AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION Introduction to Figurative Language and Imagery

Figurative Language Can often help the audience relate to the author and what he/she is saying Makes color more vivid, action more intense, and words more alive Words that might be considered diction can be part of figurative language

What’s the difference? Basic: Robbie reached for the basketball. Detail: Hoping to win, Robbie reached for the ball, successfully took possession, pulled it to his chest, looked at the basket, then aimed, threw, and watched it make the winning point. Diction: Desperate to win, Robbie lunged for the ball. Figurative Language: Thinking like a winner, Robbie’s controlled frenzy enabled him to reach for the ball, jump graceful as a gazelle as he threw it toward the basket, and—unfortunately—heard it smack against the back board and rebound into the arms of an opponent.

Examples “…the more of the human voice you suppress, the greater and louder and the profounder will be the human voice. At present it is a mere rumbling, but that rumbling is increasing in volume, it is growing in depth, it is spreading all over the country…”- Emma Goldman “I saw grief drinking a cup of sorrow and called out, ‘It tastes sweet, does it not?’ ‘You’ve caught me,’ grief answered, ‘and you’ve ruined my business, how can I sell sorrow when you know it’s a blessing?’” -Rumi

More Examples “Hating people is like burning down your own house to get rid of a rat.” –Fosdick “Books are among the best of things, well used; abused, among the worst.” – Emerson “Last week I saw a woman flayed, and you would hardly believe how much it altered her appearance for the worst.” –Swift “When Scarlett O’Hara walked through Atlanta’s hospital tents, she saw living death on the faces of the men.” -Mitchell

Allusions Reference to history, literature, mythology Many allusions refer to Shakespeare (ahhh…) and the Bible Clarify meaning and/or add depth and/or emphasize a point

Examples--Biblical Events—  “Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss.” –Patrick Henry speaking of England’s “concern” Characters—  Job  Solomon  Cain Parable—  talents

Examples—Literary Shakespearean—  “Out, Out, brief candle”—Out, Out by Robert Frost  “To Be, or Not to Be”—Hamlet  “All the World’s a Stage”—As you Like It Mythological—  “…it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of the siren, till she transforms us into beast.” -Henry

Examples—Historical “And within a few weeks, Saddam—and yes, he is a venal, cruel, wicked, evil man—was being transformed into the Hitler of Iraq, just as the Israelis had called Yasser Arafat the Hitler of Beirut in 1982….” –The Independent, 1998

Imagery Appeals to one or more of the senses: taste, touch, sight, smell, and sound To call up with words an experience which you remember or with which you can identify Has connotation Can occur in combination with other figurative language: figurative language can be used to create imagery

What’s the Difference? Basic: Robbie reached for the basketball. Detail: Hoping to win, Robbie reached for the ball, successfully took possession, pulled it to his chest, looked at the basket, then aimed, threw, and watched it make the winning point. Diction: Desperate to win, Robbie lunged for the ball. Figurative Language: Thinking like a winner, Robbie’s controlled frenzy enabled him to reach for the ball, jump graceful as a gazelle as he threw it toward the basket, and—unfortunately— heard it smack against the back board and rebound into the arms of an opponent. Imagery: Robbie felt the round, nubby ball as his hands curled around the worn leather, hugged it protectively to his chest, then lobbed it toward the basket.

Example “But even that didn’t stop me from clawing a chunk from the pie tin and pushing it into the cavern of my mouth. The slop was sweet and gold-colored in the afternoon. I laid more pieces on my tongue, wet finger dripping pieces, until I was finished…. I wiped my sticky fingers on the grass and rolled my tongue over the corners of my mouth. A burp perfumed the air.” –Gary Soto

Example “The horror of this strait and dark prison is increased by its awful stench. All the filth of the world, all the offal and scum of the world, we are told shall run there as to a vast reeking sewer…. The brimstone…fills all hell with its intolerable stench….. Imagine some foul and putrid corpse that has lain rotting and decomposing in the grave, a jellylike mass of liquid corruption.” -Joyce

On to Sinners’ discussion Rhetorical Triangle – Who is the audience, who is Jonathan Edwards, what is the purpose of the sermon? Role of logos? Ethos? Pathos? How does Edwards use parallel structure? What does the structure do to the purpose? How and why does Edwards use repetition? How and why are the images used? Which is most effective? Why? Purpose of other devices?