Figurative Languag Examples Simile Metaphor Imagery Personification Hyperbole

Figurative Languag

Examples: Simile Metaphor Imagery Personification Hyperbole Idiom Allusion

Similes are sentences that compare two unlike objects using like or as. The girl’s hair is as yellow as the sun. The boy quickly runs like a rabbit.

"What Happens to a Dream Deferred? " by Langston Hughes Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore-And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over-like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?

Important! Using “like” or “as” doesn’t always mean it is a simile! A comparison must be made. Not a Simile: I like pizza. Simile: The moon is big and round like a pizza.

Metaphors are a direct comparison between two thing using the words is, am, are, was, and were. That report was dynamite! The boy is an egghead.

The Hunt My sister once again is on the prowl A lioness hunting her prey Searching for something lost long ago I hope it won’t ruin her day. Like a detective she snoops In dizzying loops Until she picks up on a clue A little white bottle she once thought long gone At last she has located her glue

IMAGERY Language that appeals to the senses. The sound of bat hitting the ball was pleasing to his ear. The old man took the handful of dust, and sifted it through his fingers.

[I wandered lonely as a Cloud] William Wordsworth I wandered lonely as a Cloud That floats on high o’er Vales and Hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host of golden Daffodils; Beside the Lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the Milky Way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced, but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: — A Poet could not but be gay In such a jocund company: I gazed—and gazed—but little thought What wealth the shew to me had brought: For oft when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude, And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the Daffodils.

Personification gives inanimate objects a human characteristic. The friendly gates welcomed us. The flowers danced in the wind. The earth choked from all of the pollution.

Hyperboles are an extreme exaggeration. I tried a thousand times. His feet are as big as a barge.

Idioms are a phrase or expression. Their meaning should not be taken literally. He has a chip on his shoulder. It is raining cats and dogs.

Allusion An allusion makes a reference to something else- such as a famous event, text, or person. "I was surprised his nose was not growing like Pinocchio's. “ When she lost her job, she acted like a Scrooge, and refused to buy anything that wasn't necessary.