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CREATIVE WRITING
[Humanities 1 ]
Quarter 1 Module 1: Lesson 1 – Imagery, Diction,
and Figures of Speech

Most Essential Learning Competency: Use imagery,

diction, figures of speech and specific experiences to
evoke meaningful responses from readers

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HOW TO USE THIS MODULE
Before you start answering the module, I want you to set aside other tasks that will distract you while
enjoying the lessons. Read the simple instructions below to successfully enjoy the objectives of this
kit. Have fun!

1) Follow carefully all the contents and instructions indicated in every page of this module.
2) Write on your notebook or any writing pad the concepts about the lessons. Writing enhances
learning, which is important to develop and keep in mind.
3) Perform all the provided activities in the module.
4) Let your facilitator/guardian assess your answers.
5) Analyze conceptually the posttest and apply what you have learned. 6. Enjoy studying!

PARTS OF THE MODULE

 Expectations - These are what you will be able to know after completing the lessons in the
module.
 Pre-Test - This will measure your prior knowledge and the concepts to be mastered
throughout the lesson.
 Looking Back - This section will measure what learnings and skills that you understand from
the previous lesson.
 Brief Introduction- This section will give you an overview of the lesson.
 Activities - These are activities designed to develop critical thinking and other competencies.
This can be done with or without a partner depending on the nature of the activity.
 Remember - This section summarizes the concepts and applications of the lessons.
 Checking Your Understanding - It will verify how you learned from the lesson.
 Post-Test - This will measure how much you have learned from the entire module

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 Imagery, Diction, and Figures of
Lesson 1
Speech

EXPECTATIONS

You are expected here to produce short paragraphs or vignettes using imagery, diction, figures of
speech, and variations of language.

Specifically, this module will help you to:

o use imagery, diction, figures of speech, and specific experiences, and;

o write a brief literary description or a short paragraph through making sense of pictures
and songs.

Let us begin your journey in creative writing. I am sure you are ready and excited to
answer the Pretest. Smile and cheer up!

PRE-TEST Directions: Choose the letter of the correct answer.

1. Figurative language is a language that: A. uses words or phrases which is different from the literal
meaning B. deviates from the normal language to convey an unusual meaning C. makes writing
interesting and vivid D. All of the above.
2. “Like as the armed knight appointed to the field” is an example of: A. Simile B. Metaphor C.
Personification D. Hyperbole
3. ______________ is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is described in terms of another
thing associated to it. A. Simile B. Metaphor C. Metonymy D. Synecdoche
4. A figure of speech in which a thing, a place, an abstract quality, an idea, a dead or absent person,
is addressed as if present and capable of understanding is called: A. Alliteration B. Apostrophe C.
Synecdoche D. Metonymy
5. Which of the following is NOT true about diction? A. It is the prescribed words used by the writers.
B. It is the word choice an author uses to convey a particular tone. C. It includes formality of the
language, the emotional content, and the sounds of words. D. It is the combination of denotation,
connotation, concrete and abstract words, and sound devices.

Great! You finished answering the questions. You may request your facilitator to check your
work. Congratulations and keep on learning!

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 BRIEF INTRODUCTION
Imagery as a general term covers the use of language to represent objects, actions, feelings,
thoughts, ideas, states of mind and any sensory experience. It is a figurative language used to appeal
to the senses through vivid descriptive language. Imagery creates mental pictures in the reader as
they read the text.

Example:

An excerpt from Peter Redgrove’s Lazarus and the Sea contains imagery: The tide of my death came
whispering like this Soiling my body with its tireless voice. I scented the antique moistures when they
sharpened The air of my room, made the rough wood of my bed, (most dear), Standing out like roots
in my tall grave.

Diction refers to the selection of words in a literary work. A work’s diction forms one of its centrally
important literary elements as writers use words to convey action, reveal character, imply attitudes,
identify themes, and suggest values. It includes the formality of the language, the emotional content,
the imagery, the specificity, and the sounds of the words.

Example:

“I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, Or all the riches that East doth hold.”

- Anne Bradstreet, “To My Dear and Loving Husband”

 The use of antiquated words such as “thy” instead of “your” and “doth” instead of “do” gives the poem
a formal diction.
 These antiquated words are considered grand, elevated, and sophisticated language.

FIGURES OF SPEECH
Figures of speech are words or phrases used in a non-literal sense for rhetorical or vivid effect

The most common figures of speech are simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, personification,
apostrophe, hyperbole, synecdoche, metonymy, oxymoron, and paradox.

1. Simile – a stated comparison (formed with “like” or “as” between two fundamentally dissimilar
things that have certain qualities in common. Example: “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”
– Langston Hughes, “Harlem
2. Metaphor – an implied comparison between two unlike things that have something in
common.
Example: “Hope is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul –” - Emily Dickinson,
“Hope is the Thing with Feathers”
3. Onomatopoeia – uses words that imitate sounds associated with objects or actions.
Example: “The crooked skirt swinging, whack by whack by whack.” - James Joyce, “Ulysses”
4. Personification – endows human qualities or abilities to inanimate objects or abstraction.
Example: “Ah, William, we’re wary of the weather,” said the sunflowers shining with dew. –
William Blake, “Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room”
5. Apostrophe – is addressing an absent person or thing that is an abstract, inanimate, or
inexistent character. Example: “Death be not proud, though some have called thee.” - John
Donne, “Death Be Not Proud”
6. Hyperbole – a figure of speech which contains an exaggeration for emphasis.
Example: “To make enough noise to wake the dead.” – R. Davies, “What’s Bred in the Bone”

