Figurative Language

Figuring it Out

LITERAL AND

FIGURATIVE

Language

LITERALLY

Literally: words function exactly as defineExamples: The car is blue.

He caught the football.

FIGURATIVELY

Figuratively: Figure out what it means; Figures of Speech.

Examples: I’ve got your back.

You’re a doll.

Simile: Comparison of two things using “like” or “as.”

Examples: Busy as a bee.

Dry as a bone.

Crazy like a fox.

REVIEW

Using “like” or “as” doesn’t make a simile.

A comparison must be made.

Not a Simile: I like elephants.

Simile: He stomped like an elephant.

REMEMBER!

Metaphor: Two things are compared without using “like” or “as.”

Examples: He’s a walking dictionary.

My brother’s a couch potato.

Time is money.

REVIEW

Personification: Giving human traits to

objects or ideas.

Examples: The sad, run-down house.

The moon gave me a mid-night wink.

The flowers drank the rain.

REVIEW

Hyperbole: Exaggerating to show strong

feeling or effect.

Examples: That joke is so old, the last

time I heard it I was riding a

dinosaur.

It was so cold the polar

bears wore jackets.

REVIEW

Understatement: Expression with less strength than

expected. The opposite of hyperbole.

Examples: After barely escaping with his life, he

turned to me and said “well, that was interesting.”

The girl’s dancing was so bad, the only

thing the teacher could say was

“Well, your style is unique.”

REVIEW

Allusion: A reference made to something that is not

directly mentioned.

Examples: I was surprised his nose didn’t grow.

(referring to Pinocchio)

He was a real Romeo with the ladies

(referring to William Shakespeare’s “Romeo

and Juliette”)

ALLUSION

Onomatopoeia: A figure of speech that names a

thing or an action by imitating the

sound associated with it.

Examples: buzz, hiss, flutter, flap, roar, woof,pling, splish-splash, plop, smack,

crash, boom, pow, ring-ring, thud,

ribbit, whoosh, zonk.

ONOMATOPOEIA

Alliteration: A figure of speech that is a phrase that contains the repetition of usually beginning consonant sounds in two or moreneighboring words.

Examples: The wild and wooly walrus waits and wonders when we’ll walk by.

Three grey geese in a green field grazing,grey were the geese and green was thegrazing.

ALLITERATION

Irony: Irony is a tragic twist to what should

have been a happy moment.

Examples: He won the million dollar powerball

and died the next day.

The Titanic was advertised as being

100% unsinkable, but in 1912, the

ship sank on its very first voyage.

IRONY

On a separate sheet of paper…

1. I will put an example of figurative language on the board.

2. You will write whether it is a simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, understatement, allusion, alliteration, onomotapoeia, or irony.

3. You may use your notes.

QUIZ

NUMBER ONE

The old dog was blind as a bat.

NUMBER TWO

They were all chickens hiding under the bed.

NUMBER THREE

They could hear the ribbit but couldn’t see the frog.

NUMBER FOUR

Looking outside, all she could see was rabbits running over roses.

NUMBER FIVE

The bees played hide and seekwith the flowers.

NUMBER SIX

She’s as thin as a toothpick.

NUMBER SEVEN

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.

NUMBER 8

He was a Good Samaritan yesterday when he helped the lady start her car.

NUMBER NINE

Well, that was interesting, he said, after narrowly missed being hit by a bullet.

NUMBER TEN

Carrie never stops talking.

ANSWERS

1. Simile2. Metaphor3. Onomotapoeia4. Alliteration5. Personification

6. Simile/Hyperbole7. Irony8. Allusion9. Understatement10.Hyperbole