Figurative Language Cheat Sheet

Figurative Language Cheat
Sheet
Figurative: representative words,
not literal (or real), meaning
something else
S.O.P.H.I.M.A.A
• This is an ACROYMN which means these
letters stand for other words. We use this
to help us remember all of the major types
of figurative language:
• Simile, Onomatopoeia, Personification,
Hyperbole, Imagery, Metaphor, Alliteration
*Allusion is extra but very important*
Simile: a comparison of two things
using “like”, “as”, or “than”
Tip: think of the word SIMILAR which means things that
are almost the same so they can be compared
Onomatopoeia: words that are the
sounds they spell out
Tip: think of how funny this word sounds when you read it
aloud
Personification: giving human
characteristics to non-human objects
Talking Tree
Happy Sun
Sad Cloud
• Tip: think of the word person to help you remember
Imagery: very detail descriptions that
use the five senses to describe an
object; ‘paints a picture in your head’
• Tip: think of the word imagination or image to remember
that imagery paints a picture with words
Metaphor: a direct comparison of
two things that have similar
characteristics in common
My love for you is an
ocean, deep, powerful and
fantastic.
•
Tip: to recognize a metaphor or to write one think of an item that could
represent something else: if you were to have a list of things that
described each item, most words should be the same.
Alliteration: the repeating of the same sound
in the beginning of words in a series (usually
the same letter)
• Tip: think of repeating letters and the word alliteration sounds like “aLETTER-ation”
Allusion: mentioning of someone or
something very famous that most people
know
Get it? We
have to know
about the
Wicked Witch
of the West in
order
to know
about this
comic!
• Tip: remember that “ALL” of “US” should know the
famous people

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