Download GPT figurative_language_changes_the_literal_meaning

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Figurative language changes the literal meaning, to make a meaning fresh or
clearer, to express complexity, to capture a physical or sensory effect, or to extend
meaning. Figurative language is also called figures of speech. The most common
figures of speech are these:
o A simile: a comparison of two dissimilar things using "like" or "as", e.g.,
"my love is like a red, red rose" (Robert Burns).
o A metaphor: a comparison of two dissimilar things which does not use
"like" or "as," e.g., "my love is a red, red rose" (Lilia Melani).
o Personification: treating abstractions or inanimate objects as human, that
is, giving them human attributes, powers, or feelings, e.g., "nature wept"
or "the wind whispered many truths to me."
o hyperbole: exaggeration, often extravagant; it may be used for serious or
for comic effect.
o Apostrophe: a direct address to a person, thing, or abstraction, such as "O
Western Wind," or "Ah, Sorrow, you consume us." Apostrophes are
generally capitalized.
o Onomatopoeia: a word whose sounds seem to duplicate the sounds they
describe--hiss, buzz, bang, murmur, meow, growl.
Tone: the writer's attitude toward the material and/or readers. Tone may be playful,
formal, intimate, angry, serious, ironic, outraged, baffled, tender, serene, depressed, etc.
Theme: (1) the abstract concept explored in a literary work; (2) frequently recurring
ideas, such as enjoy-life while-you-can; (3) repetition of a meaningful element in a work,
such as references to sight, vision, and blindness in Oedipus Rex. Sometimes the theme is
also called the motif. Themes in Hamlet include the nature of filial duty and the dilemma
of the idealist in a non-ideal situation. A theme in Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale" is the
difficulty of correlating the ideal and the real
Point of View in Poetry
One of the first choices a poet must make when beginning a new poem is choosing the
point of view of the narrator. Point of view is a concept also vital to fiction. A character's
point of view can be any of the following:
First person singular—
I
(commonly used)
Second person singular or
plural
You
(poetry addressed to the
reader)
Third person singular
He, She,
It
First person plural
We
(much rarer)
Third person plural
They
(very rare)
Note: With third person narrators, the writer can choose a limited point of view, or an
objective point of view. In the objective point of view, the writer does not include
observations from inside the narrator's head, only external facts. In the limited point of
view, the narrator describes the world as viewed by one person, the narrator.
Alliteration - The repetition of initial consonant sounds.
Assonance - The repetition of vowel sounds.
Imagery - Words or phrases that appeal to any sense or any combination of senses.
Metaphor - A comparison between two objects with the intent of giving clearer
meaning to one of them. Often forms of the "to be" verb are used, such as "is" or "was",
to make the comparison.
Meter - The recurrence of a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
Onomatopoeia - The use of words which imitate sound.
Personification - A figure of speech which endows animals, ideas, or inanimate
objects with human traits or abilities.
Point-of-view - The author's point-of-view concentrates on the vantage point of the
speaker, or "teller", of the story or poem.
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1st person: the speaker is a character in the story or poem and tells it from his/her
perspective (uses "I")
3rd person limited: the speaker is not part of the story, but tells about the other
characters but limits information about what one character sees and feels.
3rd person omniscient: the speaker is not part of the story, but is able to "know"
and describe what all characters are thinking.
Repetition - the repeating of words, phrases, lines, or stanzas.
Rhyme - The similarity of ending sounds existing between two words.
Rhyme scheme - The sequence in which the rhyme occurs. The first end sound is
represented as the letter "a", the second is "b", etc.
Simile - A comparison between two objects using a specific word or comparison such as
"like", "as", or "than".
Stanza - a grouping of two or more lines of a poem in terms of length, metrical form, or
rhyme scheme.