Figurative Language Terms and Definitions

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 2 Figurative Language word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of another and is not meant to be understood on a literal level

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 3 Alliteration the close repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 4 EX: Open here I flung the shutter, when with many a flirt and flutter,/In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore. –Edgar Allan Poe, from “The Raven”

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 5 Extended Metaphor a metaphor that is extended or developed over several lines of writing or even throughout an entire poem

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 6 Emily Dickinson's Extended Metaphor: Hope as a "Little Bird" "Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune--without the words, And never stops at all,

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 7 Hyperbole a figure of speech that uses deliberate exaggeration to emphasize a point frequently used for humor

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 8 They ran like greased lightning. Her brain is the size of a pea. He is older than the hills.

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 9 Metaphor a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, in which one thing becomes another thing without the use of the word like, as, than, or resembles

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 10 Steam Shovel by Charles Malam The dinosaurs are not all dead. I saw one raise it's iron head To watch me walking down the road Beyond our house today. It's jaws were dripping with a load Of earth and grass that it had cropped. It must have heard me where I stopped, Snorted white steam my way, And stretched its long neck out to see me, And chewed, and grinned quite amiably.

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 11 Onomatopoeia the use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning EX: buzz hiss crackle

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 12 Cafeteria Boom! Went the food trays. Clap! Clap! Goes the teacher. Rip! Went the plastic bag. Munch! Munch! Go the students. Slurp!!! Went the straws. Whisper Is what half the kids in the room are doing. Crunch! Crunch! go the candy bars. By: Rachael

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 13 Personification Giving human characteristics to non-human things

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 14 The Cat & The Fiddle Hey diddle, Diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laughed To see such sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon. By Mother GooseMother Goose

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 15 Simile a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things using a word such as like, as, resembles, or than

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 16 He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot. A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back, And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack. His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow. The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face and a little round belly, That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 17