I am sure you had heard of "Figurative Language" or as some other say "Figurative Speech". If you hadn't then the definition is clearly state at below.
What is Figurative Language?
Whenever you describe something by comparing it with something else, you are using figurative language.
Some figurative languages are: Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Alliteration, Onomatopoeia, Hyperbole, Idioms, Cliché, Imagery, and Euphemism.
Simile
A simile uses the words “like” or “as”
to compare one object or idea with another to suggest they are alike. A figure of speech which involves a direct comparison between two unlike things.
Example: busy as a bee. Another example is, "The muscles on his brawny arms are strong as iron bands."
Metaphor
The metaphor states a fact or draws a verbal picture by the use of comparison. A figure of speech which involves an implied comparison between two relatively unlike things using a form of be.
A simile would say you are like something; a metaphor is more positive - it says you are something.
Example: You are what you eat. Another one, 'The road was a ribbon of moonlight."
Personification
A figure of speech in which human characteristics are given
to an animal or an object. Also, which gives the qualities of a perosn to an animal, an object, or an idea. It is a comparison which the author uses to show something in an entirely new light, to communicate a certain feeling or attitude towards it and to control the way a reader perceives it. Example: My teddy bear gave me a hug. We all know stuffed animals or non-living things can not give hugs unless they are robots or they are programmed to do so. Another example is, "a brave handsome brute fell with a creaking rending cry--the author is giving a tree human qualities."
Alliteration
The repetition of the same initial letter, sound, or group of sounds in a series of words. Repeated consonant sounds occurring at the beginning of words or within words. Alliteration is used to create melody, establish mood, call attention to important words, and point out similarities and contrasts.
Alliteration includes tongue twisters. Example: She sells seashells by the seashore. Repetition of sounds that carries throughout the sentence. Another example, "wide-eyed and wondering while we wait for others to waken."
Onomatopoeia
The use of a word to describe or imitate a natural sound or the sound
made by an object or an action. The use of words that mimic sounds. They appeal to our sense of hearing and they help bring a description to life. A string of syllables the author has made up to represent the way a sound really sounds. Example: snap crackle pop. These are all sounds coming from objects. Another example, when we step on old ridden stairs, the stairs will make a noise like "creak". The "creak" noise is an onomatopoeia.
Hyperbole
An exaggeration that is so dramatic that no one would believe the statement is true. An exaggerated statement used to heighten effect. It is not used to mislead the reader, but to emphasize a point.
Tall tales are hyperboles.
Example: He was so hungry, he ate that whole cornfield for lunch, stalks and all. Also, "she said so on several million occasions." If you weren't exaggerating, you would say "million" and it would not be a hyperbole. The million makes it a hyperbole.
Idioms
Idioms are literally ideas as expressions. They develop from older usage, where the words mean something other than their literal meaning. In some meaning of the original expression has been lost, or is an archaism. idiomatic expression is the extension of the idea of an idiom, using it as the basis of the statement. In many cases this is a more effective use of the language, because it maintains the same subject, and extrapolates its meaning. Examples of idioms:
"Actions speak louder than words."
"A friend in need is a friend indeed."
"Barking up the wrong tree."
"Be careful what you wish for."
"Carrying the weight of the world."
"Cut to the chase."
Just examples of some idioms.
Clichés (In French, it means, "stereotype plate.)
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. Idioms are the literal meanings of what is being said but Cliches are not the literal meaning. There is a hidden message in the sentence of what cliche is.
Other examples are:
"The good old days" (In the past when things were better).
"To pull an all-nighter" (To study or work all night).
"Pearls of wisdom" (Wise words or advice).
"Too much of a good thing" (It's impossible to be happy or lucky).
Imagery
Imagery is one of the most powerful ways of expressing oneself in literature. It is also the most appealing way of conveying a writer's or a poet's feelings. We experience the world through our five senses of sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. Expressing these sensory experiences through words is using imagery as a literary tool. Imagery is used by writers and poets to invoke these sensory impressions in the mind of the reader. Is like reading the book, "Harry Potter" instead of seeing the movie. And, the way, the author explains the young wizard is as if you can imagine him of how the character might be and how the scene is going to be.
Examples of Imagery are:
"He fumed and charged like an angry bull."
"He fell down like an old tree falling down in a storm."
"The taste of that first defeat was bitter indeed."
