What is Figurative Language?

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

A simile uses the words “like” or “as”
to compare one object or idea with another to suggest they are alike.
Example: busy as a bee
Metaphor

The metaphor states a fact or draws a verbal picture by the use of comparison.
A simile would say you are like something; a metaphor is more positive – it says you are something.
Example: You are what you eat.
Personification

A figure of speech in which human characteristics are given
to an animal or an object. Example: My teddy bear gave me a hug.
Alliteration

The repetition of the same initial letter, sound, or group of sounds in a series of words.
Alliteration includes tongue twisters. Example: She sells seashells by the seashore.
Onomatopoeia

The use of a word to describe or imitate a natural sound or the sound
made by an object or an action. Example: snap crackle pop
Hyperbole

An exaggeration that is so dramatic that no one would believe the statement is true.
Tall tales are hyperboles.
Example: He was so hungry, he ate that whole cornfield for lunch, stalks and all.
Idioms

According to Webster’s Dictionary, an idiom is defined as: peculiar to itself
either grammatically (as no, it wasn’t me) or in having a meaning
that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements
(as Monday week for “the Monday a week after next Monday”)
Clichés

A cliché is an expression that has been used so often that it has become trite
and sometimes boring. Example: Many hands make light work.

 

Simile: [sim-mil-lee] –noun 1. a figure of speech in which one thing is explicitly compared to another, as in “she is like a rose.” Compare metaphor. Origin: 1350–1400; Middle English < Latin: image, likeness, comparison, noun use of neuter of similis similar.^[1] Example: Suzie is as quiet as a mouse and as tall as a giraffe

Metaphor: [met-uh-fawr, -fer] –noun 1. a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our god.” Compare mixed metaphor, simile def. 1 . Origin: 1525–35; < Latin metaphora < Greek metaphorá a transfer, akin to metaphérein to transfer. See meta-, -phore^[2] Example: She was a hippo compared to her ant of a sister.

Onomatopoeia: [on-no-mat-oh-pee-uh, ‐mah-tuh‐] –noun 1. the formation of a word, as cuckoo or boom, by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent. Origin: 1570–80; < Late Latin < Greek onomatopoiía making of words = onomato- (combining form of ónoma name) + poi- (stem of poieîn to make; see poet) + -ia -ia^[3] Example: “Bark! Bark!” went the dog as he chased the car that vroomed past.

Personification: [per-son-uh-fi-key-shuh n] –noun 1. the attribution of a personal nature or character to inanimate objects or abstract notions, especially as a rhetorical figure. Origin: 1745–55; personi(fy) + -fication^[4] Example: The sun opened its sleepy eyes and smiled down on the Earth as a new day began.

Oxymoron, n. A figure of speech in which a pair of opposite or contradictory terms are used together for emphasis. Origin: < post-classical Latin oxymoronfigure of speech in which a pair of opposed or markedly contradictory terms are placed in conjunction for emphasis (5th cent.; also oxymorum) < ancient Greek ὀξυ-oxy- comb. form1+ μωρόςdull, stupid, foolish (see moron n.2).^[5] Example: Organised chaos.

Paradox, n. A statement or proposition which is self-contradictory, unreasonable, or illogical. Origin: < Middle French, French paradoxe(1495 as noun; 1372–4 in plural paradoxesas the title of a work by Cicero; paradoxon(noun) philosophical paradox in post-classical Latin also a figure of speech < ancient Greek παράδοξον, especially in plural παράδοξαStoical paradoxes, use as noun of neuter singular of παράδοξος(adjective) contrary to received opinion or expectation < παρα-para- prefix1+ δόξαopinion (see doxology n.), after ancient Greek παρὰ δόξανcontrary to expectation.^[6] Example: This statement is a lie.

Hyperbole, n. A figure of speech which uses an extravagant or exaggerated statement to express strong feelings. Origin: < Greek ὑπερβολήexcess (compare hyperbola n.), exaggeration; the latter sense is first found in Isocrates and Aristotle. Compare French hyperbole(earlier yperbole).^[7] Example: They had been walking so long John thought he might drink the entire lake when they came upon it.

Extended Metaphor, n. A metaphor that is continued over multiple sentences.^[8] Example: Suzie is a beautiful young flowering girl. Her cheeks are flush with the spring of life. She has the fragrance of youth about her.

