Literal vs.

Figurative language

LITERAL LANGUAGE: A concrete representation of a sense impression, feeling or idea which appeals to

one or more of our senses. Standard meaning of the word, how it’s defined in the

dictionary.(= IMAGERY)

TACTIL (sense of touch)

AURAL (sense of learning)

OLFATORY (sense of smell)

VISUAL (sense of sight)

GUSTATORY (sense of taste)

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: Words are used in a different way to achieve a dramatic or amusing effect.

SIMILE:(Like. One thing is like another)

formal comparison (“as”, “as if”, “like”, “seems”, “appears”)

“Husbands should love their wives as their own bodies”

“Her hair is like silk”

“His heart is like ice”

“Car salesmen are like sharks”

“Juliet is like the sun”

“As smooth as silk”

“As fast as the wind”

“As brave as a lion”

“As cunning as a fox”

METAPHOR: (A carrying over)

Implied comparison. One thing is sth. that in fact it is not. They state that sth. is sth. else to suggest a

resemblance.

“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf”

“Her hair is silk”

“His heart is ice”

“Car salesmen are sharks”

“Juliet is the sun”

“My love is a red, red rose”

“You are the salt of the earth”

“You are the light of the world”

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 Literal vs. Figurative language
IRONY: (A dissembling (hypocrite, misleading) speaker)

The speaker or writer says the very opposite of what he intends to convey. discrepancy between what

is said and what is meant.

Three kinds of irony:

1. verbal irony is when an author says one thing and means something else.

2. dramatic irony is when an audience perceives something that a character in the literature does not

know.

3. irony of situation is a discrepancy between the expected result and actual results.

"A fine thing indeed!" he muttered to himself.

METONYMY: (A change of name)

One word is in place of another to portray some actual relationship between the things signified.

Speaking to the Pharisees concerning Herod, Christ says: “ Go and tell that fox”

"the throne" to refer to the monarchy)

“Bowing to the sceptered isle”. (Great Britain) (scepter = cetro)

HYPERBOLE: (A throwing beyond)

Intentional exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis. Magnifying beyond reality. It is often confused

with a simile.

“I nearly died laughing”

“I tried a thousand times”

I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.

He's as big as a house.
PERSONIFICATION: (To make like a person)

Giving something a human quality

“The sea looked…”

“ The sun smiled down on me”

APOSTROPHE: (To turn from)

As if the speaker were talking to himself in a sort of externalized soliloquy

“Ah, sword of the Lord! How long till you are quiet?”

“Oh, my son Absalom!”

SYNECDOCHE (To receive from and associate with)

Where the whole is put for part, or a part for the whole, an individual for a class or vice-versa

“And we were in all 276 souls” (Soul= the whole person)

“This is his hour” (not sixty minutes long but his time for sth.)

“Lend me your ears” (give me your attention).

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