Euphemism
Euphemism is just a less explicit substitute of an explicit term or phrase. It manages to conceal the offending nature of the word or phrase, but still gets the meaning across. This has led to the birth of many satirical movies, shows and books that effectively use the art of "double meaning" phrases in an attempt to humor people.
Examples of Euphemism:
"Ample Proportions" (Obese or fat)
"Armed Intervention" (War)
"Between Jobs" (Unemployed)
"Character Line" (Wrinkle)
"Categorical Inaccuracy" (Lie)
"Correctional Facility" (Prison)
Now, what I would like for you to do is that after reading some of the poems or quotes given at the below in different color, state at the end of the poem or quote, which Figurative Language goes with which correct poem or quote.
Betty Botter bought some butter,
but, she said, the butter’s bitter;
if I put it in my batter
it will make my batter bitter,
but a bit of better butter
will make my batter better.
So she bought a bit of butter
better than her bitter butter,
and she put it in her batter
and the batter was not bitter.
So ’twas better Betty Botter
bought a bit of better butter.
-Betty Botter, Mother Goose
"Life is a cherished possession, death is an inevitable loss.."
Think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
by: Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918).
Red rooster says, "Cockadoodle do doo"
DAFFODILS
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
- William Wordsworth
"As wise as an owl."
"Let me throw some light on this subject of philosophy."
The only monster here is the gambling monster that has enslaved your mother! I call him Gamblor, and it's time to snatch your mother from his neon claws! - Homer Simpson, "The Simpsons"
"As tall as a giraffe."
"All the world's a stage and men and women merely players. "
Only the champion daisy trees were serene. After all, they were part of a rain forest already two thousand years old and scheduled for eternity, so they ignored the men and continued to rock the diamondbacks that slept in their arms. It took the river to persuade them that indeed the world was altered. - Toni Morrison, "Tar Baby"
The road isn't built that can make it breathe hard! - slogan for Chevrolet automobiles
SUMMER NIGHT
Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white;
Nor waves the cypress in the palace walk;
Nor winks the gold fin in the porphyry font:
The firefly wakens: waken thou with me.
Now droops the milk-white peacock like a ghost,
And like a ghost she glimmers on to me.
Now lies the Earth all Danaë to the stars,
And all thy heart lies open unto me.
Now slides the silent meteor on, and leaves
A shining furrow, as thy thoughts in me.
Now folds the lily all her sweetness up,
And slips into the bosom of the lake
So fold thyself, my dearest, thou, and slip
Into my bosom and be lost in me.
- Alfred Tennyson
"It was extremely hot during the day. We were almost roasted!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"As thick as a brick."
Don't delay dawns disarming display .
Dusk demands daylight .
Dewdrops dwell delicately
drawing dazzling delight .
Dewdrops dilute daisies domain.
Distinguished debutantes. Diamonds defray delivered
daylights distilled daisy dance .
- Dewdrops Dancing Down Daisies by Paul Mc Cann
"Devil's Advocate"
A MAGIC MOMENT I REMEMBER
A magic moment I remember:
I raised my eyes and you were there,
A fleeting vision, the quintessence
Of all that's beautiful and rare.
I pray to mute despair and anguish,
To vain pursuits the world esteems,
Long did I near your soothing accents,
Long did your features haunt my dreams.
Time passed. A rebel storm-blast scattered
The reveries that once were mine
And I forgot your soothing accents,
Your features gracefully divine.
In dark days of enforced retirement
I gazed upon grey skies above
With no ideals to inspire me,
No one to cry for, live for, love.
Then came a moment of renaissance,
I looked up - you again are there,
A fleeting vision, the quintessence
Of all that`s beautiful and rare.
- Alexander Pushkin
"She is as big as an elephant!"
"Crunch"
"Cry Wolf"
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
"I will die if she asks me to dance."
"Tall, dark, and handsome"
"Clap"
"Inventory Leakage"
"A leopard can't change his spots."
If thou dost slander her and torture me,
Never pray more; abandon all remorse;
On horror’s head accumulate;
Do deeds to make heaven weep, all earth amazed;
For nothing canst thou to damnation add
Greater than that. ~ Shakespeare (Othello)
"Revenue Enhancement"
"Break a leg."
"Deader than a doornail"
"Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"
A certain young fellow named Beebee
Wished to marry a lady named Phoebe
"But," he said. "I must see
What the minister’s fee be
Before Phoebe be Phoebe Beebee"
"Flat as a pancake"
"Surreptitious Entry"
