Figurative Language and Types Mr. Pettine of Poetry English 9 August 13
Figurative Language and Literary Terms 9/16/14 English 9 Mr. Pettine
Allusion A reference to a historical aspect, person, or a text. Example: No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; Am an attendant lord, one that will do To swell a progress, start a scene or two, Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock T.S. Eliot
Simile A comparison between of two unlike things using like or as Example: My love is like a red, red, rose / That s newly sprung in June Red, Red, Rose -- Robert Burns
Epic Simile Also known as Homeric Simile, is a detailed comparison in the form of a simile that is many lines in length Example: Think of a catch that fishermen haul in to a half-moon bay / in a fine meshed net from the whitecaps of the sea; / how all are poured out on the sand, in throes for the salt sea, / Twitching their cold lives away in Helios fiery air; / so lay the suitors heaped on one another
Metaphor A comparison of two unlike things not using like, as, than, or resembles EXAMPLE: All the world's a stage,/ And all the men and women merely players;/ They have their exits and their entrances; As You Like It William Shakespeare
Hyperbole A figure of speech using extreme exaggeration EXAMPLE: I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers / Could not with all their quantity of love / Make up my sum. -- Hamlet William Shakespeare
Idiom Expression peculiar to a particular language that means something different from the literal meaning of each word. EXAMPLE: That blouse costs an arm and a leg, and You re pulling my leg!
Imagery Writing that appeals to the senses. EXAMPLE: Sling your knuckles on the bottoms of the happy tin pans, let your trombones ooze, and go husha-husha-hush with the slippery sand-paper. Jazz Fantasia Carl Sandburg
Oxymoron A combination of two contradictory terms, EXAMPLE: His honour rooted in dishonour stood, /And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true. Idylls of the King Alfred Tennyson EASIER EXAMPLES: Living dead, deafening silence, sweet sorrow
Personification The use of human qualities in non-human subjects EXAMPLE: There was no answer from outside, so Rikki-tikki knew Nagaina had gone away. Nag coiled himself down, coil by coil, round the bulge at the bottom of the water-jar, and Rikki-tikki stayed still as death. After an hour he began to move, muscle by muscle, toward the jar. Nag was asleep, and Rikki-tikki looked at his big back, wondering which would be the best place for a good hold. ``If I don't break his back at the first jump,'' said Rikki, ``he can still fight; and if he fights -- O Rikki!'' He looked at the thickness of the neck below the hood, but that was too much for him; and a bite near the tail would only make Nag savage. Rikki- Tikki Tavi Rudyard Kipling
Epithet Adjective or descriptive phrase that is regularly used to characterize a person, place, or thing. EXAMPLE: When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared The Odyssey Homer To his house went the goddess, grey-eyed Athena, devising a return for the great-hearted Odysseus. The Odyssey -- Homer
Euphemism Use of inoffensive words to replace something which is harsh, unpleasant, or possibly offensive EXAMPLES: a little thin on top bald Powder room go to restroom in the family way pregnant visit from the stork give birth
Dialect Regional variety of language, a regional variety of a language, with differences in vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation EXAMPLE: Jim: We s safe, Huck, we s safe! Jump up and crack yo heels. Dat s de good ole Cairo at las, I jis knows it. Huck: I ll take the canoe and go see, Jim. It mightn t be, you know. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
Lyric Poem A lyric poem is a highly musical verse that expresses the thoughts, observations, and feelings of a single speaker.
Lyric Poem I hid my love when young till I Couldn't bear the buzzing of a fly; I hid my love to my despite Till I could not bear to look at light: I dare not gaze upon her face But left her memory in each place; Where'er I saw a wild flower lie I kissed and bade my love good-bye John Clare I Hid My Love
Ballad A ballad is a song that tells a story. Literary ballads are poems which often contain sensational stories of tragedy or adventure. Often feature repetition and have regular rhyme schemes
Ballad When John Henry was a little tiny baby Sitting on his mama's knee, He picked up a hammer and a little piece of steel Saying, "Hammer's going to be the death of me, Lord, Lord, Hammer's going to be the death of me." John Henry was a man just six feet high, Nearly two feet and a half across his breast. He'd hammer with a nine-pound hammer all day And never get tired and want to rest, Lord, Lord, And never get tired and want to rest. -- Anonymous John Henry
Sonnet A fourteen line lyric poem, usually in rhymed iambic pentameter. The Shakespearean sonnet consists of three quatrains (4 line stanzas) and a couplet. The Petrarchan sonnet consists of an octave (8 line stanza) and a sestet (6 line stanza).
Sonnet Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st; So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. Sonnet 18 - Shakespeare
Narrative Poem A narrative poem is one that tells a story.
Narrative Poem The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in hate; He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate. And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go, And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow. Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright; The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light, And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout; But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out
Epic An epic is a long narrative poem about the deeds of gods or heroes. An epic is elevated in style and usually follows certain patterns. An epic reflects the qualities and values of a society.
Oral Tradition Oral Tradition the passing of the songs, stories, and poems from generation to generation. Many folk songs, ballads, fairy tales, legends, and myths originated in the oral tradition.
Epic Simile Also known as Homeric Simile, is a detailed comparison in the form of a simile that is many lines in length Example: Think of a catch that fishermen haul in to a half-moon bay / in a fine meshed net from the whitecaps of the sea; / how all are poured out on the sand, in throes for the salt sea, / Twitching their cold lives away in Helios fiery air; / so lay the suitors heaped on one another