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Figurative Language

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Figurative Language Introduction Figurative language is used to create a special effect or feeling. It is characterized by figures of speech, language that compares, exaggerates, or means something other than what it first appears to mean. A figure of speech is a literary device used to create a special effect or feeling by making some type of interesting or creative comparison. This paper will define and give examples of ten types of figurative language. Types of Figurative Language An idiom is a group of words whose meaning cannot be predicted from the meanings of the constituent words. For example the phrase "kick the bucket" literately means to actually strike a pail with one's foot, but as a group are understood to mean to die. There are over 25,000 idioms in the English language. An analogy is a similarity between like features of two things on which a comparison may be based. For example pig is to pork as cow is to beef, or meow is to cat as dog is to bark. Analogies play a role in problem solving, decision making, perception, memory, creativity, emotion, explanation and communication. A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that describes a subject by claiming it is the same as another otherwise unrelated object. They are closely related to an analogy as achieve their effect by comparison. One of the more famous metaphors is from Shakespeare's As You Like It, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players, they have their exits and

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