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What Is Figurative Language In Literature

What is figurative language?

Figurative language uses words to mean something other than the dictionary or literal meaning.

Literal language- describes how something actually looks, feels, or sounds.
Ex: She looked pretty.
He is flying through the air in an airplane.

Figurative Language- describes something by comparing it to something else or by using words in a creative way.
Ex: She is a train roaring down the hallway to her class.
The muscles in his arms looked like bowling balls.


Figurative language is language that uses figures of speech in order to convey an image or an emotion. Literal language, on the other hand, uses only the straight, dictionary definitions of words to communicate. You might think that literal language would communicate more exactly; sometimes it does, but not if you are trying to communicate a description of something or an emotion. Here are some examples:

Literal language: You are a good person.
Figurative language: You are a jewel.

Literal language: I am disappointed.
Figurative language: My heart is heavy.

Literal language: You feel quite happy.
Figurative language: You soar like an eagle.

Literal language: The sun was out.
Figurative language: The sun smiled down upon the fields below.

Literal language: The surf was rough.
Figurative language: The waves crashed angrily over the bow of the ship.

The three figures of speech below have something in common. They are comparisons of unlike objects.

Simile uses an indicator word such as "like" or "as" to tell the reader that a comparison is coming. Examples:

snow falling like petals from a white rose
a leafless tree, creaky as an old house

Metaphor uses no such indicator words. Examples:

The wind is a signal of trouble in the sky.
the inky clouds of night

Personification is a simile or a metaphor (that is, with or without indicator words) that gives human quality to a non-human thing. Examples:

wind sighing over the lost daylight
the oak tree standing silent, like a sentinel at the gate

LITERATURE HELP! WHAT TYPE OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IS...?

'to turn a blind eye' :: to connive - is not really a figure of speech, but an idiom. An idiom is a form of words in a language which regularly carries a special meaning, one not immediately obvious from the literal meaning of the words themselves.

In French you can say c'est pedaler dans la choucroute (that is pedaling through sauerkraut). this doesn't have any connection with riding a bicycle. It is an idiom.

What is the difference between figurative language and Literary terms?

Figurative language is not intended to be interpreted in a literal sense.Figurative language or speech contains images. The writer or speaker describes something through the use of unusual comparisons, for effect, interest, and to make things clearer. The result of using this technique is the creation of interesting images.Some common types of figurative language are: simile, metaphor, alliteration, onomatopoeia, idiom, puns, and sensory language

For example: His feet were as big as boats. We are comparing the size of feet to boats


figurative language (fig-YOOR-a-tive LAN-gwije): a type of language that varies from the norms of literal language, in which words mean exactly what they say. Also known as the "ornaments of language," figurative language does not mean exactly what it says, but instead forces the reader to make an imaginative leap in order to comprehend an author's point. It usually involves a comparison between two things that may not, at first, seem to relate to one another. In a simile, for example, an author may compare a person to an animal: "He ran like a hare down the street" is the figurative way to describe the man running and "He ran very quickly down the street" is the literal way to describe him. Figurative language facilitates understanding because it relates something unfamiliar to something familiar. Some popular examples of figurative language include a simile and metaphor. See A Handbook to Literature, A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, and A Glossary of Literary Terms. Charla Cobbler, Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke

yes, figurative language is a part of literary terms. It is included in the glossary of literary terms located here: http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/general/glossary.htm

What is the difference between figurative language and literary devices?

Figurative language is used of the meanings of words not literal and literary devices are appropriate to literature rather than everyday speech or writing.

For example, a figurative language which is the non-literal use of language. like similes (A figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds , usually formed with 'like' or 'as') and metaphors ( A figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity) " She fought like a lion for custody of her children." such that sentence is a hyperbole, a kind of figurative speech.
Following words are all figures of speech, hyperpole- metaphor, simile, oxymoron, metonymy and many more

Literary devices refers to specific aspects of literature. such as alliteration, The repetition of consonant sounds within close proximity, usually in consecutive words within the same sentence or line. I cant summarize all literary techniques here..Hope this will help.. Good luck

What's the difference between figure of speech and figurative language?

Figurative language is the use of multiple types of language, including "figures of speech," to make language more colorful and descriptive. These include idioms, metaphors, similes, proverbs, etc. The term "figurative language" includes an adjective and a noun. Example: "Her eyes sparkled like diamonds."

A "figure of speech" is a type of figurative language. The term "figure of speech" is a noun. Usually this is an expression that is intended to mean something different from its literal definition. The meaning is interpreted by the context that surrounds the phrase. Many of these are dialectical, meaning that they are common to a certain geographical area. Example: "He really gets under my skin."

These two terms are often used interchangeably.

What is figurative language?

example: Imagery

Language that appeals to the senses. Descriptions of people or objects stated in terms of our senses.

Simile
A figure of speech which involves a direct comparison between two unlike things, usually with the words like or as. Example: The muscles on his brawny arms are strong as iron bands.

Metaphor
A figure of speech which involves an implied comparison between two relatively unlike things using a form of be. The comparison is not announced by like or as. Example: The road was a ribbon of moonlight.

Alliteration
Repeated consonant sounds occurring at the beginning of words or within words. Alliteration is used to create melody, establish mood, call attention to important words, and point out similarities and contrasts. Example: wide-eyed and wondering while we wait for others to waken.

Personification
A figure of speech which gives the qualities of a person to an animal, an object, or an idea. It is a comparison which the author uses to show something in an entirely new light, to communicate a certain feeling or attitude towards it and to control the way a reader perceives it. Example: a brave handsome brute fell with a creaking rending cry--the author is giving a tree human qualities.

Onomatopoeia
The use of words that mimic sounds. They appeal to our sense of hearing and they help bring a description to life. A string of syllables the author has made up to represent the way a sound really sounds. Example: Caarackle!

Hyperbole
An exaggerated statement used to heighten effect. It is not used to mislead the reader, but to emphasize a point. Example: She’s said so on several million occasions

Idioms

Language specific expressions: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/

What are some figurative language devices (specifically) and literary devices?

Alone

Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don't believe I'm wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

There are some millionaires
With money they can't use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They've got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Now if you listen closely
I'll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan,
'Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.


What are some specific figurative language devices and literary devices used? Having trouble finding any. Thanks!

What are the all kinds of the figurative language?

Let’s see…simile (comparing something to something: my love is like a red red rose)metaphor (equating two things: my love IS a red red rose)apostrophe/personification (addressing an object or phenomenon as if it were a person: Oh red rose, my love is just like you)allusion (reference to classical literature…well, I’ve been doing that with poor Robert Burns - let’s switch to Marlowe: Not marching now in fields of Thrasymene where Mars did mate the warlike Carthagens…)I dunno for others - there are rhetorical tricks, of course. Litotes (ironic understatement), hyperbole (dramatic overstatement), oxymoron (mutually contradictory qualities…the old joke calls “military intelligence” an oxymoron), one whose name I cannot call to mind…exemplified by the form “I shall not wear you with a recitation of this man’ virtues, his courage in the field, his thoughtful manner in peace, etc. etc.” That is. you say you won’t say something then sahy it at length.

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