Figurative Language
Simile – a phrase comparing two unlike things using like or as and showing similarity between the two. The clouds looked like little sheep frolicking in the sky. I was as hungry as a bear that had been hibernating all winter.
Metaphor – a phrase comparing two unlike items stating one is the other. My baby sister is an angel when she is asleep, but a little devil when she is awake. The old oak tree was an umbrella shading the house.
Personification – a type of writing in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics. The angry tornado destroyed every house in its path. The deer sang merrily as it meandered through the meadow.
Hyperbole – an exaggeration or overstatement used for effect I’m so bored; the teacher has been talking forever! I have about a million reasons that I don’t like snakes. When I heard the punch line of the joke, I almost laughed myself to death.
Idiom - a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words and are understood by speakers of the language. (There are over 25,000 idioms in the English language.) Hit the sack Driving me up the wall The cat’s got your tongue. He broke her heart.
Imagery – words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses to help the reader understand the work more fully. The smell of tomatoes and garlic filled the kitchen as the timer beeped its message announcing that the pizza was done. I opened the oven to a delightful scene of bubbling melted cheeses covered with spicy red pepperoni circles and little caps of mushrooms. My mouth began to water in anticipation.
Sound Devices
Alliteration – the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words The snake slithered silently through the sewer. One mysterious, lonely light lit the night’s black sky.
Onomatopoeia – the use of words that imitate sounds like pop, moo, click… The little bird chirped and flew away. Bang, crash, splash! The vase of flowers fell from the table and the water flooded the floor.