Transcript Figurative Language

Figurative Language
“Figuring it Out”
What is figurative language?
• Whenever you describe something by
comparing it with something else,
you are using figurative language.
Recognizing Literal Language
“I’ve eaten so much I feel as if I could
literally burst!”
• In this case, the person is not using the word
literally in its true meaning. Literal means "exact"
or "not exaggerated." By pretending that the
statement is not exaggerated, the person
stresses how much he has eaten.
Literal language is language that
means exactly what is said.
Most of the time, we use
literal language.
Figurative and Literal Language
Literally: words function exactly as defined
The car is blue.
He caught the football.
Figuratively: figure out what it means
I’ve got your back.
You’re a doll.
^Figures of Speech
Imagery
• Language that appeals to the senses.
Descriptions of people or objects
stated in terms of our senses.
–Sight
–• Hearing
–• Touch
–• Taste
–• Smell
Simile
Comparison of two things using “like” or “as.”
Examples
The metal twisted like a ribbon.
She is as sweet as candy.
Simile
• A figure of speech which involves a
direct comparison between two unlike
things, usually with the words like or
as.
Example: The muscles on his brawny
arms are strong as iron bands.
Important!
Using “like” or “as” doesn’t make a simile.
A comparison must be made.
Not a Simile: I like pizza.
Simile: The moon is like a pizza.
Metaphor
Two things are compared without using
“like” or “as.”
Examples
All the world is a stage.
Men are dogs.
Her heart is stone.
Metaphor
• A figure of speech which involves an
implied comparison between two
relatively unlike things using a form of
be. The comparison is not announced
by like or as.
Example: The road was a ribbon wrapped
through the dessert.
Personification
Giving human traits to objects or ideas.
Examples
The sunlight danced.
Water on the lake shivers.
The streets are calling me.
Personification
• A figure of speech which gives the
qualities of a person to an animal, an
object, or an idea.
Example: “The wind yells while blowing."
The wind cannot yell. Only a living thing can
yell.
Alliteration
• Repeated consonant sounds occurring
at the beginning of words or within
words.
Example: She was wide-eyed and wondering
while she waited for Walter to waken.
Hyperbole
Exaggerating to show strong feeling or effect.
Examples
I will love you forever.
My house is a million miles away.
She’d kill me.
Hyperbole
• An exaggerated statement used to
heighten effect. It is not used to
mislead the reader, but to emphasize a
point.
Example: She’s said so on several million
occasions.
Understatement
Expression with less strength than expected.
The opposite of hyperbole.
I’ll be there in one second.
This won’t hurt a bit.
Onomatopoeia
•
•
•
•
•
•
A word that “makes” a sound
SPLAT
PING
SLAM
POP
POW
Onomatopoeia
• The use of words that mimic
sounds.
Example: The firecracker made a
loud ka-boom!
Idiom
• A saying that isn’t meant to be taken
literally.
• Doesn’t “mean” what it says
• Don’t be a stick in the mud!
• You’re the apple of my eye.
• I have an ace up my sleeve.
Idioms
• An idiom or idiomatic expression refers
to a construction or expression in one
language that cannot be matched or
directly translated word-for-word in
another language.
• Example: "She has a bee in her bonnet,"
meaning "she is obsessed," cannot be literally
translated into another language word for word.
Pun
• A form of “word play” in which
words have a double meaning.
• I wondered why the baseball
was getting bigger and then it
hit me.
• I’m reading a book about antigravity. It’s impossible to put it
down.
• I was going to look for my
missing watch, but I didn’t
have the time.
Proverb
• A figurative saying in which a bit of
“wisdom” is given.
• An apple a day keeps the doctor away
• The early bird catches the worm
Oxymoron
• When two words are put together that
contradict each other. “Opposites”
• Jumbo Shrimp
• Pretty Ugly
• Freezer Burn
Quiz
On a separate sheet of paper…
1. I will put an example of figurative
language on the board.
2. You will write whether it is an simile,
metaphor, personification, hyperbole,
pun, proverb, idiom, onomatopoeia,
oxymoron or understatement.
3. You can use your notes.
1
He drew a line as straight as an arrow.
2
Knowledge is a kingdom and all who learn
are kings and queens.
3
Can I see you for a second?
4
The sun was beating down on me.
5
A flag wags like a fishhook there in the sky.
6
I'd rather take baths
with a man-eating shark,
or wrestle a lion
alone in the dark,
eat spinach and liver,
pet ten porcupines,
than tackle the homework,
my teacher assigns.
7
Ravenous and savage
from its long
polar journey,
the North Wind
is searching
for food—
8
Dinner is on the house.
9
Can I have one of your chips?
10
Don’t bit the hand that feeds you.
11.
• The clouds smiled down at me.
12.
• SPLAT!
13.
• She is as sweet as candy
14.
• I could sleep forever!
15.
• He drove his expensive car into a tree and
found out how the Mercedes bends
16.
• I used to have a fear of hurdles, but I got
over it
17.
• The wheat field was a sea of gold.
18.
• The streets called to him.
19.
• POP!
20.
• She was dressed to the nines.
21.
• The early bird catches the worm.
22.
• Old news
23.
• Your face is killing me!
24.
• She was as white as a ghost.
25.
• She has a skeleton in her closet.