Figurative Language

Sensory Details Sensory details include sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. Writers employ the five senses to engage a reader's interest. If you want your writing to jump off the page, then bring your reader into the world you are creating. When writing stories or poems, you should use vivid language!

Symbolism Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. Generally speaking, what could the color red represent? What could a chain represent?

Extended Metaphor The term “extended metaphor” refers to a comparison between two unlike nouns that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph, or lines in a poem.  In As You Like It, Shakespeare develops an extended metaphor comparing life to a drama performed on stage: "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players. One man in his time plays may parts.“ In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare develops an extended metaphor comparing Juliet to the sun: "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief."

Irony Situational Irony: A state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result. Ex: There are roaches infesting the office of a pest control service. Dramatic Irony: a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character. Ex: The audience knows that a killer is hiding in the closet, but the girl in the horror movie does not. Verbal Irony: The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect (usually sarcastic). Ex: Looking at her son's messy room, Mom says, "Wow, you could win an award for cleanliness!"

Allusion An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference. Ex: I was surprised his nose did not grow after he told an obvious lie. Who does this allude to? Ex: Don’t be a Scrooge! What does this say about the person it’s describing?

Simile A comparison using “like” or “as.” Examples?