Figurative LanguagePOETRY UNIT

WHAT IS FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE? Writing that is not meant to be taken literally. There are seven categories of Figurative

Language: Imagery Simile Metaphor Alliteration Personification Onomatopoeia Hyperbole

WHAT IS ALLITERATION? The repetition of usually initial

consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables.

Example Alliteration:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.A peck of pickles Peter Piper picked

If Peter Piper picked a peck of picked peppers,

How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

WHAT IS ONOMATOPOEIA? The formation or use of words such as

buzz or murmur that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.

Example Onomatopoeia words: Buzz Click Whoosh Giggle Moo Beeps

WHAT IS PERSONIFICATION? A figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstractions

are endowed with human qualities or are represented as possessing human form.

Examples of Personification: The stars danced playfully in the moonlit sky. The run down house appeared depressed. The first rays of morning tiptoed through the meadow. She did not realize that opportunity was knocking at her

door. He did not realize that his last chance was walking out the

door. The bees played hide and seek with the flowers as they

buzzed from one to another. The wind howled its mighty objection. The snow swaddled the earth like a mother would her infant

child. The river swallowed the earth as the water continued to rise

higher and higher. Time flew and before we knew it, it was time for me to go

home.

WHAT IS RHYME? Repetition of sounds at the ends of words. Example of Rhyme:

TextingI got a text from my BFF SadieIt said, “LOL my mom is a crazy lady.”“She took my computer and started to yell.”“If I don’t finish my chores, she’s going to take my cell.” So I texted Evelyn with what Sadie had to sayShe typed back, “OMG R U JK?”I sent back, “No but BRB”Because now Katie was texting me. Katie asked, “Did you hear about Sadie’s mom?”“Sadie told me she went off like a nuclear bomb!”I replied with, “Yeah and as far as I can tell Sadie might just lose her cell.”Katie wrote back saying, “if Sadie loses her cell, I might just have to yell.” “Oh great now I can’t feel either thumb!”“All this texting made them both go numb!”“This is insane, I mean OMG”“Pick up the phone and just call me!”

WHAT IS HYPERBOLE? A figure of speech in which exaggeration is

used for emphasis or effect. Example of Hyperbole:

I could sleep for a year. This book weighs a ton.

WHAT IS IMAGERY? A word / phrase that appeals to one or more

of the five senses.• Examples of Imagery:

• He fumed and charged like an angry bull.• He fell down like an old tree falling down in a storm.• He felt like the flowers were waving him a hello.• The eerie silence was shattered by her scream.• He could hear his world crashing down when he heard

the news about her.• The F-16 swooped down like an eagle after its prey.• The word spread like leaves in a storm.• The lake was left shivering by the touch of morning

wind.• Her face blossomed when she caught a glance of him.• He could never escape from the iron grip of desire.• He could hear the footsteps of doom nearing.• She was like a breath of fresh air infusing life back into

him.• The pot was a red as a tongue after eating a cherry

flavored ring pop.• Though I was on the sheer face of a mountain, the

feeling of swinging through the air was euphoric, almost like flying without wings.

• Her blue eyes were as bright as the Sun, blue as the sky, but soft as silk.

• The music coursed through us, shaking our bodies as if it came from within us.

• The giant tree was ablaze with the orange, red, and yellow leaves that were beginning to make their decent to the ground.

WHAT IS SIMILE? Comparison of two unlike things using like or as. Examples of Simile:

“cute as a kitten,” comparing the way someone looks to the way a kitten looks

“as busy as a bee” comparing someone’s level of energy to a fast-flying bee

"as snug as a bug in a rug" comparing someone who is very cozy to how comfortable a bug can be in a rug

"as happy as a clam" comparing someone's happiness to the contentment of a clam

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get." comparing the uncertainty of life to the uncertainty of choosing a chocolate from a box

"as agile as a monkey" implying someone can move as well as a monkey does

"as black as coal" comparing the color of something dark to the very-dark coal color

"as blind as a bat" indicating that the person cannot see any better than a bat can

WHAT IS METAPHOR? Comparison of two unlike things NOT

using like or as. Examples of Metaphor:

Her light curly hair was a golden crown topping her good looks His temper boiled over His advice is a valuable guiding light to the needy I'm Heartbroken Their marriage is a new chapter in their lives, hopefully it has a happy

ending! He has a monkey mind... his thoughts darting from one thing to another

and never resting, that is why he hardly succeeds His plans were rock solid and so were his aims Inner peace is a stairway to heaven and that is why it is so difficult to find Fading memories are footprints in sand, one hardly realizes when they

leave no trace Asking questions is priming the pump of better understanding His dreams are bright stars that he is racing towards The coastal highway is a winding and roaring river of cars on the

weekend The full moon is a perfect saucer, isn't it? The noise is music to my ears Her young voice was a melodious song which mesmerized the listeners Leaping with laughter

WHAT IS TONE? The tone of a poem is the attitude you

feel in it — the writer's attitude toward the subject or audience. The tone in a poem of praise is approval. In a satire, you feel irony. In an antiwar poem, you may feel protest or moral indignation. Tone can be playful, humorous, regretful, anything — and it can change as the poem goes along.

When you speak, your tone of voice suggests your attitude. In fact, it suggests two attitudes: one concerning the people you're addressing (your audience) and one concerning the thing you're talking about (your subject). That's what the term tone means when it's applied to poetry as well. Tone can also mean the general emotional weather of the poem.

WHO IS THE SPEAKER? In poetry, the speaker is known as the narrator.