ELA Project Wolfe
by Holden Player
Independant Reading Book/Poetry Figurative Language
In "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke, there are many instances of figurative language, such as imagery. "The canals, gleaming in the sun, dappled the ancient brickwork with gold" (7). This is a wonderful piece of imagery that helps express the beautiful setting of Venice (where the book takes place). Another example of figurative language in this book is personification. "The sea would sweep away the lagoon too, swallowing everything" (7). This is shown as personification in the night terrors of one of the main characters in the story to express how bad his night terrors were. More examples of Figurative language in this book are similes. "This wind tastes like winter" (13). This is important to the text because it shows that the area is cold, and could prove to be difficult to live in. One more example of figurative language in this book would be irony. "Riccio bullied Prosper into changing two bills from Barbarossa's wad, and buying a box of cakes for ALL of them to celebrate... they were packed in a beautiful box and tied up with a ribbon. Riccio, however, was unimpressed by all this effort. As soon as they got back on the street he got out his pocket knife and cut the ribbon... 'I deserve a treat after all that.' Riccio said" (46). This example of irony shows Riccio contradicting his previous statement of sharing all of the cakes, and helps the reader better understand his greedy personality. For the final example of figurative language in "The Thief Lord", there will be an oxymoron. "He looked at Prosper with a mixture of anger and respect" (43). This shows that the one looking at Prosper (Barbarossa) has mixed feeling of him. Poetry also utilizes figurative language in many ways. Such as in "I Sing the Battle" by Harry Kemp. "Ah, but the broken bodies that drip like honey-comb!" This is a simile that shows how many people die in war. Another poetic example of figurative language would be a metaphor. "I am bathed in a sweat of pearls" from "The Black Land" By Joseph Warren Beach. This metaphor shows the reader that the narrator of the poem is pure.
Other Examples of Figurative Language
Figurative language is mainly used in phrases. For example, "You're taller than a tower" is a phrase that is used to explain to someone that they are tall. When used in this sense, it is very useful because mainly towers are very tall. There are also two types of figurative language being used in this phrase. First is alliteration, because "Taller than a tower" has 3 T's right next to each other. The next form of figurative language in this phrase is hyperbole. Someone cannot truly be taller than a tower, but the exaggerated nature of the statement implies that the point the speaker is trying to make is that the person who the phrase was directed to is very tall. Another form of figurative language is cliche'. This form is found in many movies. For example, in action movies, there is an abundant amount of explosions. This occurs many times in "Invasion USA" by Cannon Films, "Action Jackson" by Lorimar Film Entertainment, and countless others. The point of these massive explosions would be for eye candy, or in some cases, comedy. Some onomatopoeia is expressed in songs. For example, The Witch is Dead by The Munchkins: "Ding, dong! The witch is dead!" They use the words "Ding Dong" to express the sound of happy bells playing in celebration of the death of the witch. Another song with onomatopoeia would be Sleigh Ride by The Ronettes. "I see those sleigh bell ringin'! Ting-ting-a-ling-a-ting too!" This onomatopoeia is trying to simulate the sound of sleigh bells. Symbolism is heavily present in most books such as The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. The mocking jay represents liberation in the second and third book. It is also present in The Maze Runner by James Dashner. In the book, the Maze trials represent prison. But symbolism is also present in advertisements, mainly the Coca-Cola ones, with the Coca-Cola representing happiness.