Figures of speech

Simile

a comparison of two unlike things using the words like or as.

•“Life is like a box of chocolates.” 

•“The girl is as beautiful as a rose.” 

•“The willow is like an etching…”

Simile

Metaphor

a comparison of two unlike things without using the words like or as.

•“My father is a tall, sturdy oak.” 

•“The hotel is a diamond in the sky.” 

•“who know’s if the moon’s a balloon…”

Metaphor

Personification

the giving of human qualities to an animal, object, or idea.

•“Hunger sat shivering on the road.” 

•“The flowers danced on the lawn.” 

Personification

Hyperbole

An exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally, used for emphasis or effect.

•“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” 

•“I could sleep for a year.” 

•“This book weighs a ton.”

Hyperbole

Onomatopoeia

the use of words whose sounds suggest their meanings.

•“The bang of a gun.” 

•“The hiss of a snake.” 

•“The buzz of a bee.” 

•“The pop of a firecracker.”

Onomatopoeia

Oxymoron

a figure of speech in which opposites are paired for effect.

Deafening Silence

Living Dead

“Yet tell me not, for I have heard it all.
Here’s much to do with hate, but more with love.
Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate…”

Romeo & Juliet

Oxymoron

Alliteration

repetition of CONSONANT SOUNDS at the BEGINNING of at least two words in a line of poetry.

•“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…”

Alliteration