Figurative Language

El método, paso a paso

1. 1

   Distinguish simile from metaphor

   simile: 'brave as a lion' · metaphor: 'he was a lion'

   A simile compares using like or as; a metaphor states that one thing is another. The metaphor is the stronger claim, which is usually why a writer chooses it — it collapses the distance a simile keeps open.

2. 2

   Recognise personification

   'the wind howled through the empty street'

   Personification gives human qualities to something non-human. Wind does not howl, but describing it that way lends the scene intent and menace that a factual description would not carry.

3. 3

   Identify sound devices

   alliteration: 'silent, sullen streets' · onomatopoeia: crash, hiss, murmur

   Alliteration repeats initial consonant sounds, and onomatopoeia uses words that imitate sounds. Both work on the reader through rhythm and sound rather than through meaning alone.

4. 4

   Explain the effect, not just the name

   'the metaphor suggests X, which makes the reader feel Y'

   Marks come from analysis. Identifying a simile is worth almost nothing; explaining what it makes the reader picture, and why the writer wanted that, is what the mark scheme rewards.

5. 5

   Quote precisely and briefly

   embed a short quotation inside your own sentence

   A short embedded quotation keeps the analysis moving and shows exactly which words you are discussing. Long quotations take space without adding evidence and often replace the analysis rather than supporting it.

Naming the device earns almost nothing

The most common weakness in English answers is device-spotting: listing that a text contains a simile, a metaphor and some alliteration without saying what any of them do. Mark schemes reward explanation of effect, not identification.

A useful structure is technique, then effect, then why. 'The writer describes the street as sullen, which gives the setting a mood of resentment and prepares the reader for the confrontation that follows.' The name of the device is the least important part of that sentence.

• Simile — comparison using like or as
• Metaphor — states one thing is another
• Personification — human qualities given to non-human things
• Hyperbole — deliberate exaggeration
• Alliteration — repeated initial consonant sounds
• Onomatopoeia — words imitating sounds

Why a writer reaches for a device

Figurative language compresses. Saying a character 'was a lion' conveys courage, dominance and perhaps danger in three words, where a literal description would need a paragraph and would still feel flatter.

It also directs feeling. The choice between describing rain as 'heavy' or as 'hammering' is a choice about how the reader should experience the scene, and noticing that choice is exactly what analysis means.

Using devices in your own writing

In creative writing tasks, figurative language is credited when it is precise and original, and penalised when it is clichéd. 'As white as snow' and 'as light as a feather' are so familiar that they carry no image at all.

One well-chosen image is worth more than five ordinary ones. Students who scatter devices to demonstrate range usually write worse than those who choose two and make them work.

How we teach figurative language

We ban the word 'effective' in analysis, because it fills the space where the actual effect should go. Students are required to say what the reader pictures or feels, which forces genuine analysis rather than a placeholder.

For creative writing we work on originality rather than quantity. Replacing one cliché with a precise image teaches more than adding three more similes, and it is what actually moves a grade.