Figurative Language Easy Definition Figurative language or speech

Figurative Language • Easy Definition • Figurative language or speech contains images. The writer or speaker describes something through the use of unusual comparisons, for effect, interest, and to make things clearer. The result of using this technique is the creation of interesting images.

Hard Definition • Figurative language is not intended to be interpreted in a literal sense. Appealing to the imagination, figurative language provides new ways of looking at the world. It always makes use of a comparison between different things. Figurative language compares two things that are different in enough ways so that their similarities, when pointed out, are interesting, unique and/or surprising.

Metaphor • A figure of speech that makes an imaginative comparison between two literally unlike things.

Simile • A verbal comparison in which a similarity is expressed directly, using like or as

Difference between Simile and Metaphor • Even though similes and metaphors are both forms of comparison, similes allow the two ideas to remain distinct in spite of their similarities, whereas metaphors seek to equate two ideas despite their differences.

For instance • A simile that compares a person with a bullet would go as follows: "John was a record-setting runner and as fast as a speeding bullet. " A metaphor might read something like, "John was a recordsetting runner. That speeding bullet could zip past you without you even knowing he was there. "

Examples of Simile • Turning off their minds like water taps • Who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter

What is the simile in the following example? If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head

The Flea Through parents grudge, and you, we’re met And cloistered in these living walls of jet

What do you think? “There Are Black” They become cobras sucking life out of their brothers

Why is figurative language very important? • Figurative language brings a nebulous concept alive and gives it substance. It allows the reader to visualize or associate something in the real world with abstract information. It leaves an impression. It adds interest and color to a written piece. It clarifies in imagery what words might never truly express.

• Readers remember the material best when figurative language assists them through the dry and otherwise boring material. Without figurative language, the writing can be a walk in the desert.