Figurative Language

What is figurative language?

• Language that goes beyond the literal meaning of wordsin order to furnish new effects or fresh insights into an ideaor subject

• a tool that an author employs (or uses) to help the reader visualize (or see) what is happening in a story or poem

Some common types of figurative language:Simile Hyperbole

Metaphor AlliterationPersonification Onomatopoeia

SimileFigure of speech in which two unlike objects are compared using like or as

Examples:

Her face was as red as a tomato.

He ran like the wind.

The muscles on his brawny arms are strong as iron bands.

MetaphorCompares two unlike objects NOT using like or as – one becomes the other

Examples:

Bob is a snake in the grass.

My dad is a bear in the morning.

The room was a raging inferno from the oppressive heat.

Metaphor PracticeWith the students at your table, you will complete the following statement to create a metaphor: (write the metaphor on your slate/white board)

Life Is …Example: Life is a box of chocolates

Now, you will pass your slate to the left. You must explain the metaphor created by the other group.

Example: You never know what you’re gonna get – it’s full of surprises. Some are sweet and some make you sick.

Simile & Metaphor Game• Find a partner

• You have 5 minutes to come up with as many similes andmetaphors as you can for the word I give you. You willget 1 point for each simile and 2 points for each metaphor.

Chocolate

Alliteration• The repetition of initial consonant sounds in two or moreneighboring words or syllables (also know as initial rhyme)

• creates a consistent pattern that catches the mind’s eye and focuses attention – creates a melody

Examples:

The wild winds of winter

Wide-eyed and wondering while we wait for others to wake

WeatherWhether the weather be fineOr whether the weather be

not,Whether the weather be coldOr whether the weather be

hot,We’ll weather the weather

Whatever the weather,Whether we like it or not.

- Anonymous

Alliteration continued …

Not a repetition of letters but sounds

For example, night and knight alliterate because they begin with

the same consonant sound BUT…

tin and thank you do not alliterate even though they begin with the same letter because they do not have the same sound

Alliteration is all around us!!!

Sports

Store names

Product names

Brand names

Hyperbole• An exaggerated statement used to heighten the effect

• Not meant to be mislead reader, but to emphasize point

Examples:She’s said so on several million occasions.

I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.

PersonificationA figure of speech which gives the qualities of a person to ananimal, an object, or an idea

Examples:The winter wrapped its icy claws around Northeast Pennsylvania.

The stars winked at us from the night sky.

That carrot cake with the cream cheese icing is calling my name.

Four ways to personify1. Give your object a verb that describes a human action.

The car complained loudly as it climbed the hill.The star danced across the moonlit sky.

2. Describe the object using an adjective that is usually used todescribe people.The worried peas glanced at the boiling water.The determined vine reached the rooftop.

3. Refer to the object using a personal pronoun.I stared out to sea and she waved back at me.

4. Describe the object by giving it human body parts.War raised its head.The car blinked its eyes at me.

Onomatopoeia• Sound words

BZZZZZZZ!!!

WeeeeeeoooooWeeeeeooooo!

BOOM!!!