Figurative Language

1
Figurative Language

• Metaphor and extended metaphor

2
Exploring figurative language in song lyrics

• Listen to the song and read the lyrics then
  examine the figurative language

3
Strange Fruit, Performed by Nina Simone
Southern trees bear strange fruit,Blood on the
leaves and blood at the root,Black bodies
swinging in the southern breeze,Strange fruit
hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant south,The bulging
eyes and the twisted mouth,Scent of magnolias,
sweet and fresh,Then the sudden smell of burning
flesh.
Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,For the
rain to gather, for the wind to suck,For the sun
to rot, for the trees to drop,Here is a strange
and bitter crop.
4
Writing practice

• Explain the extended metaphor in the song,
  Strange Fruit? Give one example from the song
  that supports your answer (2 points).

5
Possible response. . .

• The extended metaphor in the song compares black
  people who were brutalized years ago to fruit.
  For example, the first stanza says, Black bodies
  swinging in the southern breeze, Strange fruit
  hanging from the poplar trees. The image is of
  a person hanging, like fruit, from a tree.