Figures of Speech

1. Figures of Speech

2. Why do we need to study figures of speech? • Knowing figures of speech helps you better understand a poem or story. In other words, it helps you read between the lines.

3. Hyperbole • An obvious exaggeration intended to amuse or used for emphasis. • For example: • I’ve been waiting for ages. • I ate a ton of chips for lunch

4. Alliteration • The repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words. • For example: • She sells seashells by the seashore . • I am the living legacy to the leader of the band

5. Metaphor • A comparison between two things by saying one thing is another. It does NOT use the words “like” or “as” • For example: • He was a lion in battle. • Her coal-black hair

6. Simile • A comparison between two unlike things using key words such as “like”, “as”, “similar to”, or “than”. • For example: • He is smart as a whip. • She is as cold as ice.

7. Personification • Giving nonhuman things or abstract ideas human qualities. • For example: • The leaves are dancing in the wind. • The rock gurgled.

8. Apostrophe • To address something/someone who is absent, dead or unable to answer • For example: • Little flower, why are you smiling?

9. Metonymy • One word is substituted for another with which it is closely associated. • For example: • "The B.L.T. left without paying.“ • (waitress referring to a customer) • The pen is mightier than the sword. • The word “pen” is used for the written word and “sword” is used for military power.

10. How am I going to remember all these terms? • HAMSPAM! • H – Hyperbole • A – Alliteration • M – Metaphor • S – Simile • P – Personification • A – Apostrophe • M - Metonymy

11. More figures of speech We’re not done yet

12. Oxymoron • Two directly opposite words placed together. • For example: • Pretty ugly • Bitter sweet

13. Onomatopoeia • Words are used to imitate sounds • For example: • Buzz • Hiss • Splat • Thump

14. Practice – Name the figure of speech in each of the following sentences • She was a picture sitting there in her pretty pink dress. • You stupid door, why don’t you just stay shut for a change? • The days of our lives are like the sands slipping through the hourglass. • She’s lost a ton of weight on that new Jenny Craig diet. • I was so hungry I ate the whole refrigerator. • The suits on Wall Street walked off with most of our savings.

15. Answers • She was a picture sitting there in her pretty pink dress. Metaphor, Alliteration • You stupid door, why don’t you just stay shut for a change? Apostrophe • The days of our lives are like the sands slipping through the hourglass. Simile • She’s lost a ton of weight on that new Jenny Craig diet. Hyperbole • I was so hungry I ate the whole refrigerator. Hyperbole • The suits on Wall Street walked off with most of our savings. Metonymy

16. More practice • Oh Shakespeare, I wish you could help me with this poetry. • The buzz saw snarled and snapped in the wind. • He is like a bull in a china shop. • The little dog laughed. • The honeybee buzzed. • I love jumbo shrimp.

17. Answers • Oh Shakespeare, I wish you could help me with this poetry. Apostrophe • The buzz saw snarled and snapped in the wind. Personification, Alliteration, Onomatopoeia • He is like a bull in a china shop. Simile • The little dog laughed. Personification. • The honeybee buzzed. Onomatopoeia • I love jumbo shrimp. Oxymoron

18. Your turn • Write nine sentences. Each sentence should contain one figure of speech.