Figures of

Speech
objectives

 Distinguish the difference between

literal and figurative language; and
 Identify the different kinds of
figurative language.
Warm-up Activity:

Creating Similes
Group Activity:

 Divide yourself into two

groups.
As _______ (Adj., e.g., hot) as ___________
A ________ (Noun person, e.g., baby)like _____
To _______ (Verb, e.g., sleep) as if ____________
To _______ (Verb) so much it would __________
To _______ (Verb) until ______________________
To _______ (Verb) as much/hard as a ________
To _______ (verb) like a ______________________
A ________ (Noun) is like a ___________________
Using the spaces above, create
your own similes.

Example: “As thirsty as dried

leaves.”
1. On a sheet of paper, Copy the
following items above. You will write a
verb or an adjective on the left side of
the column and fold it in the middle.
Pass the paper to other group.
2. Next, writes a noun on the right-hand
side of the page without knowing what is
on the left column.
Literal vs. Figurative

Literal language –is what we

commonly use—the language of
everyday communication, when
we mean exactly what we say.
 Figurative language –uses figures of
speech such as metaphor,
personification, and hyperbole usually
to compare two objects that are
different from each other.
Example:

Literal Description Figurative Description

Roses are red Her love is like a rose
The bell rings at 12:00 Saved by the bell
Literal Description Figurative Description
The cat stepped out Let the cat out of the bag
the bag
The flower smells sweet You are the sweetest-smelling
flower.
Reading Activity:

Study the two sonnets posted on the

board then answer the following
questions.
 Processing questions:

1. Give five examples of figurative from the

two sonnets.
2. What about literal language? Which of
the two sonnets employ literal language
more/
3. Compare the two sonnets. What
happens when figurative language is
transformed into the literal and vice
versa? Which of the two do you
prefer?
4. What is the function of
figurative language?
Figures of Speech
 a form of discourse that deviates from the
literal meanings of the words.
 used for the purpose of making statements
emphatically striking and effective. As it
enhances more beauty, color, and grace
to a language and appeals more to the
imagination than reason.
Common forms of figures of speech
1. Simile
is a comparison of two unlike
things or particular with the
use of as or like.
Example

 She is as cruel as a man-eating crocodile

 In the presence of Mary, Joseph as meek as a
sheep.
 Dezjohn runs as fast as a deer.
Common forms of figures of speech

2. Metaphor
is a comparison of unlike things or
particulars without using as or like.
is more vivid and forceful than simile.
Example

 Obel is a walking calculator.

 Maikan was a bullet during the race.
 Magi is a walking encyclopedia
Common forms of figures of speech

3. Irony
is one which expresses the opposite of
what is said. It is a coated sarcasm. The
intended meaning of the word is the
direct opposite of its usual essence.
Types of Irony
 Verbal Irony
– refers to a statement where the intended
meaning is different from what was stated.
Example:
Saying “Thanks for the vote of support” when
someone undermines you.
It was polite of you to have answered back your
parents.
 Types of Irony

 Dramatic irony
--refers to a situation where the
reader or audience knows
information that a characters
in the story do not.
Example:
In William Shakespeare “Romeo and Juliet”
we know that Romeo has not died yet when
the nurse comes in, lamenting him. This act
leads Juliet to take her own life, and
subsequently, Romeo choosing to die in his
wife’s arms, too.
Types of Irony

 Situational irony
--refers to an incongruity between
what the reader or audience
expects to happen and what
actually occurs.
Example;
In Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an
Hour” a grieving wife is mistakenly informed
that her husband died, which leads to her
thinking she is now free from the constraints
of marriage. At the end of the story, she finds
out that is still alive, and shocked by the new
information, she herself dies.
 Common forms of figures of speech

4. Apostrophe
--a figure of speech in which one
addresses the absent as if present or that
in which one addresses the died as if
alive.
--a speaker directly addresses an absent
or dead person, an inanimate object, or
an abstract as if it were present or living.
Example:

 Dr. Jose Rizal, come now and help

the government leaders put in place
the economy of the country today!
Common forms of figures of speech

5. Personification
--is one that gives human characteristics
and capabilities to things which one
inanimate or non-human
Example:
The hungry flames ate all the houses of
wooden materials.
Common forms of figures of speech

6. Hyperbole
--is an overstatement or an
exaggeration which is solely-intended
to emphasize and not to mislead.
Example:
I almost died laughing at his mistake.
Common forms of figures of speech

7. Paradox
--is one which expresses an idea that’s
seemingly absurd or somewhat
contradictory in essence but factually is
true and operationally logical.
Example:

 Commonsense is sometimes the

most uncommon.
 A problem is better remembered
by forgetting it.
Common forms of figures of speech

8. Allusion
--is one which makes a clear-cut
attribution or direct reference that
someone has the characteristics or
quality of the person named of thing
mentioned.
 Example

 Paolo is the Jaworski of Camarines

Norte.
 I am pleased to present to you
Carla Guerrero, the Kyline Alcantara
of the class.
Common forms of figures of speech

9. Litotes
-- is one in which the assertion or stress is
made by the negation of its opposite.
-- Ironical understatement in which an
affirmative is expressed by the
negative of its contrary.
 Example:
 What I took for lunch yesterday was
not a bad meal for twenty pesos.
 The presence of the President at the
meeting is of no little importance to
the enhancement of the party’s
victory in the forthcoming election.
Common forms of figures of speech

10. Metonymy
-- is one which uses a word as a
substitute of another word. It is used to
describe an object, an idea or an
identity of a person with the use of
other terms closely denoting the same.
Example:

 I save the crown.

 I enjoy theater.
 Please, address the chair.
Common forms of figures of speech

11. Antithesis
--is one which contrast of words and
ideas are put in a balance sentence.
It is effective if the phrasing of the
contrasted ideas is parallel.
 Example:
 His body is active, but his mind is sluggish.
Active in the first clause is in contrast
with sluggish in the second clause. The
contrasting ideas are expressed in parallel
form. His active body and sluggish mind
are in contradictory terms. This is used to
make the description more vivid in effect.
Example;

 The pen makes man hearty; the

gun makes man risky.
Common forms of figures of speech

12 Oxymoron
--is a special kind of paradox. It is a
figure of speech in which two or
more contradictory words are
joined for emphasis.
 Example:

 Childhood is so bittersweet.
 The dog next door is pretty ugly.
Common forms of figures of speech

13. Synecdoche
-- an association of some important part
with the whole it represent.
-- a part of something that represents or
stands in for the whole.
Example:

 You have to respect the gray hairs.

 Two heads are better than one.
Common forms of figures of speech

14. Onomatopoeia
-- is one which makes use of words
whose sounds closely resemble the
object or action denoted.
Example:

 Men, women, and children trapped

in crushed walls moaned to death. This
is the face of the killer earthquake on
July 16, 1990.
Common forms of figures of speech

15. Euphemisms
a figure of speech substitutes negative
description for milder and less harsh
way of stating. It is most often used for
delicate matters such as sex, death,
violence, and embarrassing topics.
Example:

 She is with our Maker now –

meaning she has died. Other
euphemisms for death are gone to
heaven, eternal peace, at rest, or
left the earth.
Idiomatic Expression

Idioms
-- are groups of words whose
meaning cannot be deduced from its
individual parts.
Example:
raining cats and dogs
Figurative Language
Exercises
 Re-discuss the figurative
language and its difference from
literal language
 Why is figurative language
importance in creative writing? Do you
think this language appropriate to the
other forms of writing? Why or why not?
Activity:

 Create 15 sentences using the

different types of figures of speech.
Assignment:

 Study the Informal tone

and formal tone.