Figurative Language

1
Figurative Language

• Figuring it Out

2
Figurative and Literal Language

• Literal words function exactly as defined
• The boys room was messy.
• The left fielder dropped the baseball.
• Figurative You have to figure it out
• The boys room was a pigsty.
• The left fielder has butterfingers.
• These are figures of speech.

3
Simile

• A comparison of two different things using the
  word like or as.
• Examples
• Telephone wires hung like a musical score
• Compares telephone wires to a musical score
• Those faces, sour as vinegar
• Compares facial expressions to the taste of
  vinegar

4
Warning!

• Like and as dont always make similes.
• A comparison must be made.
• Not Simile I washed the dishes as she dried
  them.
• Simile The dishes were as clean as the inside of
  a full bottle of soap.
• In the first example, no comparison is made.
• In the second, the cleanliness of the dishes is
  compared to the inside of a soap bottle.

5
Metaphor

• A comparison of two different things without
  using the word like or as.
• Examples
• Flowers of thought blossom while reading
• Compares thinking to blossoming flowers
• Drink of sweet courage until drunk of it
• Compares courage to a liquid drink
• She was my lute, by her I sang
• Compares the girl to a lute

6
Personification

• Giving human traits to objects or ideas.
• Examples
• The stars are hiding now
• Gives stars the ability to hide.
• Or trees that whisper in some far, small town
• Gives trees the ability to whisper.
• A tree may wear a nest of robins in her hair
• Gives the tree hair and the ability to wear
  things.

7
Hyperbole

• Exaggerating to express a strong feeling
• Examples
• I will love you until the end of time.
• It is unlikely that the speaker will live that
  long.
• My dad would kill me if he knew about this.
• Dad probably wouldnt actually kill his own
  child.
• My book bag weighs a million pounds.
• The bag isnt even close to a million pounds.

8
Understatement

• Expression with less strength than expected.
• The opposite of hyperbole.
• Examples
• The guillotine will give you a bad hair day.
• The results will be much worse than bad hair.
• Kidnapping your host is considered rude.
• This is a serious crime much worse than rudeness.

9
Quiz

• On a separate sheet of paper
• I will figurative language examples on the board.
• You will write whether each is an example of
  simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, or
  understatement.
• You can use your notes.

10
1

• Let it be forgotten as a flower is forgotten,

11
Answer

• This is a simile because it compares a thing that
  should be forgotten to a flower.

12
2

• Your hand was honey-comb to heal,Your voice a
  web to bind.

13
Answer

• This is a metaphor because the subjects hand was
  compared to honey-comb and the subjects voice
  was compared to a web. The speaker did not use
  like or as.

14
3

• After smashing through the garage doorAlex
  acknowledge that he may have parked a little too
  close to the house.

15
Answer

• This is an understatement because Alex parked
  more than a little too close.

16
4

• The brooks laugh louder when I come,The breezes
  madder play.

17
Answer

• This is personification because the brooks are
  given the ability to laugh and the breezes are
  given the ability to play.

18
5

• There are some, like stars, that dwell apart,In
  a fellowless firmament

19
Answer

• This is simile because some are compared to stars
  using the word like.

20
6

• And there will I keep you forever,?  Yes,
  forever and a day,?Till the walls shall crumble
  to ruin,?  And molder in dust away!

21
Answer

• This is hyperbole because the speaker is
  exaggerating how long he will keep the person.
  You cant add a day to forever without
  exaggerating.

22
7

• Freedom weeps,?Wrong rules the land, and waiting
  Justice sleeps.

23
Answer

• This is personification because freedom is given
  the ability to weep, wrong is given the ability
  to rule, and justice is given the ability to
  sleep.

24
8

• The painted leaves are strewn? 
• Along the winding way.

25
Answer

• This is a metaphor because the coloration of the
  leaves is compared to paint without using the
  word like or as.

26
9

• Jeff probably should have said Thanks after Vic
  saved his life.

27
Answer

• This is an understatement because if someone
  saves anothers life, more gratitude is expected
  than the informal Thanks.

28
10

• The graveyard of my soul is filled with flowers,
  so that I may stroll in meditation, at my ease.

29
Answer

• This is a metaphor because the speaker compares
  his soul to a graveyard without using the word
  like or as.