Let's get to the fundamentals - The use of FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Question 1: What is figurative language?

Figurative language is language that uses imagery or figures of speech, for example, simile, metaphor or personification to create images in the mind of the reader when he is reading a text.

Question 2: Why do writers use figurative language?
It is a technique of comparison the writers use to make the meaning of their work more dramatic, more visual and more memorable by comparing one thing with another.

The purpose of using figurative language is
[a] to create an accurate mental picture (image) in the reader, and
[b] to supplement the dictionary meanings of words with richness through the use of connotations.

Question 3: What is a simile?
A simile is a figure of speech used as a comparison of one person or object with another. Such comparison is usually made clearly by words such as “as”, “like” and “than”. For example, the simile in “Tim jumps like a monkey” compares Tim’s agility with those of a monkey to emphasize how active and excited Tim is. Tim, through the use of a simile, is being compared with a monkey.

Question 4: What is a metaphor?
A metaphor is a figure of speech used as a total connection between two objects. The comparison is so strong that one thing embraces all the qualities of the thing it is compared with. For example, the metaphor in “Tim is a monkey” compares every aspect of Tim, not just his agility but his total behaviour, to that of a monkey. Tim, through the use of a metaphor, has become a monkey.

Question 5: What is personification?
Personification is a figure of speech in which an object or concept is given a human attribute. The effect is to take concepts which could seem abstract and dull, and to breathe life into them, making them seem like people.