Types of figurative language, why authors use it, and some non-fiction examples

1. FFiigguurraattiivvee LLaanngguuaaggee iinn
nnoonn--ffiiccttiioonn
MMeettaapphhoorrss
((iimmpplliieedd mmeettaapphhoorrss//ddiirreecctt mmeettaapphhoorrss))
SSiimmiilleess
AAnnaallooggiieess
PPeerrssoonniiffiiccaattiioonn

2. Why use ffiigguurraattiivvee llaanngguuaaggee iinn
nnoonn--ffiiccttiioonn??
((wwrriittee tthheessee ddoowwnn))
• Create immediate drama
• Create a visual or appeal to another sense
• Establish mood
• Clarify a concept (relating something
known to unknown)
• Emphasis - Reinforce an observation
• Persuade or convince

3. AAnnaallyyzzee ssoommee eexxaammpplleess
• Think about what type of figurative
language (direct metaphor, implied
metaphor, simile, or analogy
• What is the author’s purpose (drama,
imagery, mood, clarify, emphasis,
persuade)

4. TThhee HHeellpp
bbyy SShhaarroonn SShhaarrkkeeyy
""TThhee HHeellpp"" iiss aa ddeelliicciioouuss ppeeppppeerryy sstteeww ooff hhoommee--ccooookkeedd,, 11996600ss
SSoouutthheerrnn--ssttyyllee rraacciissmm tthhaatt sseerrvveess uupp aa ssoouullffuull ddiisshh ooff wwhhaatt aaiillss
uuss aanndd wwhhaatt hheeaallss uuss.. LLaauugghhtteerr,, wwhhiicchh iiss llaaddlleedd oonn tthhiicckk aass
ggrraavvyy,, pprroovveess ttoo bbee tthhee sseeccrreett iinnggrreeddiieenntt —— ttuurrnniinngg wwhhaatt
sshhoouulldd bbee aa ffeeeell--bbaadd mmoovviiee aabboouutt tthhoossee ttrroouubblleedd ttiimmeess iinnttoo aa
hheeaarrtt--wwaarrmmiinngg ssuurrpprriissee..
TThhee mmoovviiee iiss rriicchhllyy ffllaavvoorreedd bbyy tthhee wwoorrkk ooff aa sspprraawwlliinngg ccaasstt
tthhaatt ppuuttss tthhee eexxcceeppttiioonnaall VViioollaa DDaavviiss aanndd EEmmmmaa SSttoonnee aatt tthhee
ffiillmm''ss iimmppaassssiioonneedd cceenntteerr,, wwiitthh tthhee sscceennee--sstteeaalliinngg ttaanngg ooff
OOccttaavviiaa SSppeenncceerr aanndd tthhee sswweeeett--ttaarrtt ooff JJeessssiiccaa CChhaassttaaiinn
tthhaannkkffuullllyy nneevveerr ffaarr aawwaayy

5. LLooooppeerr
bbyy EErriikk WWeebbeerr
““NNooww jjuusstt aass II wwaass aallll sseett ttoo hhaanndd LLooooppeerr aa ""CC"" ffoorr mmaakkiinngg mmee
sshhiifftt iinn mmyy sseeaatt eennttiirreellyy ttoooo mmaannyy ttiimmeess,, wwaaiittiinngg ffoorr ssoommeetthhiinngg
ttoo bbllooww mmyy ddoooorrss ooffff,, iitt hhaappppeenneedd.. AAnn eennddiinngg tthhaatt wweellll,, bblleeww mmyy
ddoooorrss ooffff.. TThhee ffiinniisshh iiss tthhee cciinneemmaattiicc eeqquuiivvaalleenntt ooff DDaavviidd
TTyyrreeee''ss SSuuppeerr BBoowwll ccaattcchh;; aa ccoonncclluussiioonn tthhaatt mmiirraaccuulloouussllyy --
mmaaggnniiffiicceennttllyy -- mmaannaaggeess ttoo cclloossee tthhee ffiinnaall lloooopp wwiitthh aann ooffff--tthhee--
RRiicchhtteerr--ssccaallee ssttrrookkee ooff ggeenniiuuss.. NNiicceellyy ppllaayyeedd MMrr.. JJoohhnnssoonn,,
nniicceellyy ppllaayyeedd..””
WWaattcchh tthhee vviiddeeoo ((wwhhiicchh II eemmbbeeddddeedd bbeellooww)) bbeeffoorree aannsswweerriinngg
rreeaassoonn wwhhyy..

