Figurative Language and Poetic Devices

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Figurative Language and Poetic Devices
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Figurative Language

• Figurative language communicates ideas beyond the
  literal meaning of words.
• LITERAL She left the room quickly.
• FIGURATIVE She left the room like a cheetah
  chasing its prey.
• Writers use these tools to communicate
  descriptions and abstract ideas to the reader in
  a way thats creative and, sometimes, even more
  truthful than literal language.

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Figurative Language

• Figurative language communicates ideas beyond the
  literal meaning of words.
• FIGURATIVE
• After our fight at the mall, every time I saw my
  best friend I was walking on egg shells.
• WHAT IS THE LITERAL MEANING OF THIS SENTENCE?

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Figurative Language

• However, whats tricky for readers is that we
  must often decode the figurative language into
  literal language to understand the writers
  meaning.
• In English III, beyond just identifying thats a
  metaphor or thats personification, we want to
  think about the writers purpose
• WHY did the writer use that particular figurative
  language or device?
• WHAT IDEA is he or she trying to express?

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1. SIMILE

• used to compare two different things or ideas
  using like or as.
• His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and
  breaking alliances, like underpants in a dryer
  without Cling Free.

1. Whats being compared in this simile?
2. Whats the purpose? What idea is the writer
   expressing?

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2. METAPHOR

• used to compare two different things or ideas.
  Unlike a simile, a metaphor makes a comparison
  directly without using like or as.
• All the worlds a stage, and all the men and
  women merely players
• William Shakespeare

1. Whats being compared in this metaphor?
2. Whats the purpose? What idea is the writer
   expressing?

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The difference between similes and metaphors

• Simile Ryan is as hungry as a bear. OR Ryan is
  like a hungry bear.
• Metaphor Ryan is a real bear when he gets
  hungry.

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IMPLIED METAPHOR

• is a metaphor that is not as obvious because
  its not explicitly stated using the verb is
• My Kentucky-fried skin was red after too many
  hours in the sun.

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IMPLIED METAPHOR

• is a metaphor that is not as obvious because
  its not explicitly stated using the verb is
• Now is the time to lift our national policy
  from the quicksand of racial injustice to the
  solid rock of human dignity.
• MLK, Letter from a Birmingham Jail

1. Whats being compared in this metaphor?
2. Whats the purpose? What idea is the writer
   expressing?

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IMPLIED METAPHOR

• Often a VERB is used to make an implied
  metaphor.
• She drove cruel rumors about me all over the
  school, denting and smashing my reputation to
  pieces.

1. Whats being compared to what in this metaphor?
2. Whats the purpose? What idea is the writer
   expressing?

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WEAK similes or metaphors

• occur when we attempt to compare two things that
  are too similar or that belong to the same
  category.
• The dirty pond was like a polluted river.
• The old oak tree was the earth of our backyard.
• Her face was an oval of flesh.

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Dead or Clichéd Metaphors/Similes

• back against the wall
• the balls in your court
• as big as a house
• bite the bullet
• as busy as a bee
• cool as a cucumber
• to be on fire
• fit as a fiddle
• like a deer in the headlights

• go the extra mile
• heart of gold
• throw your hat in the ring
• turn over a new leaf
• light at the end of the tunnel
• to open a Pandoras box
• as pure as snow
• ships that pass in the night
• a thorn in my side

These figures of speech--and there are many
more--are fine to use in every day conversation,
but we want to avoid them in our writing because
theyve lost their force and imaginative
effectiveness because of frequent use.
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3. PERSONIFICATION

• A figure of speech in which inanimate objects or
  abstract concepts are given human qualities.

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• Death walked in the door and refused to leave.

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3. PERSONIFICATION
MIRROR by Sylvia Plath I am silver and exact. I
have no preconceptions. Whatever I see I swallow
immediately. Just as it is, unmisted by love or
dislike. I am not cruel, only truthful--

• Whats being given what human qualities?

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3. PERSONIFICATION
Common phrases not technically considered true
personification
the wind blows the birds sing the grass grows arm
of the chair legs of the table foot of the
bed hands of the clock shoulder of the road the
body of an essay
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4. HYPERBOLE

• Using exaggeration--something that could never
  actually happen--for emphasis or effect.
• I could sleep for a year.

