Figurative Language

PRACTICE

“Five miles meandering with mazy motion” is an example of

which device?

Alliteration

“Hum, buzz, clang, boom, hiss,” and “crack” are examples of which

device?

Onomatopoeia

“However, then, next, therefore, in conclusion,” and “similarly” are

words that would probably be used as ____________

Transitions

A(n) ____________ is a short, informal reference to a famous

person or event. The best sources for _______ are literature, history,

Greek myth, and the Bible.

Allusion

“The mind is but a barren soil; a soil which is soon exhausted and will

produce no crop, or only one, unless it be continually fertilized

and enriched with foreign matter.” –Joshua Reynolds

This is an example of which device?

Metaphor

Obvious, extravagant exaggeration or overstatement, not intended to

be taken literally, but used figuratively to create humor or

emphasis.

Hyperbole

The making of “pictures in words,” the pictorial quality of a literary

work achieved through a collection of images.

Imagery

“Language that contains figures of speech, such as metaphor, simile,

personification, and hyperbole, expressions that make

comparisons or associations meant to be interpreted imaginatively

rather than literally.”What is this a definition for?

Figurative Language

Similar vowel sounds repeated in successive or proximate words containing different consonants.

Assonance(sheer, peel, steam)

“The ship began to creak and protest as it struggled against the

rising sea.”

This is an example of which device?

Personification

“There are a thousand reasons why more research is needed on solar

energy”

This is an example of which device?

Hyperbole

“Ping pong” “tip top” and “flim flam” are examples of which device?

Consonance

“After two hours of political platitudes, everyone grew bored. The delegates were bored; the guests were bored; the speaker

himself was bored. Even the chairs were bored.”

This is an example of which device?

Personification

A Greek word meaning “acutely silly,” ___________ names a figure

of speech that combines contradictions.

It is also a paradox reduced to two words.

Name the device

Oxymoron

“We bought this house instead of the one on Maple because this one

is more friendly”

This sentence contains the device _______________

Personification

“The 1906 San Francisco earthquake interrupted business somewhat in the downtown area”

Considering the fact that the 1906 earthquake was actually extremely

destructive, this sentence is an example of which device?

Understatement

“After such long exposure to the direct sun, the leaves of the

houseplant looked like pieces of overcooked bacon.”

This is an example of which device?

Simile

_________ compares two things, which are alike in several respects, for the purpose of explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea or

object is similar to some familiar one…_______ serves the more practical end

of explaining a thought process or a line of reasoning or the abstract in

terms of the concrete, and may therefore be more extended.

Analogy

“If you like plop, plop, plop of a faucet at three in the morning, you

will like this record”

This is an example of which device?

Onomatopoeia

Money is like muck, not good except it be spread.”

–Francis Bacon

This is an example of which device?

Simile

“If you take his parking place, you can expect World War II all over

again.”

This is an example of which device?

Allusion

“The truth is the only thing that no one will believe”

-George Bernard Shaw

This statement is an example of which device?

Paradox

“Thunderous silence” and “jumbo shrimp” are examples of which

device?

Oxymoron

“Mary changed her mind as often as she inhaled” is an example of

which writer’s device(s)?

Hyperbole and simile

Which device is “a figure of speech in which the intended meaning of a word it stated is the opposite of its

literal meaning”

Irony

“Plan ahead: it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.” –Richard Cushing

Which device is this an example of?

Allusion

“Scandalously nice” “wise fool” and “freezing fire” are examples of

which writer’s device?

Oxymoron

Deliberately expressing an idea as less important than it actually is.

This is called _____________

Understatement

“When it comes to midterms, it’s kill or be killed. Let’s go in and slay this test. Let’s take the beast head on, let’s shred it with our pencils and

claim victory.”

This is an example of which device?

Extended metaphor

“The moon pools on the tombs” is an example of _________

Assonance

“I can’t get this fuel pump back on because this bolt is being

uncooperative.”

Name the device being used.

Personification

“The cost-saving plan became an expensive economy.”

Name the device

Oxymoron

“I said ‘rare’ not ‘raw.’ I’ve seen cows hurt worse than this get up

and get well.”

Name the device.

Hyperbole

“The soul in the body is like a bird in a cage”

Name the device

Simile

“Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about”

–Oscar Wilde

Name the device

Paradox

Examples and definitions from http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric.htm

or NTC’s Dictionary of Literary Terms by

Kathleen Morner & Ralph Rausch, 1991or

www.writersdigest.com