Figurative Language

Figurative Language
 Figurative language is language used in
writing to make it more expressive. It is
not meant to be taken literally!

 Some different types of figurative

language are: simile, metaphor,
personification, and hyperbole.
 Simile
 Simile is a comparison between two unlike
objects using the words like or as.

 Ex. Her smile is as bright as the sun.

 The Rhythm of Life
by Edwin McCain
The rhythm of life
Heaven withstanding and smiling
we're all swept away
The rhythm of life
Is not so demanding as some
caught in narrows would say
Fragile as ships as we pass through
Gibraltar
The sirens have long given way
Dark as the murky graveyard of
sailors
Whispering secrets told in the
crashing waves
The beating of hearts
Set walls to trembling
The power of silence persuades
The stumbling feet
They stagger predestined
We all end up wild eyed and
crazed
And from that madness
Most jaded of vision
Reflections of horror invade
Running and falling
Relinquish your venom
The antidote surely will cause your
affliction to fade
How little we know of what we are
blessed with
Our shimmering island it turns
How little we look at what we see
clearly
Of tragedy's lessons not learned
Sleeping through classes
We'll make it up later
There's still so much time left to go
Misguided roses
We bloom in October
Emerging triumphant in time for the
season's first snow
 Metaphor
 Metaphor is a comparison between two
unlike objects saying that one thing is the
other.

 Ex. Her hair is silk.

 I Am An Illusion
by Rob Thomas
Take this confusion
Runnin’ round my head
Take back my unkind words
Lay that weight on me instead
I’m the place where everything turns sour
Where you gonna run to now
Wrong step
We got off track
We need someone to help us get back
now
Worn thin
Awful state I was in
I believe I was losing me, now I’m found
I am found
I’m not real anymore
I am an illusion
I’m not real anymore
I am an illusion
I am the damage
I am the relief
Sometimes I’m people
I never hoped that I would be
If I take in whatever they turn out
What’s that gonna make me now
Don’t you understand
I’m not real anymore
I am an illusion
I’m not real anymore
I am an illusion
Wrong step
We got off track
We need someone to help us get back
now
Worn thin
Awful state I was in
I believe they were fooling me
Now I’m down. Well, I am down
I’m not real anymore
I am an illusion
I’m not real anymore
I am an illusion
I’m not real anymore
I am an illusion
I’m not real anymore
I am an illusion
 Personification
 Personification is giving human qualities,
feelings, action, or characteristics to
inanimate (non-living) objects.

 Ex. The wind sang as it blew through the

trees.
 Bold As Love
by Jimi Hendrix
Anger he smiles towering in shiny
metallic purple armor.
Queen jealousy, envy waits behind him.
Her fiery green gown sneers at the
grassy ground.
Blue are the life giving waters taking for
granted,
they quietly understand.
Once happy turquoise armies lay opposite
ready,
but wonder why the fight is on.

But they're all, bold as love.

They're all bold as love.
They're all bold as love.
Just ask the Axis.
My red is so confident he flashes
trophies of war
and ribbons of euphoria.
Orange is young, full of daring but
very unsteady for the first go
'round.
My yellow in this case is not so
mellow.
In fact I'm trying to say it's frightened
like me.
And all of these emotions of mine
keep holding me
from giving my life to a rainbow like
you.
Well, I'm bold as love.
I’m bold as love.
Hear me talkin', girl.
I'm bold as love.
Just ask the Axis.
He knows everything.
 Onomatopoeia
 Onomatopoeia is the imitation of natural
sounds in word form. They are words that
sound like their meaning.

 Ex. Hiss! Buzz! Zip!

