irony

Figures of SpeechA figure of speech is a specific device or kind of

figurative language, such as hyperbole, metaphor, personification, simile, or understatement.

Figurative language is used for descriptive effect, often to imply ideas indirectly. It is not meant to be taken literally. Figurative language is used to state ideas in vivid and imaginative ways.

Figurative language is the OPPOSITE of literal language.

I am hungry as a horse.

                                                       

You run like a rabbit.                                                                         

He is sneaky as a snake.

She is happy as a clam.

The girl was a fish in the water.

The clown was a feather floating away.

                                                            

The flowers danced in the wind.

The Earth coughed and choked in all of the pollution.

The friendly gates welcomed us.

                                               

Chug chug chug!!

Swish swish swish

Yeeeeee Ahhhhhhhh

Glippp Gluppp Gluppp

Imagery • Language that appeals to the senses.

Descriptions of people or objects stated in terms of our senses.

• Sight • Hearing • Touch • Taste • Smell

Denotation

The denotation of a word is its dictionary meaning.

ConnotationThe connotation of a word is the ideas

associated with it in addition to its dictionary meaning.

Words can have positive, negative, or neutral connotations.

Denotation versus Connotation

Cheap, stingy, and inexpensive have the same denotation (“low in cost”).

Which word is the most positive?

Which word is the most negative?

Think about the word HOT.

The denotation of HOT is: having a temperature higher than normal.

However, when you say “Man! She is hot!”, are you saying “Man! She has a temperature higher than normal!”? No!!

You are intending to use the CONNOTATION of HOT – which could mean a variety of things – She is cute, attractive, beautiful, and many other meanings that come from personal experiences and cultural meanings, etc.

Always remember that the words you use may have different meanings (connotations) to different people, so be careful!

ToneTone is a reflection of a writer’s attitude toward a

subject of a story. Tone may be communicated through words and details that express emotions and that evoke an emotional response from the reader.

For example, word choice or phrasing may seem to convey respect, anger, lightheartedness, or sarcasm.

Do your homework. Whatever.

What do you want for dinner? Whatever.

I’m sick of fighting. I’m leaving. Whatever.

MOOD

Mood, or atmosphere, is the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage.

Writers often create mood by using imagery to describe the setting with many details and descriptive words.

I looked upon the scene before me -- upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain -- upon the bleak walls -- upon the vacant eye-like windows -- upon a few rank sedges -- and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees -- with an utter depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveller upon opium -- the bitter lapse into everyday life -- the hideous dropping off of the veil. There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart -- an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime.

(from the Fall of the House of Usher by E.A. Poe)

Tone and Mood are often confused

Remember the difference!

tone = a character’s attitude or feeling (sarcastic, angry, happy)

mood = atmosphere (creepy, scary, depressing)

allusion• A reference to a person, place, or event, or to

another literary work or passage. • The writer assumes the educated reader will

recognize the reference. • Like all figurative language, allusions just add more

meaning to a story, song, poem, etc.

• "Christy didn't like to spend money. She was no Scrooge, but she seldom purchased anything except the bare necessities.”

• What is the allusion and what does that tell you about Christy?

• What happens when an author refers to something that you’ve never heard about?

• That is why it is important to READ and be informed about the world around you.

Listen to this song and make a tally mark in your notes every time you recognize something…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR-A4QFHZBA

Irony• Irony is a deliberate contrast between two

levels of meaning• Verbal – implying a different meaning than

what is directly stated• Situational – the opposite of what is

expected happens• Dramatic – the audience knows something

that one or more of the characters does not

Irony—which kind?

• The beautiful woman lawyer walked into the courtroom wearing a visibly stained suit that frayed at the edges.

• “Oh, and there’s a thrilling shot of one of the kids being sick on a small fishing boat off the coast of Florida and we are hovering over him offering him salami and mayonnaise sandwiches. That one really breaks us up.”—Erma Bombeck

• Juliet is actually not dead, but asleep with the help of a strong potion. Romeo sees her lying in the tomb and kills himself because he believes her to be dead.

A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding-cake of the ceiling, and then rippled over the wine-colored rug, making a shadow on it as wind does on the sea.

(from The Great Gatsby)

Name that literary term!• “The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor.”• I heard the swishing of her skirts as she walked up the stairs.• "Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy

tales again.“• The pen is mightier than the sword. • “My love is like a red, red rose.”• Julie wears so much make-up she has to use a sandblaster to

get it off at night.• My desk is groaning underneath the mountains of papers to

grade.

                                                            

Stan the strong surfer saved several swimmers on Saturday.

Tiny Tommy Thomson takes toy trucks to Timmy’s on Tuesday.

Click here to read more alliterations.