Figurative Language

Learn about 8 kinds of figurative language: metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, understatement, idioms, analogy, and irony. They are figures of speech. You probably already use them all the time, but might don’t know the terminology. And learning to recognize it when you read helps you appreciate what’s good about the writing. Figurative language adds subtle shades of meaning to your words and brings out your personality in your writing so you don’t sound like a robot from a 1960s B-movie. It bri