Imagery/Figurative Language - M. Jordan

 

• Simile: a comparison using "like" or "as."
  Ex. He's as dumb as an ox.
• Metaphor: a direct comparison. Saying something is something else.
  Ex. He's an zero.
• Personification: Treating a non-human thing with human characteristics.
  Ex. The days crept by slowly, sorrowfully.
• Hyperbole: Exaggeration used for effect.
  Ex. He weighs a ton.
• Idiom: Expression specific to the country of origin. Can not be translated literally.
• Ex. Raining cats and dogs
• Metonymy: Substituting one word or phrase for another that is closely related.
  Ex. The White House stated today that...
• Synecdoche: A part represents the whole.
  Ex. The football player is hanging up his spikes.
• Symbol: an object that represents something else.
  Ex. A small cross by the dangerous curve on the road reminded all of Johnny's death.
• Contrast: closely arranging things with strikingly different characteristics
  Ex. He was dark, sinister, and cruel; she was radiant, pleasant, and kind.
• Paradox: a seeming contradiction.
  Ex. The faster I go the behinder I get.