the reader.

Example:

Grandma’s lemon cake smelled heavenly and had a taste that returned me to early childhood.

Symbolism Definition: a symbol works two ways:

It is something itself, and it also suggests something deeper. They are not metaphors, however.

A metaphor might read, “His life was an oak tree that had just lost its leaves”, a symbol might be the oak tree itself, which would symbolize/represent a long time.

Example: Common symbols in writing: heart/a red rose

= love; dove = peace; black = death

Denotative Meaning

Definition: is the strict dictionary meaning of a word.

Example:

America denotes the country south of Canada and north of Mexico.

Connotative Meaning

Definition: is the emotional and imaginative association surrounding a word.

Example:

Home is where the heart is.