Figurative Langauge Definitions
Comparing two objects without using like or as.
Metaphor
Placing two object close together or side by side in order to compare/contrast them
Juxtaposition
Why do strong writers tend to favor either direct or indirect characterization?
They use indirect characterization because it allows the reader to make more inference and think more creatively. Stories told only using direct characterization are boring and allow the reader to be too passive.
"Fair is foul and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air."
-Macbeth
Alliteration
"Student SAT scores are the lowest they are in 40 years. Given these low test scores, we should rally our efforts to reform K-12 education."
Using extreme exaggeration.
Hyperbole
The general form of irony in which something takes place that is different or the opposite of what is expected to happen.
Situational Irony
The most exciting/stressful moment of the story; when the main character faces her/his big challenge and the conflict of the story is at its worst
"“Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –"
-Emily Dickinson
Personification
"Why, then, O brawling love! O loving hate! O any thing, of nothing first create!"
Logos
A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing
Euphemism
What are three different examples of symbolism?
Red roses= romantic love
Rainbow = hope
Dove = peace
Four-leaf clover = good luck
Red, white, blue = American patriotism
"My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations"
-The Fault in Our Stars
Metaphor
A makeup commercial features beautiful, famous women, who use this makeup-appealing to the viewer because if these women use it, it must be a good product.
Ethos
Mental pictures used to help readers see and feel what the character is experiencing; specific details used to help readers imagine a situation by appealing to their five senses
Imagery
An argument is constructed based on the ethics or credibility of the person making the argument.
Ethos
A short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme or central idea
Epigraph
"A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer. There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County."
-To Kill a Mockingbird
Hyperbole
"Why, then, O brawling love! O loving hate! O any thing, of nothing first create!"
-Romeo and Juliet
Oxymoron
Words that imitate the sounds they make
Onomatopoeia
Combining two contradictory ideas or situations in a way that, although illogical, still seems to make sense
Paradox
Name five well-known antagonists
Answers will vary, but possible answers may include any of the following characters:
Darth Vader
Scar, Voldemort
The Joker
Thanos
The Wicked Witch of the West
The shark (in Jaws)
"
“Hear the sledges with the bells – silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens, seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight"
-Edgar Allan Poe
Onomatopoeia
"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since: "Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,' he told me, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.'...
In consequence I'm inclined to reserve all judgements, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores."
-The Great Gatsby
Dramatic Irony