Figurative Language

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Figurative Language
Using Words to Color Your World.

• Miss L. S. Wallis
• Berry Shoals Intermediate School
• Spring, 2003

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Figurative Language

• There are many different types.
• It is used in stories and reports.
• It adds interest and details.

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Common Types of Figurative Language

• Hyperbole Extreme exaggeration
• Idiom Using words different from their
• meaning
• Metaphor Comparing two things without
• using like or as
• Simile Comparing two things using
• like or as

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Hyperbole

• The key to this exaggeration is that it is an
  EXTREME EXAGGERATION!
• It is used to emphasize your point.
• Examples
• My mother exploded when she saw the mess.
• Her face turned blood red.
• She told me a million times to clean up my room.

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Idioms

• An idiom is a word(s) used in a different way
  from its usual or dictionary meaning.
• Examples
• Sarah and Emeshia ironed out their problems.
• Youre pulling my leg.
• She had the audience in the palm of her hand.

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Metaphors

• To begin this comparison, think of two things
  that have something in common such as their
  color, size, shape, or behavior.
• Examples
• A speed skater and a roadrunner
• Blue eyes and the ocean
• Springtime air and light perfume

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Metaphors cont.

• Then create your sentence
• The skater in the red shirt is a real roadrunner.
• Her angry blue eyes were oceans about to storm.
• The light perfume was the green springtime air
  swirling around our heads.

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Simile

• Now, you may use the words like or as when
  comparing two things!
• Examples
• Mother heard sounds like a ghost rattling chains.
• Mother is as jumpy as a black long-tailed cat in
  a room full of rocking chairs.
• She ran like the wind when she saw the drapes
  move.

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Colorful Language

• Figurative language adds color to your writing by
  putting pictures in the minds of your readers to
  help them understand the written word.
• Using different types can help to make your
  writing more interesting to your reader.
• It adds details beyond basic understanding.

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• After a gazillion slides the show is over.
  (Hyperbole, Idiom, Metaphor, or Simile)
• The show stopped short of boring. (Hyperbole,
  Idiom, Metaphor, or Simile)
• The end was a sunset readying our written world
  for bright tomorrow. (Hyperbole, Idiom,
  Metaphor, or Simile)
• The end came like a door slamming shut.
  (Hyperbole, Idiom, Metaphor, or Simile)
• .The End