Figurative Language (Notes from 5/6)

5/6

Figurative Language

Objective: To understand what figurative language is and how it is used in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Literal Language: You mean exactly what you say.

Ex. Right now, you are learning about figurative language.

Figurative Language: What you say is NOT what you actually mean.

Ex. Learning about figurative language is awesome sauce!

Figurative Language that Compares:

Simile: Comparing using “like” are “as.”

Ex. He was as fast as a speeding bullet.

Metaphor: Causes one thing to become another.

Ex. He was a speeding bullet, racing to the scene of the crime.

Personification: Giving human characteristics to nonhuman objects or animals.

Ex. The guitar sang a beautiful melody.

Hyperbole: An extreme exaggeration.

Ex. He hadn’t slept in months (when really, he hadn’t slept well in months).

Symbolism: An object represents another object or idea.

Ex. A heart symbolizes love, cash symbolizes greed, a light bulb symbolizes a good idea.

Figurative Language that Restates:

Idiom: An expression that cannot be understood by the meaning of its words.

Ex. It’s raining cats and dogs, a blessing in disguise, bending over backwards, a dime a dozen, a piece of cake.

Irony: The opposite of what is expected.

Verbal Irony: A character says one thing, but means the opposite (sarcasm).

Ex. Awesome! More homework!

Dramatic Irony: When the reader understands more about the events of the story than the character.

Ex. Amanda teaches Jake how to get girls to like him, but secretly likes him herself.

Situational Irony: When what actually happens is the opposite of what is expected.

Ex. The survivors of a shipwreck are on a lifeboat when a rescue plane flies overhead. They shoot a flare to signal, but hit the plane.