Figurative Language

What Is Figurative Language?

• Devices in writing to make it more interesting to the reader.

• Creates a more vivid picture in the reader’s mind.

Types of Figurative Language

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Personification

• Hyperbole

• Onomatopoeia

• Alliteration

• Symbol

Similes

A comparison between two unlike things using “like” or “as”.

Examples of Similes

Life is like a box of chocolates.

Dark as night.

Her eyes sparkled like stars in the night sky.

METAPHOR

• A metaphor is a comparison between two unlike things without using “like” or “as”.

• To compare using am, is, are, was, and were.

Examples of Metaphors

The test was a piece of cake.

Life is just a bowl of cherries.

Personification

Giving human qualities to non-human objects,

animals, places, or ideas.

Examples of Personification

The trees waved at me.

The dog smiled at me.

The cake called my name.

Hyperbole

• An exaggeration for effect

• Stretching the truth to make it interesting.

Examples of Hyperbole

I’ve told you a million times to clean your room.

She left a list of chores a mile long.

Onomatopoeia

The use of words that imitate sounds.

Examples of Onomatopoeia

Buzz

Hiss

Ping

Alliteration

The repetition of similar consonant sounds, often at the

beginning of words.

Examples of Alliteration

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Mara makes meatloaf with her mom, Marchelle.

SYMBOL

A symbol is a word or image that stands for

something else.

Examples of Symbols

A red rose = love

The eagle = United States

Dove = peaceSkull and crossbones = poison

PERSONIFICATION

REVIEW

Grandma slept like a baby.

SIMILE

A black rose = death

Symbol

Zip! Pow! Bang!

Onomatopoeia

Daisies stand up on their tiptoes.

Personification

Jack jumped for joy when the jam started.

Alliteration

The hot sauce was a flaming ball of fire in my mouth.

Metaphor