Figurative Language
The use of words with sounds that imitate the sound they are describing.
What is a onomatopoeia?
Name the figurative language: The stars danced in the night.
What is personification?
Identify the figurative language: She said, "I'll be the Juliet to your Romeo"
Allusion
Define imagery.
language that uses touch, taste, sound, smell and sight to "paint" a picture for the reader
We are seriously failing our nation’s teenagers when it comes to education concerning AIDS. Somehow we must convince them, without delay, that this terrible illness can happen to them, not just too isolated groups in big cities. Let’s give them the information they need to protect themselves—before it’s too late.
a. impassioned b. mocking c. ironic
What is A. impassioned?
A reference to a well-known character, event, person, place, story, etc.
Allusion
Name the figurative language: When Rebecca saw her high math quiz score, she was so happy that she did the Moonwalk.
Allusion/ hyperbole
Identify the figurative language: The sun smiled down on us.
Personification
True or false: We can enhance our writing by adding figurative language.
True
What’s the matter with those idiots in the city council? First they pass new parking regulations saying we can’t park our cars in front of our own houses without a special permit. Now they’ve gone and slapped another tax on gas purchase—just to widen a road that’s already wide enough. Anyway, nobody enjoys the traffic delays resulting from road construction. The sooner we vote those incompetents out, the better off we’ll all be.
a. objective b. angry c. surprised
What is Angry?
This type of figurative language means giving human qualities to non-human or non-living things.
What is personification?
Name the figurative language: He was as fast as a cheetah.
Simile
Identify the figurative language: "The rabbit was as slow as a sloth"
What is a simile?
List 5 types of figurative language
simile, metaphor, idiom, hyperbole, personification, repetition, alliteration, allusion, oxymoron, onomatopoeia, pun, euphemism, irony, paradox, anaphora, imagery, apostrophe, synecdoche
Yet another public figure has come forward to announce he has signed into an addiction-treatment center to deal with his alcohol problems. Reports say he has shown courage and honesty. Perhaps so, but what it really takes to enter a treatment center is money. What about the poor man, like my father, who may also have a drinking problem—and courage—but who doesn’t happen to have $500.00 a day for a fancy rest home?
a. bitter b. revengeful c. sentimental
What is bitter?
When two words with opposing meanings are used together.
What is a Oxymoron?
Name the figurative language: She was dying of laughter.
Hyperbole.
Identify the figurative language: I could sleep forever!
Hyperbole
Why do we use figurative language in our writing?
to help the reader better understand what we are trying to describe and make it more entertaining
Botulism, a type of rare, severe food poisoning, has been reported recently in New Jersey. It is believed that the victim, who is in critical condition at a local hospital, was stricken after eating from a jar of incorrectly preserved homegrown green beans from last summer’s garden. It has been ten years since the last instance of botulism poisoning was reported in the state.
a. light-hearted b. serious c. tragic
What is serious?
An exaggerated statement used to make a point.
What is Hyperbole?
Name the figurative language: He was a hurricane when he entered the room.
What is a metaphor?
Identify the figurative language: She was a night owl.
What an idiom?
What is the difference between LITERAL language and FIGURATIVE language.
Literal language means exactly what is said while figurative language has different meanings than the words that are used.
Sure, litterbugs account for a lot of the trash blowing around our city’s streets, but there are other villains too. What about people who set out their trash days ahead of their scheduled trash pickup time? Worse yet are the stores that pile boxes in back alleys, and restaurants whose mounds of green—bagged trash draw rodents and roaches.
a. critical b. tolerant c. depressed
What is critical?