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Learn the difference between literal and figurative language, and how to interpret different types of figurative language you may encounter as you read.
| 0:00 | Owl: Welcome to Figurative Language, an instructional video on reading comprehension brought to you by the Excelsior University Online Writing Lab. |
| 0:10 | Sometimes authors use language to mean something other than its literal definition. |
| 0:15 | This type of language is called figurative language. |
| 0:18 | Figurative language is non-literal language that needs to be interpreted in order to understand what the author is trying to say. |
| 0:25 | Often, it is used to make comparisons or paint a picture in the reader’s mind. |
| 0:31 | Figurative language is frequently used in literature. |
| 0:34 | For instance, in the classic novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, Melville introduces the infamous Captain Ahab by comparing him to a man who has been burnt at the stake. |
| 0:45 | “He looked like a man cut away from the stake, when the fire has overrunningly wasted all the limbs without consuming them, or taking away one particle from their compacted aged robustness….” |
| 0:59 | Of course, Ahab wasn’t literally burnt at the stake! |
| 1:02 | The point is that his grim and wasted appearance resembles someone who has. |
| 1:07 | Melville is trying to paint a picture of Ahab by making this comparison. |
| 1:11 | This technique is called simile. |
| 1:13 | A smilie is the comparison of two different things using “like” or “as.” |
| 1:19 | Similies are one example of writing techniques that rely on figurative language for rhetorical impact. |
| 1:25 | We call these techniques figures of speech. |
| 1:29 | A figure of speech is a word or phrase that has a different meaning from its literal meaning. |
| 1:34 | To help you identify and interpret figurative language, we’ll go over a dozen of the most common figures of speech in alphabetical order. |
| 1:46 | An allegory is a story or picture that has a hidden meaning, usually a political or moral one. |
| 1:53 | One example is Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” from The Republic. |
| 1:57 | In this text, Plato describes the process of becoming educated by comparing it to a situation in which a person escapes from a dark cave, which represents ignorance and illusion, and enters the light of day, which represents truth and reason. |
| 2:13 | A euphemism is a mild, indirect, or pleasant word or phrase used in place of words that are unpleasant or offensive. |
| 2:22 | An example is “Letting someone go” instead of “firing someone.” |
| 2:29 | An hyperbole is an exaggerated statement or claim not intended to be taken literally. |
| 2:35 | An example of hyperbole is the statement, “I told you a million times not to leave your dirty socks on the floor!” |
| 2:42 | There are three types of irony. |
| 2:44 | One type is verbal irony, which is the use of words to mean the opposite of their literal meaning. |
| 2:50 | An example of verbal irony is the sarcastic statement, “That cake is as moist as paper!” |
| 2:56 | Sarcasm is a form of verbal irony. |
| 3:00 | Another type of irony is situational irony, which refers to the difference between what is expected to happen and what actually happens. |
| 3:09 | Situational irony occurs when a fire station burns down or a police station gets robbed. |
| 3:15 | Because fire stations are built to prevent fires, and police stations are built to prevent robberies, it’s ironic to see a fire station burn down and a police station get robbed. |
| 3:25 | Finally, there is dramatic irony. |
| 3:28 | This occurs when the audience is more aware of what is happening than a character. |
| 3:32 | For example, in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” the characters believe the recently bereaved wife is crying tears of sorrow because of the loss of her husband. |
| 3:42 | However, the audience knows that she is crying tears of joy because she is now free from her husband. |
| 3:49 | A metaphor is a comparison between two things that are unrelated but share common characteristics. |
| 3:55 | For example, the statement “Your voice is music to my ears” implies that the person’s voice is as pleasant as a song. |
| 4:04 | William Shakespeare’s poem “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” is an example of an extended metaphor in which the narrator compares his beloved to a summer’s day. |
| 4:14 | Onomatopoeia refers to words that sound like the things they mean. |
| 4:18 | Examples include: bang, bark, clang, click, cuckoo, meow, moo, sizzle, tweet, and whiz. |
| 4:38 | An oxymoron is a phrase in which two words with opposite meanings appear side by side. |
| 4:44 | Examples include: act naturally, bib baby, deafening silence, jumbo shrimp, original copy, pretty ugly, and random order. |
| 4:58 | Personification is the attribution of human qualities to inanimate objects. |
| 5:04 | For example, the statement “the daffodils danced and frolicked in the breeze” gives inanimate flowers the human qualities of dancing and frolicking. |
| 5:14 | A pun is a play on words that exploits the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that it sounds like another word. |
| 5:22 | The statement, “A boiled egg every morning is hard to beat,” plays on the two meanings of the phrase “hard to beat.” |
| 5:29 | Taken literally, it means that boiled eggs are literally hard to beat with a whisk. |
| 5:34 | However, taken figuratively, it means that boiled eggs are a very good breakfast option with few rivals. |
| 5:41 | In the second example, the statement, “The clown held open the door for the other passengers. It was a nice jester,” exploits the fact that the word “jester” sounds just like the word “gesture.” |
| 5:53 | A simile is like a metaphor, only it uses the words “like” or “as” to make the comparison more direct. |
| 6:01 | Examples of simile are: “my love is like a red, red rose” and “she was busy as a bee.” |
| 6:09 | Symbolism is the use of an object, person, place, or event to represent something other than its literal meaning. |
| 6:17 | Examples include: |
| 6:18 | A dove is a symbol for peace. |
| 6:21 | A rose is a symbol for love. |
| 6:24 | A torch is a symbol for knowledge. |
| 6:27 | A broken chain is a symbol for freedom from tyranny. |
| 6:30 | An example of symbolism in literature is Shakespeare’s famous monologue in As You Like It in which he compares the world to a stage where people are the actors and they play various roles throughout their lives. |
| 6:43 | “All the world’s a stage, |
| 6:45 | And all the men and women merely players; |
| 6:48 | they have their exits and their entrances; |
| 6:50 | And one man in his time plays many parts,” |
| 6:54 | – William Shakespeare, As You Like It |
| 6:57 | An understatement is a manner of presenting something as being smaller, less serious, or less important than it actually is. |
| 7:06 | For example, a person totals his car in a wreck and tells his friend it was “just a scratch.” |
| 7:13 | Interpreting figurative language, such as figures of speech, might seem difficult at first. |
| 7:18 | But learning them and even practicing them yourself in conversation and writing will help you improve your reading comprehension by teaching you the difference between literal and figurative language. |
| 7:29 | To recap, literal language is language that literally means what it says, whereas figurative language, such as figures of speech, is language that is non-literal and needs to be interpreted. |
| 7:41 | By keeping this lesson in mind, as the saying goes, you’ll be as wise as an owl! |
| 7:48 | Thanks for listening to this instructional video on Figurative Language! |
| 7:53 | Visit the Excelsior University Online Writing Lab for more support with reading and writing skills. |
The following texts were sampled in this video:
Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick. 1851.
Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. 1623.