FIGURES OF SPEECH

Figures of Speech
-Used in a language to
specialize meaning not based
on the literal meaning of the
words.
Simile
A type of figurative language
that compares two different
things using the words “like”
or “as”.

Example:
They fought like cats and dogs.
Simile
Examples:
1. You are as brave as a
lion.
2. I ran like the wind.
3. The book is black like a
coal.
Metaphor
Describes one thing by
saying that it is another
unlike thing.

Example:
The snow is a white blanket.
Metaphor
Examples:
1. Love is a rose.
2. Life is a journey.
3. Her hair was a flowing
golden river.
Hyperbole
An extreme exaggeration
that the writer uses for
emphasis.

Ex.
I’m so tired I could sleep a
year.
Hyperbole
Examples:
1. The food was so hot my
ears were smoking.
2. He cried so long that he
made a lake.
3. You have a million toys at
your house!
Personification
A figurative language that
attributes human characteristics,
emotion, and behavior to animals
and inanimate objects or ideas.

Ex.
The trees danced back and forth in
the wind.
Personification
Examples:
1. You can hear the trees
whisper in the dark.
2. Death robbed her of the
chance of happiness.
3. The angry sky roared and
threw lightning around.
Oxymoron
A figurative language that uses
two contradictory words and
meaning for a special effect.

Ex.
We’ll use plastic glasses at the
picnic.
Oxymoron
Examples:
1. The gossip is old news.
2. A small crowd gathered
at the mall.
3. Its an open secret that
the girl is his girlfriend.
Irony
A figurative of speech in which the
person delivering the ironic statement
says something which is completely
opposite to what they mean or what
the reality of the situation is.

Ex.
Great! Someone stained my new
dress.
Irony
Examples:
1. Iceland is very green but
Greenland has lots of ice.
2. A firetruck catches on
fire.
3. “I can’t wait to read the
700 page report.”
Identify what type of figures of speech are the
following sentences. Write it on a ¼ sheet of
paper.

1. The water is as clear as mud.

2. He is a shining star.
3. The stars winked in the night sky.
4. The sun smiled happily down at us.
5. I must have walked a thousand kilometers.
6. The deafening silence in the room is
maddening.
7. The girl was shocked and she became as white
as a ghost.
8. Great! There will be an exam.
9. They were alone together in the room.
10. I can see that news travels quickly.
Identify what type of figures of speech are the
following sentences. Write it on a ¼ sheet of
paper.

1. The water is as clear as mud.

2. He is a shining star.
3. The stars winked in the night sky.
4. The sun smiled happily down at us.
5. I must have walked a thousand kilometers.
6. The deafening silence in the room is
maddening.
7. The girl was shocked and she became as white
as a ghost.
8. Great! There will be an exam.
9. They were alone together in the room.
10. I can see that news travels quickly.
Euphemism
Euphemism
Synecdoche
Synecdoche
Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia
Alliteration
Alliteration
Assonance
Assonance