Figurative Language Kitty Tripp Duncan Chapel Elementary March

Figurative Language Kitty Tripp Duncan Chapel Elementary March 28, 2003

Figurative Language is: • • • Speech or written language Creates images in a listener’s mind Describes something Uses unusual comparisons or Make things clearer Results the creation of interesting images.

Types of Figurative Language • Similes • Metaphors • Hyperboles • Idioms

Figurative Language in Everyday Use: • Letters • Poetry • Advertisement

Helen Keller • Letter to Alexander Graham Bell • Poem, “Autumn”

Helen Keller states in her letter: “I had a contest with a pirate, most redoubtable bronchitis. The attack was not severe and I soon got the upper hand. ” --a hyperbole

Helen Keller states in her poem, “Autumn”: “The little birds southward going Linger, like traveler at an inn. ” --a simile

President Abraham Lincoln • His poem, “My Childhood Home I See Again”

As President Lincoln remembers his past, he says in his poem: “Oh memory! Thou mid-way world Twixt Earth and Paradise Where things decayed, and loved ones lost In dreamy shadows rise…” --a metaphor

Advertisement for Lexington Motor Company, Connersville, Indiana

“The motor car is the magic carpet of modern times. ” --a metaphor

All these examples bring to life images that communicate the author’s thoughts and feelings.

Examples of Idioms • • • Don’t you be a couch potato Stop dragging your feet Jump into action EAGER BEAVERS, and let’s learn some more about figurative language!

Credits All pictures used with permission from: • Library of Congress • Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library-Advertising Ephemera Collection Database #A 0160 Emergence of Advertising On-Line Project John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History http: //scriptorium. lib. duke. edu/eaa/