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Figurative Language Notes
Literal Language
Definition: the phrase means what it says
Example:
I love pizza.
Figurative Language
Definition: the phrase does NOT mean exactly what it says; writers use this technique to make images more vivid.
Figurative language includes: similes, metaphors, alliteration, hyperboles, onomatopoeia, personification, idioms, symbolism, imagery, and cliches.
Example: Pizza is food from heaven. (figurative language = metaphor)
Simile
Definition: a comparison using “like” or “as”
Example:
She swam like a dolphin.
James was as tall as the Empire State Building!
Metaphor
Definition: a comparison NOT using “like” or “as”
Example:
He was a lazy lion who slept until noon.
Jerry’s legs are sticks; he is so skinny.
Idiom
Definition: a common expression used to mean something else; its literal meaning may be ridiculous
Example: It’s raining cats and dogs!
Check on your brother, please!
You have ants in your pants.
Hyperbole
Definition: an extreme exaggeration (common in tall tales)
Example:
There were a thousand people at my party.
Onomatopoeia
Definition: Sound words; words that sound like their meaning
Example:
The bells clang loudly in the night.
A wind swooshed through the window.
Assonance
Definition: a series of words that have the same or a similar vowel sound
Example:
In June, flowers bloomed underneath the moon’s light.
Alliteration
Definition: a group of words that have a common sound
Example:
Peter picked peppers.
Cool, cold Coca-Cola quenches his thirst.
Personification
Definition: giving human characteristics to a non-human entity.
Example:
Fog tip-toed across the ocean.
The butterfly danced in the wind.
Imagery
Definition: sensory words used to make the image more vivid to the reader.
Example:
Grandma’s lemon cake smelled heavenly and had a taste that returned me to early childhood.
Symbolism Definition: a symbol works two ways:
It is something itself, and it also suggests something deeper. They are not metaphors, however.
A metaphor might read, “His life was an oak tree that had just lost its leaves”, a symbol might be the oak tree itself, which would symbolize/represent a long time.
Example: Common symbols in writing: heart/a red rose
= love; dove = peace; black = death
Denotative Meaning
Definition: is the strict dictionary meaning of a word.
Example:
America denotes the country south of Canada and north of Mexico.
Connotative Meaning
Definition: is the emotional and imaginative association surrounding a word.
Example:
Home is where the heart is.