Incredible fun with

You will learn the

following figures of
speech

Similes Litotes
Metaphors and

Personification Metonymy
Hyperbole And many more
But first

What is the difference between

Literal
and

Figurative
language?
 Literal means
The actual, dictionary meaning of a word;
language that means what it appears to
mean

Avoidingexaggeration, metaphor, or
embellishment

Conforming to the most obvious meaning of a

word, phrase, sentence, or story
In other words

It means exactly what it

says! Word for word.
Example One: The U.S. is a large country.
What does it mean? Exactly what it says!
Example Two: The weather is beautiful today.
What does it mean? Exactly what it says!
 Figurative means

Languagethat goes beyond the normal

meaning of the words used

Basedon or making use of figures of

speech; metaphorical

Represented by a figure or symbol

 In other words

Figureit out! Theres a deeper

meaning hidden in the words.
Example: Fragrance always stays in the hand that
gives the rose. -Hada Bejar

Does it mean you have a smelly hand? NO!

What does it mean? Giving to others is gracious and

the good feeling of giving stays with you.
So

Read between the

lines because not
everything is as it
appears.
 Authors often use figures of speech in
both literature and poetry to enhance
their writing.
Figuresof speech present ordinary things
in new or unusual ways.
They communicate ideas that go beyond
the words usual, literal meanings.
Ladies and gentlemen,
put your hands together as I proudly
present to you, the essential
1) Alliteration

The repetition of an initial

consonant sound.

Example:
1. Good men are gruff and grumpy, cranky,
crabbed, and cross.
2. Sally sells seashells.
2. Allusion

The act of alluding is to make indirect

reference. It is a literary device, a figure of
speech that quickly stimulates different ideas
and associations using only a couple of words.
Example: David was being such a scrooge!.
(Scrooge" is the allusion, and it refers to
Charles Dicken's novel, A Christmas Carol.
Scrooge was very greedy and unkind, which
David was being compared to.)
3) Anaphora
The Repetition of the same word or phrase
at the beginning of successive clauses or
verses. (Contrast with epiphora and
epistrophe.)
Example
1. I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life
insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home
in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and
a gun.
2. I came, I saw, I conquered.
4)Antithesis

The association of contrasting ideas in

balanced phrases.
Example

1. Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing

By Goethe
2. Many are called, but few are chosen.
5)Apostrophe

Breaking off discourse to address some absent person

or thing, some abstract quality, an inanimate object, or
a nonexistent character.
Example
"O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times."
Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 1
6. Assonance

Identity
or similarity in sound
between internal vowel in
neighbouring words.
Example If I bleat when I speak its
because I just got.fleeced.
By Al Swearengen in Deadwood, 2004
7.Chiasmus

A verbal pattern in which the second half

of an expression is balanced against the
first but with the parts reversed.
Example
Nice to see you, to see you, nice!
He knowingly led and we followed blindly
8. Climax

Refers to a figure of speech in which words,

phrases, or clauses are arranged in order of
increasing importance.
Example:
"There are three things that will endure: faith,
hope, and love. But the greatest of these is
love."
- 1 Corinthians 13:13
9. Dysphemism

Refers to the use of a harsh, more

offensive word instead of one
considered less harsh. Dysphemism is
often contrasted with euphemism.
Dysphemisms are generally used to
shock or offend.
Example:
Snail mail for postal mail.
10. Ellipsis

Refers to the omission of a word or words. It

refers to constructions in which words are left
out of a sentence but the sentence can still be
understood.

Examples
Sowhat happened?
UmIm not sure thats true.
sure.
11. Euphemism

The substitution of an inoffensive term

for one considered offensively explict.
Example Paul Kersey : Youve got a
prime figure. You really have, you know.

Thats a euphemism for fat.

