THE TYPES OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

            Figurative language or figure of speech is a beautiful word which has implicit meaning. Sometimes, people cannot absorb the meaning of figurative language correctly. It is because a figure of speech cannot be translated word by word, people have to think deeper to understand what writers or speaker says in figurative language. (Bahasa kiasan atau majas adalah kata indah yang memiliki arti tersirat. Terkadang, orang tidak dapat menyerap arti dari bahasa kiasan dengan benar. Karena suatu majas tidak dapat diterjemahkan kata demi kata, orang harus berpikir lebih dalam untuk memahami apa yang dikatakan penulis atau penutur dalam bahasa kiasan). 

              There are several types of figurative languages are used in modern writing. They include:

1. Hyperbole

            Hyperbole is an exaggeration that is created to emphasize a point or bring out a sense of humor. It is often used in every conversations without the speaker noticing it.  The exaggeration is so outrageous that one would believe that it is true. It is used to add depth and color to a statement. 

                An example of hyperbole is, "I would die for you". The sentence does not necessarily mean that one person is literally willing to die for the other, but it used to exaggerate the amount of love that one person has for another person. Death is only used to show extent of affection.

                Other example of hyperbole:

• She rushed out of the room in floods of tears ----> crying a lot

• Let's have dinner, I'm starving ----> very hungry

• When she was in Paris, she spent ton of money ----> lot of money

2. Metaphor

          A metaphor is a statement that compares two things that are not alike. Unlike similes, metaphors do not use the words "like" or "as". Such statements only make sense when the reader understands the connection between the two things being compared. 
                An example of metaphor in the song 'everything' by Michael Buble:

• "you're a falling star, you're the gateway car.

• "you're the line in the sand when I go too far. 

           In this song, Michael Buble uses his song Everything to tell his wife that she means everything to him. He compares her to multiple things  throughout the song, each showing that she is the best part of him.

            Metaphors directly compare two subjects. Metaphor is a figure of speech which concisely compares two things by saying that the one is the other (McArthur: 1996:653)

For example:

My lover is a treasure
My home is heaven
Business is a game 
You are my guardian 
This is a made house

3. Personification

            Personification is a statement attributes human qualities to non-human entities, such as objects or animals. People say the wind howls or opportunity knocks, for instance. Neither the wind nor opportunity can do these things but these personification vividly convey a particular idea. Keraf (2002) explained that "Personification is the assigning of human characteristics to non humans."

For example:

The leaves danced to the ground
 The flowers were begging for water

In the first sentence, the leaves are being personified. That means they are given the human characteristic of dancing to show about how the leaves gracefully fell to the ground.

 Human can dance,

but leaves cannot.

    Next example: "The flowers were begging for water"

 

 In the second sentence, we know that flowers do not have mouths and they cannot really ask us for water. The flowers are given the human characteristic of  begging to show that they are in need of water. They are starting to dry up and really need someone to water them

4. Simile

            A simile is a form of figurative in which a comparison is made between two things which have something in common, using the words "like" or "as". The simile is used to describe an item, situation, emotion or action by comparing it to something else in order to make the statement more creative and artistic. 

Simile Examples

Example of Simile in Spoken Language

            When taking part of listening to everyday conversation in English, you are likely to come across the use simile many times. Now, we're gonna take a look at how a simile is used during spoken conversation.

Example of Simile in Literature

         Now, we will take a look at some examples of times that a simile has been used as a literary device, whether that be in stories, song , poetry or otherwise.

'My love is like a red rose', is an example of a simile used in the piece of poem 'A red red rose' written by John Burns.
'You look like my next mistake' a song by Taylor Swift
'Do you ever feel like a plastic bag?' a song by Katy Perry