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Imagery, Diction, and

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

use imagery, diction, figures of speech, and specific experiences, and;

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!

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

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.

Simile Metaphor Onomatopoeia Personification Apostrophe

Hyperbole Synecdoche Metonymy Oxymoron 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)
43. “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)
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.
Image from: https://ccsearch.creativecommons.org/photos/2e452542-ef22-402b-a3f7-8527da483e0f

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Activity 3. Bring out the music in me!

Directions: Select one song 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.
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.
“In the End”
“Imagine” by Linkin Park
by John Lennon

“Photograph” “You Belong With

by Ed Sheeran Me”
by Taylor Swift
“Fast Car”
by Tracy Chapman “Out of
My
“Rainbow” League”
by Southborder by Stephen Speaks

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
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.

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.

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.
REFLECTIVE LEARNING SHEET
Name: _______________________Grade and Sec.______________
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!
WHAT I LIKED THE
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WHAT I NEED TO
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THE LESSON

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WHAT I WANT TO
LEARN CONNECTED
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