Figurative Language _____

Literal language is true to fact. It uses words in accordance with their actual (literal) meanings.
Example: My dog is a carnivore

Figurative language makes comparisons between unrelated things or ideas, in order to show meaning about a
subject.
Example: In the kitchen, when I cook, my dog is a tap dancer.
Adapted from Nancie Atwell, Lessons that Change Writers, 2002

Types of Figurative Language

Alliteration the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close together
(lay down the law)

Hyperbole extreme exaggeration made for effect

(I cried a million tears.)

Idiom an expression that means something different than its literal meaning
(It’s raining cats and dogs.)

Imagery the use of vivid language/description to create pictures in the reader’s mind
(“The clouds changed from gray to pink, and the mist was touched with gold.”)

Metaphor a comparison between two unlike things in which one becomes the other; usually uses a
“to be” verb
(“His eyes were blue, blazing ice, cold with a hatred of the whole world.”)

Personification ascribing human feelings, thoughts or attitudes to non-living, inanimate objects

(“His dancing gray eyes…”)

Onomatopoeia words that imitate the sounds they represent

(“I tried to swallow a groan and wished wildly for my brother.”)

Simile a comparison between two unlike things using “like” or “as”

(“He flexed his muscles so that they bulged like baseballs.”)