Figurative Language

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Figurative Language

• Figurative language adds meaning by comparing
  or providing imagery.
• It gives us a feeling about its subject.
• It is used as a writers tool
• It helps the reader to visualize (see) what the
  writer is thinking
• It puts a picture in the readers mind

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Figurative and Literal Language

• Literal words function exactly as defined
• The car is blue.
• He caught the football.
• Figurative words have an inferential meaning.
• Ive got your back.
• Youre a doll.

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What is figurative language?

• Whenever you describe something by comparing it
  with something else, you are using figurative
  language.

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Types of Figurative Language

• Simile
• Metaphor
• Personification
• Symbolism
• Imagery

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Simile
a direct comparison between two unlike
things or a way of describing something by
comparing it to something else, by using the
words like or as Example Busy as a bee

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I am hungry as a horse.
You hop like a rabbit.
She is happy as a clam.
He is sneaky as a snake.
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Metaphor

• The metaphor is a way of describing something by
  comparing it to something else.
• Example You are a shining star.

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The road was a ribbon wrapped through the desert.
The pillow was a fluffy cloud.
Notice that to compare with metaphors, you dont
use the words as or like.
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Personification

• Giving human traits to objects or ideas.
• Examples
• The sunlight danced.
• Water on the lake shivers.
• The streets are calling me.

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The flowers danced in the wind.
The friendly gates welcomed us.
The hurricanes winds are yelling while blowing
outside my window.
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A symbol is

• An object that represents a greater idea
• An icon(picture), word, or phrase that stands for
  a bigger meaning

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Symbolism

• Symbols help to create an image in our mind
  through pictures or words.
• Symbols are often a repeated pattern throughout a
  story.
• Symbols help to enhance the main idea or theme.
• Many symbols are universal, which means that they
  represent the same meaning for different people.

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Imagery

• An image is language that describes something
  that can be seen, heard, touched, tasted, or
  smelled.
• The images in a literary work are used to create
  a picture in our head.
• Imagery should be used to understand the meaning
  of the text.

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Imagery

• Although they could not see outside the cabin,
  they could hear the eerie tapping, tapping,
  tapping, of his shoes upon their floor.

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Imagery

• The icy breeze gently brushed against the hair on
  her neck, and goose-bumps shortly followed.