2. Figurative Languages
Shakespeare’s characters often use
figurative language to elaborate upon ideas
and amplify imagery. In this lesson you will
learn some of the figurative language which
were used in the story “Romeo and Juliet”.
3. Figurative Languages
1. Apostrophe is an address to someone who is absent and
cannot hear the speaker, or to something nonhuman that
cannot understand what is said. An apostrophe allows the
speaker to think aloud, and reveals those thoughts to the
audience.
2. Metaphor is a comparison of two things that are basically
dissimilar in which one is described in terms of the other.
3. Personification is a figure of speech in which an object,
abstract idea, or animal is given human characteristics.
4. Hyperbole is an exaggeration for emphasis; overstatement.
5. Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole, to make
little of something important.
4. Figurative Languages
Directions: Write the following example line to its
appropriate literary device in the graphic organizer.
“Come, night; come, Romeo; come, thou day in night”
“I am no pilot; yet, wert thou as far/As that vast shore wash’d with
the farthest sea,/I would adventure1 for such merchandise.”
“Every cat and dog/And little mouse, every unworthy thing, Live
here in heaven and may look upon/her.”
“So tedious is this day/As is the night before some festival/To an
impatient child…”
“But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?It is the east,
and Juliet is the sun. Mercurio tells Romeo that his wound is “a
scratch, a scratch”
5. TASK 1: Copy this table and answer in your activity
notebook.
6. TASK 2: Provide your OWN examples of
HYPERBOLE, PERSONIFICATION, METAPHOR,
UNDERSTATEMENT, & APOSTROPHE.
(the same examples from another is considered void)
7. The apostrophe in contractions
The most common use of apostrophes in English is for
contractions, where a noun or pronoun and a verb combine.
Remember that the apostrophe is often replacing a letter that has
been dropped. It is placed where the missing letter would be in
that case.
8. People, even native English speakers, often
mistake its and it's, you're and your, who's and whose,
and they're, their and there. See below for the difference.
9. The possessive apostrophe
In most cases you simply need to add 's to a noun to show
possession
Plural nouns that do not end in s also follow this rule:
10. Ordinary (or common) nouns that end in s, both singular and
plural, show possession simply by adding an apostrophe after the
s.
Proper nouns (names of people, cities, countries) that end in s
can form the possessive either by adding the apostrophe + s or
simply adding the apostrophe. Today both forms are considered
correct (Jones's or Jones'), and many large organizations now
drop the apostrophe completely (e.g. Barclays Bank, Missing
Persons Bureau) when publishing their name.
