1. Elements of Poetry
Figurative Language

2. Examples of Figurative Language
Alliteration
Assonance
Consonance
Epanaphora
Hyperbole
Imagery
Onomatopoeia
Oxymoron
Personification
Simile
Synecdoche

3. Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in words.
Example: She sells sea shells by the seashore.

4. Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds followed by similar consonant sounds.
Example: “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary…”
- “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe

5. Consonance
Consonance is the repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds.
Example: tick tock or sing song.

6. Epanaphora Epanaphora is repetition for emphasis.
Example: “I have a dream…”
- Martin Luther King Jr.

7. Hyperbole Hyperbole is an exaggeration or overstatement for effect.
Example: I had so much homework, I needed a pickup truck to carry all my books home.

8. Imagery
Imagery is the descriptive language used in literature to create word pictures for the reader.
Note: These images are created by details of sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, or movement.

9. Onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the use of words that imitate sounds.
Examples: whirr, thud, sizzle, hiss, bang, boom.

10. Oxymoron
Oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms.
Examples: Sweet Sorrow, Deafening Silence, and Jumbo Shrimp

11. Personification
Personification is a type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics.
Example: The leaves danced in the wind.

12. Simile
Simile is a figure of speech in which like or as is used to make a comparison between two unlike ideas.
Example: It’s as easy as pie. He is as happy as a clam.

13. Synecdoche
Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole.
Example: Will you please lend a hand?