Figurative Language

Figurative Language• Personification-a non human subject is given

human characteristics.Ex. “Because I could not stop for death/He kindly stopped for me”-Dickinson

 Simile-a comparison between two unlike things using like or as.A new day is like a new sheet of paper. Metaphor-a direct comparison between two unlike things.Life is a beach, I’m just playing in the sand.-Lil Wayne Extended metaphor-the metaphor develops beyond one single sentence or phrase. An entire story or poem can be an extended metaphor. (For example, in Usher Raymond’s song, Moving Mountains, his journey to climb a mountain is a metaphor for the struggles in his relationship). 

Figurative Language• Conceit-usually is used in love poem, when

opposite words describe conflicting emotion. A love hate relationship results in a man describing his love for a woman as bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, etc.

•  • Metonymy-is a term substituted for another

term with which it is closely associated.– Crown stands for monarch.

• Synecdoche-part of an object standing for the whole thing.– Hungry mouths to feed or all hands on

deck (hand signifies the whole sailor). •  

• Hyperbole-exaggeration for serious or comic effect.– And I will love thee still, my Dear, Till all

the seas go dry-R. Burns

• Oxymoron-a combination of two opposing or contradictory ideas. – Same difference, jumbo shrimp, Biggie

smalls, pretty ugly, etc.• Paradox-a contradictory statement that

nonetheless may be true.– Everybody dies, but not everybody lives.

-Nicki Minaj