Figurative Language Figurative language is language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation. When a writer uses literal language, he or she is simply stating the facts as they are. Figurative language, in comparison, uses exaggerations or alterations to make a particular linguistic point. Figurative language is very common in poetry, but is also used in prose and nonfiction writing as well.

Simile A figure of speech that uses like or as to compare two unlike things. Example Her hair was like an endless cord of gold.

Metaphor A figure of speech in which something is described as though it was something else. Example He is such a pig when he eats!

Personification A type of figurative language in which a non- human subject is given human characteristics. Example Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they out-did the sparkling waves in glee.” The tree waved excitedly in the wind.

Hyperbole A figure of speech that uses extreme exaggeration. Example I was so embarrassed that I wished the ground would open up and swallow me. Example (“The Concord Hymn” by Ralph Waldo Emerson) Here once the embattled farmers stood And fired the shot heard round the world.

Alliteration Repetition of the initial consonant sounds. Example Sally sells seashells on the seashore. Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Onomatopoeia The use of words that imitate sound. Example The buzz of the bee was very loud. Crash! Boom! Swish!

Theme The central message or insight into life revealed through a literary work. It is a generalized idea about people or life. Example . After reading The Hunger Games, a reader could determine that a theme of the book was the inequality between the rich and the poor.