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 7. Synecdoche – a figure of speech in which the part stands for the whole, and thus something
else is understood within the thing mentioned.
Example: “Give us this day out daily bread” *Bread stands for the meals taken each day.
8. Metonymy – a figure of speech in which the name of an attribute or a thing is substituted for
the thing itself. Example: “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” – William
Shakespeare, “Julius Caesar”
*Lend me your ears = to pay attention; to listen
9. Oxymoron – a figure of speech which combines incongruous and apparently contradictory
words and meanings for a special effect.
Example: “Here’s much to do with hate, but more with love. Why then, O brawling love! O
loving hate! O anything! of nothing first create! O heavy lightness! serious vanity! Mis-shapen
chaos of well-seeming forms!”
- William Shakespeare, “Romeo and Juliet”
10. Paradox – a statement which seems on its face to be logically contradictory or absurd yet
turns out to be interpretable in a way that makes sense.
Example: “One short sleep past, we wake eternally And death shall be no more; Death, thou
shalt die.” - John Donne, “Death Be Not Proud”.

ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITY 1 Outside Looking In.

Directions: Below are excerpts from different literary texts. Identify what figure of speech is
exemplified in each number. Choose your answer from the box and write capital letter from the space
provided.

A.) Simile B.) Metaphor C.) Onomatopoeia

D.)Personification
E.) Apostrophe F.) Hyperbole G.) Synecdoche
H.) Metonymy I.) Oxymoron J.) Paradox

1. “Ebony and ivory / Live together in perfect harmony” (McCartney & Wonder)
2. “Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!”
(Shakespeare)
3. “Pity, you ancient stones, those tender babes Whom envy hath immured within your walls”
(Shakespeare)
4. “He watches from his mountain walls, and like a thunderbolt he falls.” (Tennyson)
5. “That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow me.” (Donne)
6. “Even at night time, Mama is sunrise.” (Hunt)
7. “The western wave was all a-flame. The day was well nigh done!” (Coleridge)
8. “A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer. There was no hurry, for there was
nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with…” (Lee)
9. “…the glish of squirting taps plus slush of foam knocked off and a faint piddle of drops...” (e.e.
cummings)
10. “Fall had barely touched the full splendor of trees…” (Knowles)

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 ACTIVITY 2 What is it like
Directions: Take a very careful look at the picture below. Write a brief paragraph of the place using
imagery, diction, and figures of speech. You may incorporate an experience related to the location to
make your literary description more vivid.

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CHECKING YOUR UNDERSTANDING

Bring out the music in me!

Directions: Select one song inside the boxes which piqued your interest. Using your smartphone or
computer, listen to the song in any video or music streaming website you prefer. After listening, read
and accomplish what is described below.

“Imagine” by “Photograph” “The Scientist” “Fast Car” by

John Lennon by Ed Sheeran by Coldplay Tracy Chapman
“Out of My
“You Belong
“Rainbow” by “In the End” by League” by
With Me” by
Southborder Linkin Park Stephen
Taylor Swift
Speaks

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 Write a about a memory triggered by the music you have chosen. Think of where you are when you
last heard the music and what it meant for you. Include any images that come into mind. Be sure to
make your paragraph interesting by using different figures of speech.

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REMEMBER
 Imagery is used to signify all the objects and qualities of sense perception referred to in works
of literature.

 Diction refers to the kinds of words, phrases, and sentence structures, and sometimes also
figurative language, that constitute any work of literature. “Imagine” by John Lennon
“Photograph” by Ed Sheeran “The Scientist” by Coldplay “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman
“Rainbow” by Southborder “In the End” by Linkin Park “You Belong With Me” by Taylor Swift
“Out of My League” by Stephen Speaks

 Figure of speech is an expression that departs from the accepted literal sense or from the
normal order of words, or in which an emphasis is produced by patterns of sound.

POST TEST

Directions: Choose the letter of the correct answer.

1. A figure of speech which combines incongruous and apparently contradictory words and
meanings for a special effect. A. Paradox C. Metaphor B. Oxymoron D. Personification
2. Imagery is characterized by the following EXCEPT: A. it is considered as a figure of speech B.
it consists of descriptive language C. it draws on the five senses D. it is a literary device
3. It is a direct and explicit address either to an absent person or to an abstract or nonhuman
entity. A. Synecdoche C. Oxymoron B. Onomatopoeia D. Apostrophe
4. All of the following are examples of figures of speech except: A. Metonymy C. Symbol B.
Synecdoche D. Hyperbole
5. Which of the following does NOT describe diction? A. It is the writer’s manner of speaking. B. It
is a special style used by writers in creating a literary text. C. It is the writer’s distinctive choice
and use of language. D. It is the linguistic choices a writer makes to effectively convey action
or reveal a character.

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 REFLECTIVE LEARNING SHEET

NAME: _______________________GRADE AND SEC.______________DATE:

Lesson 1: Imagery, Diction and Figures of Speech REFLECTIVE LEARNING SHEET No. 1

Directions: Write a reflective learning about what you have learned about imagery, diction, and
figures of speech by answering the questions inside the box. You may express your answers in a
more critical and creative presentation of your great learning. Have fun and enjoy!

REFERENCES:

 Abrams, M. H., & Harpham, G. G. (1999). A glossary of literary terms. Boston, Mass: Thomson
Wadsworth.
 Cuddon, J. A. (2013). A dictionary of literary terms and literary theory. Chichester, West
Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication.
 https://www.litcharts.com/literary-devices-and-terms
 https://ccsearch.creativecommons.org/photos/2e452542-ef22-402b-a3f7- 8527da483e0f

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