This document defines and provides examples of various types of figurative language and literary devices, including simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, imagery, onomatopoeia, repetition, rhyme, rhythm, assonance, consonance, and alliteration. It explains that figurative language presents ideas beyond literal meanings, while literary devices like sound techniques can emphasize ideas or convey feelings in poetry. Examples are used to illustrate each technique.

1. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE &
LITERARY DEVICES

2. WHAT IS FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE?
•Figurative language presents ordinary
things in fresh ways, communicating ideas
that go beyond words’ ordinary
meanings.
• HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES…

3. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
IT´S LIKE A SIMILE
– a comparison of two unlike things using the words like or as.
Examples of simile:
• “Life is like a box of chocolates.”
• “The girl is as beautiful as a rose.”
• “The willow is like an etching…”

4. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
IT IS A METAPHOR
– a comparison of two unlike things without using the words like or as.
Examples of metaphor:
• “My father is a tall, sturdy oak.”
• “The hotel is a diamond in the sky.”
• “who know’s if the moon’s a balloon…”

5. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
PERSONIFICATION
– the giving of human qualities to an animal, object, or idea.
Examples of personification:
• “Hunger sat shivering on the road.”
• “The flowers danced on the lawn.”
• “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Smokey the Bear” are personified
characters.

6. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
HYPERBOLE
- an exaggerated statement used to make a point.
Examples of hyperbole:
• “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”
• “I could sleep for a year.”
• “This book weighs a ton.”

7. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
IMAGINE THE IMAGERY
-figures of speech or vivid descriptions used to produce
mental images (appeal to the five senses).
Examples of imagery:
• “Her clammy back felt like bark of the tree after a
summer’s rain.”
• “…the small pond behind my house was lapping at it’s
banks…”
• “The willow’s music is like a soprano…”

8. WHAT IS A SOUND DEVICE?
•The effect of a poem can depend on the
sound of its words.
•HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES…

9. SOUND DEVICE:
SOUNDS LIKE ONOMATOPOEIA
- the use of words whose sounds suggest their meanings.
Examples of onomatopoeia:
• “The bang of a gun.”
• “The hiss of a snake.”
• “The buzz of a bee.”
• “The pop of a firecracker.”

10. SOUND DEVICE: REPETITION
- the repeating of sound, words, phrases or lines in a poem used
to emphasize an idea or convey a certain feeling.
Examples of repetition:
• “Sing a song full of faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song of the hope that the present has brought us…”
• “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I
can…”
• “The isolation during my vacation created a situation of
relaxation.”

11. SOUND DEVICE:
I RHYME ALL THE TIME AND I GUESS IT
SOUNDS FINE…
- repetition of sound at the ends of words. (Rhyme occurring
within a line is called internal rhyme. Rhyme occurring at the
end of a line is called end rhyme)
Rhyme Scheme – the pattern of end rhyme in a poem. Lines that
rhyme are given the same letter.
Example of internal rhyme, end rhyme, and rhyme scheme:
• I looked at the shell in the ocean a
• I looked at the bell in the sea, b
• I noticed the smell and the motion a
• Were very peculiar to me.” b

12. SOUND DEVICE:
DO YOU HAVE RHYTHM? LET’S CLAP!
– the pattern of sound created by stressed (more emphasis, `)
and unstressed (less emphasis, υ) syllables. Many poems are
given diacritical markings (` and υ) depending on the
rhythm.
Example of rhythm:
“I looked at the shell in the ocean
I looked at the bell in the sea,
I noticed the smell and the motion
Were very peculiar to me.”

13. SOUND DEVICE: ASSONANCE
- repetition of VOWEL SOUNDS at the BEGINNING, MIDDLE or END
of at least two words in a line of poetry.
Examples of Assonance
• Repeating the “eh” sound in the words: “crescent,” “flesh,”
“extending,” “medicine” and “death”

14. SOUND DEVICE: CONSONANCE
- repetition of CONSONANT SOUNDS at the BEGINNING, MIDDLE
or END of at least two words in a line of poetry.
Examples of Consonance
Repeating the “sh” sound in the words: “shush,” “wish,”
“sharp,” “cushion” and “quash”

15. SOUND DEVICE: ALLITERATION
- repetition of CONSONANT SOUNDS at the
BEGINNING of at least two words in a line of poetry.
Example of alliteration:
Examples of Alliteration
• “the frog frolicked frivolously on the forest floor.”
• “…Little skinny shoulder blades Sticking through your
clothes…”
• “…struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet…”