Transcript Figurative Language - Palmdale School District / Homepage

Figurative Language
Figurative language adds meaning by comparing
or providing imagery.
• It gives us a feeling about its subject.
• It is used as a writer’s tool
• It helps the reader to visualize (see) what the
writer is thinking
– It puts a picture in the readers mind
Figurative and Literal Language
Literal words function exactly as defined
The car is blue.
He caught the football.
Figurative words have an inferential meaning.
I’ve got your back.
You’re a doll.
What is figurative language?
• Whenever you describe something by
comparing it with something else,
you are using figurative language.
Types of Figurative Language
• Simile
• Metaphor
• Personification
• Symbolism
• Imagery
Simile
a direct comparison between two
unlike things
or
a way of describing something by
comparing it to something else,
by using the words
“like” or “as”
Example: Busy as a bee
I am hungry as a horse.
You hop like a rabbit.
She is happy as a clam.
He is sneaky as a snake.
Metaphor
• The metaphor is a way of describing
something by comparing it to something else.
Example: You are a shining star.
The road was a ribbon wrapped through the
desert.
The pillow was a fluffy cloud.
Notice that to compare with metaphors, you don’t use the words as or like.
Personification
Giving human traits to objects or ideas.
Examples
The sunlight danced.
Water on the lake shivers.
The streets are calling me.
The flowers danced in the wind.
The friendly gates welcomed us.
The hurricane’s winds are yelling while blowing outside my
window.
A symbol is…
• An object that represents a greater idea
• An icon(picture), word, or phrase that stands
for a bigger meaning
Symbolism
• Symbols help to create an image in our mind
through pictures or words.
• Symbols are often a repeated pattern
throughout a story.
• Symbols help to enhance the main idea or
theme.
• Many symbols are universal, which means
that they represent the same meaning for
different people.
Imagery
• An image is language that describes
something that can be seen, heard, touched,
tasted, or smelled.
• The images in a literary work are used to
create a picture in our head.
• Imagery should be used to understand the
meaning of the text.
Imagery
• Although they could not see outside the cabin, they
could hear the eerie tapping, tapping, tapping, of his
shoes upon their floor.
Imagery
• The icy breeze
gently brushed
against the hair on
her neck, and
goose-bumps
shortly followed.