Figures of Speech

- Figures of speech (a.k.a. figurative language) is the use of language that is not meant
to be taken literally. Figures of speech is also a category of literary device that was in
an intentional deviation from literal statement or common usage that emphasizes,
clarifies, or embellishes both written and spoken language.
- There are many types of figures of speech, but the most common ones are:

 Simile  Hyperbole
 Metaphor  Oxymoron
 Personification  Onomatopoeia
 Metonymy

 SIMILE
- Comparing two things using ‘like’ or ‘as’
Example:
 Your skin is as white as snow.
 He was as brave as a lion.
 They fought like cats and dogs.
 Swim like a dolphin.

 METAPHOR
- Uses direct comparison of two unlike things or ideas. Comparing two things without
using like or as.
Example:
 Life is a game.
 You were the light of my life.
 He was a walking encyclopedia.
 Your voice is music to my ears.

 PERSONIFICATION
- Giving human traits or attributes to non-living things.
Example:
 The flowers are dancing in the field.
 The wind slaps my face.
 The grey clouds cried drops of rain.
 The storm was very angry.

 METONYMY
- Substitute a word that closely relates to a person or things.
Example:
 I have read all of Shakespeare.
 I swear loyalty to the crown.
  You need a hand?
 Native tongue

 HYPERBOLE
- Make use of exaggeration.
Example:
 My love for you could move mountains.
 My patience is thinner than a strand of hair.
 I’m so hungry I could eat a whole cow.
 Her smile reached the heavens.

 Oxymoron
- Used two contradictory words with opposing meaning.
Example:
 Beautifully ugly.
 Living dead.
 Foolish wisdom.
 Enjoyingly suffered.

 ONOMATOPEIA
- Formation of words which imitates or resembles sounds.
Example:
 Bzzzz, bzzzzz (sound of a bee)
 BOOOOMMM!! (sound of explosion)
 Ding-dong (sound of a doorbell)
 The twittering of tiny birds.
 There was a loud bang then it went dark.
 The howling of the wolves.