Figurative Language

Figurative language is used by writers, especially poets to help readers see things afresh.

Figurative Language is not meant to be interpreted literally.

Poets and Writers use figurative language to:

• Create vivid pictures with with words.
• Show their ideas in new ways.

Types Figurative Language

• A metaphor is a figure of speech that speaks of something as if it were something else.
• In a metaphor, the comparison is implied or suggested without using the words " like" or "as".
• Example: The fog was pea soup.

Figures of Speech

• A simile is a comparison using "like" or "as"or "than" to make the comparison.
• She is as pretty as a rose.

Figurative Language: hyperbole

• Is a deliberate overstatement that is not meant to be taken literally.
• It is an exaggerated statement used to heighten effect and make a point.
• Example: The stale cookie is as hard as a rock.

Antonym

• Is a word that means the opposite of another word.
• Example: light/dark
• Give an antonym for fast/?

Synonym

• Is a word that means the same thing as another word.
• Example: dense/thick
• Give a synonym for intelligent/?

Dreams by Langston Hughes

• Hold fast to dreams
• For if dreams die
• Life is a broken-winged bird
• That cannot fly.
• Hold fast to dreams
• For when dreams go
• Life is a barren field
• Frozen with snow.

Literary Devices/Figurative Language

• Personification- when nonhuman beings or nonliving things are given human characteristics: Example: a sleeping mountain and talking mirror
• Hyperbole- An exaggeration used in literature. Examples: " You are growing like a weed". and "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."