 Onomatopoeia
by Todd Rundgren
Onomatopoeia every time I see ya
My senses tell me hubba
And I just cant disagree
I get a feeling in my heart that I
can’t describe
It’s sort of lub, dub, lub, dub
A sound in my head that I can’t
describe
It’s sort of zoom, zip, hiccup, drip
Ding, dong, crunch, crack, bark,
meow, whinnie, quack
Onomatopoeia in proximity ya
Rearrange my brain in a strange
cacophony
I get a feeling somewhere that I
can’t describe
It’s sort of uh, uh, uh, uh
A sound in my head that I can’t
describe
It’s sort of whack, whir, wheeze,
whine
Sputter, splat, squirt, scrape
Clink, clank, clunk, clatter
Crash, bang, beep, buzz
Ring, rip, roar, retch
Twang, toot, tinkle, thud
Pop, plop, plunk, pow
Snort, snuk, sniff, smack
Screech, splash, squish, squeek
Jingle, rattle, squeel, boing
Honk, hoot, hack, belch
 Repetition
 Repetition is the repeated use of a
sound, syllable, word, phrase, line or
stanza. Repetition helps govern the
rhythm of a poem
 Ex. Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream
 Dreaming with a Broken Heart
by John Mayer
When you’re dreaming with a
broken heart
The waking up is the hardest part
You roll out of bed and down on
your knees
And for a moment you can hardly
breathe, wondering
Was she really here?
Is she standing in my room?
No, she’s not
‘Cause she’s gone, gone, gone,
gone, gone
When you’re dreaming with a
broken heart
The giving up is the hardest part
She takes you in with her crying
eyes
Then all at once, you have to say
goodbye, wondering
Could you stay, my love?
And will you wake up by my side?
No, she can’t
‘Cause she’s gone, gone, gone,
gone, gone
Now do I have to fall asleep with roses
in my hand?
Do I have to fall asleep with roses in
my hand?
Do I have to fall asleep with roses in
my hand?
Do I have to fall asleep with roses in
my hand?
And would you get them if I did?
No, you won’t
‘Cause you’re gone, gone, gone,
gone, gone
When you’re dreaming with a
broken heart
The waking up is the hardest part
 Alliteration
 Alliteration is the repetition of the initial
consonant.

 Ex. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled

peppers.
 Hyperbole
 Hyperbole is extreme exaggeration.

 Ex. I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.

Who Says You Can’t Go Home
by Bon Jovi
I spent 20 years trying to get out of
this place
I was looking for something I
couldn’t replace
I was running away from the only
thing I’ve ever known
Like a blind dog without a bone
I was a gypsy lost in the twilight
zone
I hijacked a rainbow and crashed
into a pot of gold
I been there, done that, and I ain’t
lookin’ back on the seeds I’ve
sown
Saving dimes, spending too much
time on the telephone
Who says you can’t go home?
Who says you can’t go home
There’s only one place they call me
one of their own
Just a hometown boy, born a rolling
stone
Who says you can’t go home?
Who says you can’t go back?
I’ve been all around the world as a
matter of fact
There’s only one place left I want to
roam
Who says you can’t go home?
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
I went as far as I could, I tried to
find a new face
There isn’t one of these lines that I
would erase
I lived a million miles of memories
on that road
With every step that I take I know
that I’m not alone
You take the home from the boy,
but not the the boy from his home
These are my streets, the only life
I’ve ever known
Who says you can’t go home?
Who says you can’t go home?
There’s only one place they call me
one of their own
Just a hometown boy, born a rolling
stone
Who says you can’t go home?
Who says you can’t go back?
I been all around the world as a
matter of fact
There’s only one place left I want to
roam
Who says you can’t go home?
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
Who says you can’t go home?
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
Who says you can’t go home?
I been there, done that, and I ain’t
looking back
It’s been a long, long road
Feels like I never left
That’s how the story goes
It doesn’t matter where you are
It doesn’t matter where you go
If it’s a million miles away
Or just a mile up the road
Take it in, take it with you when you go
Who says you can’t go home?
Who says you can’t go home?
There’s only one place they call me
one of their own
Just a hometown boy, born a rolling
stone
Who says you can’t go home?
Who says you can’t go back?
I been all around the world as a
matter of fact
There’s only one place left I want to
roam
Who says you can’t go home?
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
Who says you can’t go home?
 Imagery
 Imagery is the use of vivid description,
usually rich in sensory words, to create
pictures, or images, in the reader's mind.

 Ex. The warm breeze blew across her

skin.
 You’re Missing
by Bruce Springsteen
Shirts in the closet, shoes in
the hall
Mama's in the kitchen, baby
and all
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
But you’re missing
Coffee cups on the counter, jackets
on the chair
Papers on the doorstep, but you’re
not there
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
But you’re missing
Pictures on the nightstand, TV’s on
in the den
Your house is waiting, your house
is waiting
For you to walk in, for you to walk
in
But you’re missing, You’re missing
You’re missing when I shut out the
lights
You’re missing when I close my
eyes
You’re missing when I see the sun
rise
You’re missing
Children are asking if it’s alright
Will you be in our arms tonight?
Morning is morning, the evening
falls, I got
Too much room in my bed, too
many phone calls
How’s everything, everything?
Everything ain’t everything
You’re missing, you’re missing
God’s drifting in heaven, devil’s in
the mailbox
I got dust on my shoes, nothing but
teardrops