6. Kia Optima Hybrid
by Benson Kong
• Now, the sheetmetal. Generally speaking,
hybrids aren't supposed to look this way; look at
the alpha dog Toyota Prius and its near
doppelgänger, the Honda Insight. At first
innocent glance, you could mistake the Optma
Hybrid for possessing Teutonic origins, which
isn't a huge surprise considering Kia's head
designer is Peter Schreyer, formerly of Audi.
• There are some pictures on the next slide to
help you with the underlined words.

8. ““WWhhyy WWee CCrraavvee HHoorrrroorr MMoovviieess””
bbyy SStteepphheenn KKiinngg
“Why? Some of the reasons are simple and
obvious. To show that we can, that we are not
afraid, that we can ride this roller coaster. Which is
not to say that a really good horror movie may not
surprise a scream out of us at some point, the way
we may scream when the roller coaster twists
through a complete 360 or plows through a lake at
the bottom of the drop”

9. Breaking Bad season 5 episode 15 review:
by Toni Mendelsohn
• The second half of this show's fifth and final season is finally playing out like
an authentic Shakespearian tragedy - albeit one which has had four-and-a-half
series' worth of prologue to it. So if last week's explosive realignment of
the universe was Walt's Lear-like fall from grace, this week is his descent
into madness. The big question, of course, is the form his redemption will
take, if indeed he even gets one.
• The Lear comparison holds quite strongly in this episode. Much like the mad
king, Walt is forced into the wilderness, his kingdom in tatters and his family
deposed. We even have a fool-like character in the form of the extractor,
who, in admitting he'll appropriate Walt's money after he dies, is telling him
not what he wants to hear, but what the truth is.
• Of course, Lear dies at the end of the play, leaving the noble youth to seize
power. It remains to be seen whether Jesse will recover anything of himself
and do the same, but then again Breaking Bad and King Lear aren't
identical stories.

10. Miley Cyrus and Ugly Sex
by Victor Davis Hanson
• “For going “beyond” — not singing more mellifluously, dancing more
adroitly, or energizing the crowd more enthusiastically — is now the point.
In Petronius Arbiter’s first-century novel, The Satyricon, the fatter and
more repugnant is Trimalchio, and the more loudly he passes wind, burps,
mangles mythology, and invokes scatology, the more he thinks that he
appeals to his bored dinner guests. In terms of repugnance, Miley Cyrus
was the anorexic and mobile version of Jabba the Hutt.”

11. TTaakkeerrss
BByy TTyy BBuurrrr
• “Takers’’ might have made a perfectly decent little B heist
movie, but someone had to go and forget to give the
cameraman his Ritalin. Since the film is about 45 percent
chase scene and 45 percent frenzied shootout — the other
10 percent is strained macho posturing — that’s an awful
lot of blurry, whip-pan action defying you to make visual
sense of it. Who’s zooming who? Where’s Waldo? Where’s
the script?
• This one is tricky figure out what a cameraman is being
compared to. Who takes Ritalin, cannot pay attention?

12. One more classic – just cause it is
weird!

13. ““22001122 BBMMWW 665500ii CCoonnvveerrttiibbllee””
bbyy JJaarrrreedd GGaallll
• If we may, a hypothetical situation for the reader: Say a family of
ducks lives in your yard. And when the neighbor kid mows your
lawn, he runs over a duckling. You’d complain, right? And if he
kept doing it, you’d continue to complain until he finally stopped?
(For the purposes of this illustration, you must retain his services.)
• We ask because we realize we’re repeating ourselves, but the
reader must understand that BMW has been dicing some ducks.
We cried foul after the company fitted the 5-series with a new
electric power-steering system, as it deprives the driver of any feel
through that most important of automotive interfaces. Now BMW
has fitted the 6er with this system. It’s as if there were a rogue
faction within the Bayerische Motoren Werke that is trying to scuttle
the mother ship.