Figurative Literal Language Introduction 1 Literal Words or

Figurative & Literal Language Introduction 1

Literal Words or expressions that mean exactly what they say. Examples: • Grass looks green. � Sand feels rough. � The flower smells sweet. � Grasshoppers make a high-pitched noise.

Figurative Words or expressions that don’t have a literal meaning. Examples: � The grass looks like spiky green hair. � Sand is solid water. � The flower has the sweetest smelling petals in the world. � Grasshoppers are fiddlers who play their legs.

Types of Figurative Language

Simile v Compares two unlike things, using the words like or as. Example: The muscles on his brawny arms are as strong as iron.

Important! Using “like” or “as” doesn‘t make a simile. A comparison must be made. Not a Simile: I like pizza. Simile: The moon is like a pizza.

Metaphor v Compares two unlike things without using like or as. You simply state one thing is another thing. Example: The road was a ribbon wrapped through the dessert.

Alliteration v Repeated consonant sounds occurring at the beginning of words or within words. Example: She was wide-eyed and wondering while she waited for Walter to waken.

Personification v Gives the qualities of a human to non- human things (an animal, an object, or an idea). Example: “The wind yelled. ”

Hyperbole v An exaggerated statement used to impress or stress something, or to emphasize a point. Example: She’s told me about her vacation several million times.

Onomatopoeia v The use of words that mimic sounds. Example: The firecracker went ka-boom!

Idiom v A phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words. Example: He put his foot in his mouth!

Pun v A humorous substitution of words that are alike in sound but different in meaning. Examples …

Figurative & Literal IMAGINARY REAL