12. Hyperbole

An extravagant statement; the use of

exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis
or heightened effect.
Examples
It was so cold I saw polar bears wearing
jackets.
I am so hungry I could eat a horse.
I had a ton of chores to do.
If I can't get a Smartphone, I will die.
13. Irony

The use of words to convey the opposite of

their literal meaning. A statement or situation
where the meaning is contradicted by the
appearance or presentation of the idea.
Example:
His argument was as clear as mud.
Looking at her son's messy room, Mom says,
"Wow, you could win an award for
cleanliness!"
 14. Litotes
Litotes, derived from a Greek word meaning
simple, is afigure of speechwhich employs an
understatementby using double negatives or, in
other words, positive statement is expressed by
negating its opposite expressions. Litotes,
therefore, is an intentional use of
understatement that renders an ironical effect.
Example:
not too bad for very good
She is not a beauty queen, means She is ugly
I am not as young as I used to be in order to avoid saying I
am old.
15. Metaphor
An implied comparison between two unlike
things that actually have something important
in common.
Two things are compared without using like
or as.
Examples
Her eyes were fireflies.
He wanted to set sail on the ocean of love but
he just wasted away in the desert.
Men are dogs.
16. Metonymy

A figure of speech in which one word or phrase

is substituted for another with which it's closely
associated; also, the rhetorical strategy of
describing something indirectly by referring to
things around it.
Example:
- Crown. (For the power of a king.)
- The White House. (Referring to the
American administration.)
 Metonymy

For example
The dagger of the United States sliced
Saddam Husseins army to pieces.
and

I pledge my service to the crown.

Did just a knife alone destroy Sadaams armies? Absolutely not!
The knife represents a part of the whole United States Armed
Forces. (knife = U.S. Armed Forces)

Do I pledge my service to just a crown that sits atop the kings

head? No! The solitary crown represents a part of the whole
king and kingdom to whom I pledge my service. (crown = king
and kingdom)
17. Onomatopoeia

The use of words that imitate the sounds associated

with the objects or actions they refer to.

Examples
The birdschirpfilled the empty night air.
The horses hooves clip-clopped on the cobblestones.
Those clucking chickens are driving me crazy!
The large dog said, Bow-wow!
18. Oxymoron

A figure of speech in which incongruous or

contradictory terms appear side by side.
Example:
Dark light
Living dead
random order
original copy
found missing
alone together
1. Simile

A FIGURE OF SPEECH in
which a comparison is
made between unlike
or dissimilar objects
using the words like or
as.
 Simile

For example
Friends are like parachutes. If they
arent there the first time you need
them, chances are, you wont be needing
them again. -James A. Lovell Jr.

Does this mean that I should jump out of an airplane with my friend
strapped to my back? Absolutely not!

Friends are being compared to parachutes using the word like. (friends =
parachutes)

Friends and parachutes are dissimilar and unlike each other, yet we have
found a way to relate and compare them.
 Simile

What is the meaning of?

Friends are like parachutes. If
they arent there the first time you
need them, chances are, you
wont be needing them again.
-James A. Lovell Jr.

Parachutes must be there for you the first time you need
them or you will fall to your death. If they are not there for
you the first time you need them, you will not need them
again. Youll be dead!

Friends are the same way. If you have a crisis and need your
friend to support you, but he doesnt come through, you dont
really need that friend for help again.
3. Personification

A FIGURE OF SPEECH in
which animals, ideas, or
objects are given
human characteristics
or form.
Personification

For example
The tree bowed and waved to
me in the wind.
Does this mean a tree actually recognized I was
there and acknowledged me by taking a bow and
waving to me? Absolutely not!

The tree is being given the human characteristics or

actions of waving and bowing. The tree is being
personified. It now has character.

Again, unlike or dissimilar things are being

compared. (tree = person)
Personification

What is the meaning of this?

The tree bowed and waved
to me in the wind.
This simply draws the picture in our minds that it
must be an extremely windy day for the trees
branches to wave and the trunk to bend as if it
were bowing.

The tree is being given the human characteristics or

actions of waving and bowing. The tree is being
personified. It now has character.