Figurative Language~

Question 1

Allusion

Answer 1

Definition:
figure of explication using a brief or casual reference to a famous person, group, historical event, place, or work of art
Example #1: Chocolate is his kryptonite.
Example #2: She felt like she had a golden ticket.

Question 2

Simile

Answer 2

Definition: 
figure of explication in which two things that share at least one attribute are explicitly associated with each other
Example #1: 
She is as smart as a whip.
Example #2: 
The child eats like a bird.

Question 3

Metaphor

Answer 3

Definition: 
a figure of speech that directly compares one thing to another for rhetorical effect
Example #1: 
He’s buried in a sea of paperwork.
Example #2: 
Time is money.

Question 4

Personifications

Answer 4

Definition: 
figure which represents abstractions or inanimate objects with human qualities, including physical, emotional, and spiritual; the application of human attributes or abilities to nonhuman entities
Example #1: 
The stars winked in the night sky.
Example #2: 
Lightning danced across the sky.

Question 5

Personifications

Answer 5

Definition: 
figure which represents abstractions or inanimate objects with human qualities, including physical, emotional, and spiritual; the application of human attributes or abilities to nonhuman entities
Example #1: 
The stars winked in the night sky.
Example #2: 
Lightning danced across the sky.

Question 6

Hyperbole

Answer 6

Definition:
a technique where an author or speaker intentionally uses exaggeration and overstatement for emphasis and effect
Example #1:
I’ve asked you not to do that a thousand times.
Example #2:
I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.

Question 7

Understatement

Answer 7

Definition:
a transitive verb used by writers or speakers in order to intentionally make a situation seem less important or smaller than it is
Example #1:
Describing a huge storm overnight, a comedic understatement would be: “Looks like it rained a bit last night”.
Example #2:
When describing an intense flooding situation: “It rained a bit more than usual”.

Question 8

Paradox

Answer 8

Definition:
a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth
Example #1:
For example, the statement “I am not lying” is a paradox because it means one cannot be telling the truth while saying they are not lying.
Example #2:
If you don’t risk anything, you risk everything.

Question 9

Dramatic Irony

Answer 9

Definition:
a literary device by which the audience’s or reader’s understanding of events or individuals in a work surpasses that of its characters
Example #1:
A woman thinks her boyfriend is acting strangely because he’s about to propose, but the audience knows that he is planning to run away with another woman, intensifying emotions.
Example #2:
In a scary movie, the character goes into a house they think is empty, but the audience knows the killer is in the house.

Question 10

Verbal Irony

Answer 10

Definition:
a statement in which the speaker’s words are incongruous with the speaker’s intent
Example #1:
sarcasm (saying “Oh, fantastic!” when the situation is actually very bad)
Example #2:
understatement (saying “We don’t get along” after having a huge fight with someone)

Question 11

Analogy

Answer 11

Definition:
a form of comparison, but unlike simile or metaphor, which usually concentrates on one point of resemblance, analogy draws a parallel between two unlike things that have several common qualities of points of resemblance
Example #1:
“She’s as blind as a bat.”
Example #2:
“Finding that lost dog will be like finding a needle in a haystack.”

Question 12

Anecdote

Answer 12

Definition:
a story, spoken, written, acted out, or produced through a combination of these communications
Example #1:
A group of coworkers are discussing pets, and one coworker tells a story about how her cat comes downstairs at only a certain time of the night, then that one coworker has just told an anecdote.
Example #2:
You know, when I was a kid, my dog was my best friend. My childhood was better because of him. The mother contemplates his story—a.k.a. his anecdote—and then agrees that they should get a dog.

Question 13

Allegory

Answer 13

Definition:
the rhetorical strategy of extending a metaphor through an entire narrative
Example #1:
A rhetorical device and a way to build a successful argument.
Example #2:
The Lord of the Rings is seen as a fight between good and evil during the two world wars.