Transcript Go Figure! - Deer Creek Middle School

Go Figure!
Figurative Language
8th Grade Literature
Recognizing Figurative
Language
The opposite of literal language is figurative
language. Figurative language is
language that means more than what
it says on the surface.
• It usually gives us a feeling about its
subject.
• Poets use figurative language almost as
frequently as literal language. When you
read poetry, you must be conscious of the
difference. Otherwise, a poem may make
no sense at all.
Printed Quiz
Online Quiz
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.
• 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.
Purpose of Figurative
Language?
• Figurative language helps
readers form
images/pictures in their
minds about what they’re
reading.
Types of Figurative Language
• Imagery
• Simile
• Metaphor
• Alliteration
• Personification
• Onomatopoeia
• Hyperbole
• Idioms
• Assonance
Imagery
• Language that appeals to the
senses. Words that create a
picture in the reader’s mind.
(ex: The sky was dark & gloomy.)
• Sight
• Hearing
• Touch
• Taste
• Smell
Simile
• A simile compares two unlike
things using the word like or
as.
Example: The muscles on his
brawny arms are strong as iron
bands.
Metaphor
• Comparison between 2 unlike
things USUALLY using the verb
is, or some form of be. Make sure
2 unlike things are being
compared. Just b/c the verb is
may be used, does not mean
there is a comparison.
Example: The road was a
ribbon wrapped
through the dessert.
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.
Hyperbole
• An exaggerated statement
used to heighten effect. It is
used to emphasize a point or
effect.
Example: She’s said so on
several million occasions.
Idioms
• A phrase or expression having a
special meaning that cannot be
understood from the individual
meaning of its words.
-If someone “lets the cat out of the bag,” they are
revealing a secret. Today the phrase has nothing to
do with a cat or a bag, but hundreds of years ago,
it actually did.
-A person can’t actually have a “green thumb”
(unless it’s painted!). As most know, it means
someone is talented at growing plants.
Connotation
• The way “we” (author,
society) use the word to
mean---extra meaning
• IMPORTANT FOR FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE!
Denotation
•Literal dictionary
meaning
Alliteration
Sound Device
• 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.
Onomatopoeia
Sound Device
• The use of words that
mimic sounds
Example: The firecracker
made a loud ka-boom!
Assonance
Sound Device
• Is the repetition of vowel
sounds
• Example: “Till the shining
scythes went far and wide
And cut it down to dry.” R.L.
Stevenson
More Literary Elements
• Irony
• Symbolism
• Theme
• Dialect
• Connotation/Denotation
Irony
• The exact opposite of a literal or
normal meaning. (ex: The offduty police officer was arrested
for speeding)
• Types– Dramatic
• Describes the situation in which the
audience or reader of a play knows
more about a character’s situation
than he or she does.
Types of Irony
continued…
• Types–Situation
• Events are contrary to what is
expected
–Verbal
• Difference between what a
character says and what he or she
means.
Dramatic Irony Example
For example, in Shakespeare’s tragedy
Othello, Othello believes Iago to be his
best friend and advisor, while the audience
knows that Iago hates Othello and is doing
everything in his power to destroy Othello.
Situational Irony Example
• Examples could be:
*a firehouse burning down,
*a person being killed by being run
over by an ambulance,
*a teacher failing a class
*a police officer getting a
ticket
Verbal Irony Example
• For example, when a wife says to her
husband who has just bought a car
they cannot afford, “Time to go
home, Bill Gates,” she is using verbal
irony.
Symbol
• Is something that stands for
something else.
• (dove=peace)
THEME
• The message the author is trying to
get across to the reader.
• Interwoven ideas that hold a story
together
– Step 1- Identify the big ideas or central
topics
– Step 2- Find out what the characters do
or say that relates to the central topics
– Step 3- State what the author says
about life that relates to the central
Dialect
•The type or variety of
language spoken in a
social group or certain
location.