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4. HYPERBOLE

• My English III textbook weighs a ton.

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4. HYPERBOLE

• when you have cursed the wind for its effect
  on a ball when youve had the pressure of an
  entire game on your footthen you will understand
  what its like to be a kicker. excerpt from
  Kevin M.s MLK periodic sentence

Where is the hyperbole in this passage? What
truth is the writer attempting to express?
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What idea is this guy in the waiting room
expressing by making this hyperbolic statement?
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5. allusion

• a reference to someone or something that is
  already known from history, literature, religion,
  politics, sports, or popular culture

We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful
truth, and listen to the song of that siren, till
she transforms us into beasts. Patrick Henrys
Speech to the Virginia Convention
Most often writers use allusions as a simile or
metaphor, such as the example above where Patrick
Henry is comparing the guile of the British to
Circe in The Odyssey.
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5. allusion

Mine's a tale that can't be told, my freedom I
hold dear. How years ago in days of old, when
magic filled the air. T'was in the darkest
depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair. But
Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped
away with her, her, her....yeah.
lyrics from Led Zeppelins Ramble On

1. What other work is being alluded to in this song?
2. Whats the purpose of this allusion? What does
   this choice show about the girl the speaker met
   and what happened in their relationship?

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6. ONOMATOPOEIA

• a word that imitates the sound it represents

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Poetic/Literary Devices
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1. ALLITERATION

• the repetition of consonant SOUNDS at the
  beginning of the strongest stressed syllable in a
  word--most of the time this means the beginning
  of a word.

Don't dream it. Drive it.
Jaguar advertising slogan
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1. ALLITERATION

• Its important to remember that alliteration is
  about the repetition of consonant SOUNDS, not
  letters.

Example The Physics of fish is fun!
Though Physics and fish start with different
letters, they alliterate because they begin with
the same sound.
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1. ALLITERATION

• Its important to remember that alliteration is
  about the repetition of consonant SOUNDS, not
  letters.

Not Alliteration Thin Tin or even Then thin
Though both words begin with the consonant t,
they dont begin with same SOUND.
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1. ALLITERATION

• To truly alliterate, the repeating sounds must be
  close together (back to back) OR if spread out,
  there must be multiple repetitions of the sound

Not Alliteration Please tell me just where youd
like to play.
Legit Alliteration Please tell Pam that its
time to play and practice.
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2. ASSONANCE

• the repetition of vowel sounds within words

I bomb atomically--Socrates' philosophies and
hypotheses can't define how I be droppin' these
mockeries.
from the Wu-Tang Clans "Triumph"
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2. ASSONANCE

• the repetition of vowel sounds within words

Who fuses the musicWith no illusionsProducing
the blue printsClueless?Automator - defy the
laws of natureElectronic monolith throw a jam
upon the discThe futuristic looper with the
quicknessHyper-producin' hydrogen fusion liquids
keep your distance
from Del The Funky Homosapiens Mastermind"
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2. ASSONANCE

• Like alliteration, this is about the repetition
  of a SOUND, not letters.

No assonance Treat the bread Nothing gold can
stay
Though these words contain the same vowels, the
SOUNDS are different.
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2. ASSONANCE

• Like alliteration, this is about the repetition
  of a SOUND, not letters.

Assonance Should sugar A queasy sweep
Though these words contain different vowels, the
SOUNDS are the same.
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3. Parallel Structure

• the repetition of a chosen grammatical form
  within a sentence or sentences.

NOT PARALLEL Ellen likes hiking, the rodeo, and
to take afternoon naps. Parallel Ellen likes
hiking, attending the rodeo, and taking afternoon
naps. Also Parallel Ellen likes to hike,
attend the rodeo, and take afternoon naps.
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3. Parallel Structure

• the repetition of a chosen grammatical form
  within a sentence or sentences.

In this poem, its not just the repetition of the
word we that give this parallel structure.
WE REAL COOL by Gwendolyn Brooks We real cool.
We Left school. We Lurk late. We (present
tense verb, adjective) Strike straight. We
(present tense verb, adjective) Sing sin. We
(present tense verb, noun) Thin gin. We
(present tense verb, noun) Jazz June. We Die
soon.