FIGURES of SPEECHFIGURES of SPEECH

SimileSimile – a comparison between two things using like or as

Stephen is as tall as a tree.

The McElroy’s yard is like a playground.

MetaphorMetaphor – an implied comparison; metaphors do not use like or as. A metaphor often compares an abstract concept with something concrete.

Jake is a tiger on the football field. Have you lost your marbles?

Fame is a beeIt has a song – It has a sting – Ah, too, it has a wing.

- Emily Dickinson

It has a song…

Fame is a bee

It has a sting . . .

Ah, too, it has a wing.

PersonificationPersonification – qualities of human life are given to inanimate objects

The sunlight danced on the windowsill.

The road is shiny in the moonlight. (no figure of speech)

•The road is like a silver ribbon in the moonlight. (simile)

•The slick road is a mirror reflecting the moonlight. (metaphor)

•The road wandered aimlessly beneath the silver moon. (personification)

AlliterationAlliteration – the repetition of the initial (beginning) sounds of words* She sells seashells by the seashore.* Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

OnomatopoeiaOnomatopoeia – the use of words that imitate sounds* The buzz of the bees was loudest near the hive.* The kernels popped in the microwave.

HyperboleHyperbole – The use of exaggeration to create humor or show emphasis.* I have a ton of homework.* That dress is 50 times too big for you.

**Any figure of speech that is overused is called a cliché