Figurative Language

A. The main figures of speech used in descriptive writing are similes and metaphors. Both are based on comparisons. They create more concrete impressions for readers than straight exposition.

 

Definitions:

 

1. Simile: A stated comparison generally using like or as.

 

2. Metaphor: An implied comparison without like or as.

 

Examples: 
1. Label these simile or metaphor
2. Circle the two objects that are being compared

(These examples are from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.)

 

1. "He smelled like a vinegar barrel."

 

2. "I burst with a fire-cracker July-the-Fourth burst."

 

3. They had "no more direction than a splattered egg."

 

4. Her voice, a skinny finger, stabbed high up in the air.

 

5. My mother was a "pretty kite that floated above my head."

 

6. The "girls giggled little silver drops in the dusk."

 

7. "The giggles hung in the air like melting clouds that were waiting to rain on me."

 

Try creating your own figurative language by writing similes or metaphors for five of the following. Be prepared to share these with the class.

 

1. The snow drifted down like __________________________________.

 

2. The first day of school is like _____________________________.

 

3. Summer is ___________________________________________________.

 

4. Autumn is ___________________________________________________.

 

5. Playing football is like ____________________________________.

 

6. Loneliness is _______________________________________________.

7. Christmas morning is (like) _________________________________.

 

8. Friends are (like) __________________________________________.

 

9. Reading a good book is (like) _______________________________.

 

10. Rap music is (like) __________________________________________.

 

 

B. Another kind of figurative language is personification. In personification, the writer gives human qualities or characteristics to something non-human such as an idea, an animal, or an object. We say that "Love is blind," meaning we do not see problems with people we love. We refer to "Mother Nature" and "Father Time," both such common examples of personification; they are cliches.

 

Write a short paragraph about one of the following in which you use personification to create a vivid impression.

 

1. emotion: fear, joy, jealousy, happiness

2. time

3. nature

4. car

5. pet

6. computer

 

C. Another kind of figurative language is hyperbole, exaggeration which emphasizes the truth. Hyperbole is not intended to be taken literally. Some hyperboles have become so common in our language they are cliches, such as being so hungry you could "eat a horse." The sportswriter Red Smith said that writing was easy: "You just sit down at the typewriter and open a vein."

 

Create hyperbolic statements to describe any three of the following. Do not use any statement you have heard used.

 

1. having too much to do

2. being very tired

3. needing some money

4. being disappointed in something

5. getting angry at someone

6. feeling sick

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