Figurative Language Flashcards
Metaphor
Definition: A comparison between two unlike things
Example: “drowning in debt” You may have a lot of debt but you are not literally drowning.
Hyperbole
Definition: Extreme exaggeration in poetry.
Example: my sister uses so much makeup, she has to use a chisel to get it off!!
Example: in a house the size the size of a postage stamp, lived a man, as big as a barge….
Personification
Definition: When a human qualities are given to animals or non human inanimate objects.
Example: “the birds were singing in the trees” or “the washing machine purred”
Birds can’t literally sing and a washing machine can’t purr! Duh!!
Mood
Definition: The reader’s attitude and feelings for the poem.
Example: I felt excited when I read Harry Potter
Alliteration
Definition: repetition of the same sound at the beginning of the words.
Example: “Shelley sells seashells by the seashore” or “Acquainted with the night” by Robert Frost:
“I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet when far away an interrupted cry came over houses from another street.”
Simile
Definition: a comparison between two things that uses the words “like or as”
Example: “her smile is as bright as the sun.” “ the night sky glittered like diamonds.”
Tone
Definition: The author’s feelings about their writing, the poet’s attitude about their work.
Example: JK Rowling wants me to feel excited when I read Harry Potter
Idiom
Definition: A phrase or expression in which the meaning is different than it’s literal meaning
Example: “kick the bucket”, “it’s raining cats and dogs”, or “icing on the cake”
Rhyme
Definition: When words with the same ending sounds are repeated
Example: Seven/eleven/heaven (the “en” sound is repeated)
Onomatopoeia
Definition: Words that imitate sounds
Example: “wham, bam, slam, thank you ma’am”
Repetition
When words are repeated throughout poetry (look at the example below) Break em’ down Break em’ down Break em’ down The walls between us, break em’ down
Denotation
Definition: The dictionary definition of a word (it’s literal meaning), connotation is the implied or underlying meaning of a word
Example: Denotation of swag- a curved draping of cloth between two points, like curtains on a window
Connotation
Definition: The feelings/emotions associated with a word (NOT what the word literally means)
Example: Connotation of swag- style, personal appearance and confidence
Assonance
Definition: Repeated vowel sounds within a word
Example: “the fleet feet sweep by the greedy geese”
Speaker
Definition: The voice of the poem, NOT the author
Could be the character in the poem, does not always have a name
