Figures of speech

Comparisons
 • Simile
• Metaphor; extended; mixed
• Personification
Comparisons
• Apostrophe
• Allusion
 Simile

• A direct comparison containing the words ‘like’ or

‘as’.
Simile example
 Simile example from the poetry folder

“Sometimes he wakes in my sleep

hard as lead, empty as the wind”
 an indirect comparison without
using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’

refers to a person or object being

something else
Metaphor
the comparison is implied and not
directly stated
Metaphor example
 Metaphor examples from the poetry folder

“I want them to waterski

across the surface of a poem

waving at the author’s name on the shore.”

 Extended metaphor

Extended over a
Recurring metaphors passage or
or analogies.
throughout a poem.
Extended metaphor example
 Extended metaphor example from the
poetry folder
“It is the floor of debate,
text that speaks sense to us without hesitation,
a messenger that respects and saves us time,
a loud gospel that breaks the silence we mime,
a saint to the poor minded,
fruits of a wild tree,
a surprise gift unwrapped,
an agent of a single mind,
and above all,
just a simple poem.”
 Mixed metaphor

Incongruous and They Usually

incompatible terms used to contradict avoided.
describe the same object or each other.
event.
Mixed metaphor example
 Personification

Gives human qualities to inanimate An indirect comparison.

objects or abstract ideas.
Personification example
 Personification examples from the novel
“Perhaps he didn’t hear
my hands shouting…”

“A nice and simple poem

is the one that breathes understanding”

“But all they want to do

is tie the poem to a chair with rope

and torture a confession out of it”

 Apostrophe
• An abstract idea, an inanimate object or person who is no longer
living is addressed or spoken to as if it were human or living.
Apostrophe example
 Either a direct or indirect
referral to a particular
aspect.

Allusion
Poets allude to classical
literary works, epic stories
or religious themes
Allusion example