Chapter 6  Use of Words

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Figure of Speech 1

Objectives:

In this chapter, students will be able to understand the definition and different types of figurative language; comprehend the function of figurative language. Explain the figurative use of words in a context; raise awareness of the figurative use of words in language learning. 

Simile

A simile is a comparison using "like" or "as".  A simile is one of the most common forms of figurative language. Examples of similes can be found just about anywhere from poems to song lyrics and even in everyday conversations.

 ‘now let’s look at the following example to feel the effect of using simile.

This is excerpt from George Orwell’s novel 1984:

He sat as still as a mouse, in the futile hope that whoever it was might go away after a single attempt. But no, the knocking was repeated. The worst thing of all would be to delay. His heart was thumping like a drum, but his face, from long habit, was probably expressionless.

Metaphor 

A metaphor makes a comparison by saying somethingis another thing.

We use metaphor to add color and emphasis to what they are trying to express. For instance, if you say George has “ a sea of knowledge,” you are using a metaphor to express how smart or educated he is. “Knowledge” and “the sea” are not literally related, but they are figuratively related because they are both immense things that are difficult to measure. By putting them together, you may have an vivid image of how vast a person’s knowledge is. In the lines from Shakespeare, we may feel life is short, doomed but also full of uncertainty and wonder.  

Similes and metaphors are often confused with one another. The main difference between a simile and metaphor is that a simile uses the words "like" or "as" to draw a comparison and a metaphor simply states the comparison without using "like" or "as". Compare the following two examples:

1. Life is like a play: it's not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters.  

2. If life is a drama, then everyone has to play his own roles.

Personification

personification gives human form of feelings to animals or life and personal attributes to inanimate objects or to ideas and abstractions.  In personification, an animal or an object has a life of a human being. It can talk and act; it may become happy or angry. It has human feelings.

Personification provides personality, energy, will, and emotion to an otherwise lifeless scene.