There are many different types of figurative language. For example:

• Simile: A simile is a comparison that often uses the words like or as. One example of a simile would be to say, “Jamie runs as fast as the wind.”
• Metaphor: A metaphor is a comparison made between things which are essentially not alike. It is similar to a simile, but does not use like or as. One example of a metaphor would be to say, “Nobody invites Edward to parties because he is a wet blanket.”
• Personification: When something that is not human is given human-like qualities, this is known as personification. An example of personification would be to say, “The leaves danced in the wind on the cold October afternoon.”
• Hyperbole: Exaggerating, often in a humorous way, to make a particular point is known as hyperbole. One of example of hyperbole would be to say, “My eyes widened at the sight of the mile-high ice cream cones we were having for dessert.”
• Onomatopoeia: When you name an action by imitating the sound associated with it, this is known as onomatopoeia. One example of onomatopoeia would be to say, “The bees buzz angrily when their hive is disturbed.”
• Idiom: An idiom is an expression used by a particular group of people with a meaning that is only known through common use. One example of an idiom would be to say, “I’m just waiting for him to kick the bucket.” Many idioms that are frequently used are also considered clichés.
• Symbolism: Symbolism occurs when a noun which has meaning in itself is used to represent something entirely different. One example of symbolism would be to use an image of the American flag to represent patriotism and a love for one’s country.

Types of Drama:

1. Tragedy — In general, tragedy involves the ruin of the leading characters. To the Greeks, it meant the destruction of some noble person through fate, To the Elizabethans, it meant in the first place death and in the second place the destruction of some noble person through a flaw in his character. Today it may not involve death so much as a dismal life, Modern tragedy often shows the tragedy not of the strong and noble but of the weak and mean,
2. Comedy — is lighter drama in which the leading characters overcome the difficulties which temporarily beset them
3. Problem Play — Drama of social criticism discusses social, economic, or political problems by means of a play.
4. Farce — When comedy involves ridiculous or hilarious complications without regard for human values, it becomes farce.
5. Comedy of Manners — Comedy which wittily portrays fashionable life.
6. Fantasy — A play sometimes, but not always, in comic spirit in which the author gives free reign to his fantasy, allowing things to happen without regard to reality.
7. Melodrama — Like farce, melodrama pays almost no attention to human values, but its object is to give a thrill instead of a laugh. Often good entertainment, never any literary value.

Types of Drama of Historical Interest:

1. Medieval mystery plays — dealt with Bible stories and allegorical mysteries.
2. Chronicle plays — dealt directly with historical scenes and characters.
3. Masques — were slight plays involving much singing and dancing and costuming. They were usually allegorical.

Drama is the most dependent of art forms — director, actors, scene and costume designers must interpret before the audience does.

Kinds of Novels :

1. novel of incident
episodic action dominant—not plot unity or character
The Three Musketeers
Robinson Crusoe
Sherlock Holmes

2. novel of character
emphasis on character, not on plot unity

3. realistic novel
19th century novels that focus on middle class ethics and life. Slice of life writing that imitates actual day-to-day action and drama. Sister Carrie, Theodore Dreiser

4. romance novel
“The Novel is a picture of real life and manners, and of the times in which it was written. The Romance in lofty and elevated language, describes what has never happened nor is likely to.” Extravagant characters, remote and exotic places, highly exciting and heroic events, passionate love, or mysterious or supernatural experiences. The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne; Edgar Allen Poe’s fiction.

5. Bildungsroman
A novel that follows a young person to maturity.
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

6. historical novel
A novel that examines a particular historical period and features actual characters and also fictional characters that carry the plot.
A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens (French Revolution)
7. epistolary novel
A novel told through letters, emails, texts, etc.
The Color Purple, Alice Walker
84 Charring Cross Road, James Roose-Evans
Lady Susan, Jane Austen

8. picaresque novel
A novel that tells the life story of a rogue or rascal of low degree. Tends to be episodic, contain adventure, is often satiric of social classes. Realistic, focusing on petty details; uninhibited expression, 1st person narrative, realistic style; character does not develop. Moll Flanders, Daniel Defoe

9. Roman a Clef
A novel about actual persons in the guise of a fictional character.
Primary Colors, Joe Klein (the Clintons and ’96 campaign);
The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand (Frank Lloyd Wright)

10. eponymous novel
A novel that features a protagonist for whom the novel is named:
Tess of the D’Urbervilles, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

11. grotesque fiction
Contains bizarre, incongruous, ugly, unnatural, fantastic, abnormal (formal distortion) elements or characters. Usually characters or subjects. It is an outgrowth of the author’s interest in irrational, cosmic order, humans’ place in the universe, and the merging of comic/tragic aspects of human experience. Characters are often physically or spiritually deformed. Flannery O’Conner or Franz Kafka
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12. metafiction
A work of fiction, a major concern of which is the nature of fiction itself. Many modern novelists (J.D. Salinger, Kurt Vonnegut, Ken Kesey, Norman Mailer) write novels that contain, as one of their structural and thematic dimensions, a testing of fiction itself.

13. antinovel
A contemporary movement that rejects traditional novelistic conventions. It is the literal description of experience that has not been abstracted, internalized, or anthropomorphized through metaphor. Novelists want to represent reality without imposed interpretations. No social or moral superstructure. No order. An antinovel experiments with fragmentation and dislocation supposing the reader will reconstruct reality from the disordered pieces of direct experience. Neutral, flat style (Alain Robbe-Grillet, best known novelist)