Editing Literal and figurative language (section)

==Figurative language==
{{main|Figure of speech}}
Uses of figurative language, or figures of speech, can take multiple forms, such as [[simile]], [[metaphor]], [[hyperbole]], and many others.<ref name="MontgomeryDurant2007">{{cite book|last1=Montgomery|first1=Martin|last2=Durant|first2=Alan|last3=Fabb|first3=Nigel |author4=Tom Furniss |author5=Sara Mills|title=Ways of Reading: Advanced Reading Skills for Students of English Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BhrYfYdHuN8C&pg=PA117|access-date=3 April 2013|date=2007|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0203597118|pages=117–}}</ref> ''Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature'' says that figurative language can be classified in five categories: resemblance or relationship, emphasis or [[understatement]], figures of sound, verbal games, and errors.<ref name="inc1995">{{cite book|author=Merriam-Webster, inc.|title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKNK1YwHcQ4C|access-date=23 April 2013|year=1995|publisher=Merriam-Webster|isbn=978-0877790426|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eKNK1YwHcQ4C&pg=PA415 415]}}</ref>

A [[simile]]<ref>Origin: 1350–1400; Middle English < Latin: image, likeness, comparison, noun use of neuter of ''similis'' similar. {{cite web|url=http://www.oed.com.nuncio.cofc.edu/Entry/179881|work=simile, n.|publisher=Oxford English Dictionary|title=Simile}}</ref> is a comparison of two things, indicated by some connective, usually "like", "as", "than", or a verb such as "resembles" to show how they are similar.<ref>Kennedy, X. J., and [[Dana Gioia]]. ''[[An Introduction To Poetry]]''. 13th ed. Longman Pub Group, 2007. p. 594.</ref>

: Example: "His cheeks were ''like roses'', his nose ''like a cherry''.../And the beard on his chin was ''as white as the snow.''" (emph added)—Clement Clark Moore<ref name="Terbanjoi1993">{{cite book|last1=Terban|first1=Marvin|last2=joi|first2=Giulio Maestro|title=It Figures!: Fun Figures of Speech|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gk_Le0B46BEC&pg=PT12|access-date=23 December 2012|year=1993|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=978-0395665916|pages=12–}}</ref>

A [[metaphor]]<ref>Origin: 1525–35; < Latin ''metaphora''  < Greek ''metaphorá''  a transfer, akin to ''metaphérein'' to transfer. See meta-, -phore{{cite web|url=http://www.oed.com.nuncio.cofc.edu/Entry/117328|work=metaphor, n.|publisher=Oxford English Dictionary|title=Metaphor}}</ref> is a figure of speech in which two "essentially unlike things" are shown to have a type of resemblance or create a new image.<ref name="Miller2001"/> The similarities between the objects being compared may be implied rather than directly stated.<ref name="Miller2001">{{cite book|last=Miller|first=Carol Rawlings|title=Irresistible Shakespeare: 6 Sensational Scenes from Favorite Plays and Dozens of Fun Ideas That Introduce Students to the Wonderful Works of Shakespeare|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qT3BC2CH1LoC&pg=PA25|access-date=23 December 2012|date=2001|publisher=Scholastic Inc.|isbn=978-0439098441|pages=25–}}</ref> The literary critic and rhetorician, [[I. A. Richards]], divides a metaphor into two parts: the vehicle and the tenor.<ref>I. A. Richards, ''The Philosophy of Rhetoric'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1936), 119–127.</ref>
: Example: "Fog comes on little cat feet"—[[Carl Sandburg]]<ref name="Fandel2005">{{cite book|last=Fandel|first=Jennifer|title=Metaphors, Similes, And Other Word Pictures|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bfWu6bCwRLcC&pg=PA30|access-date=3 April 2013|date=2005|publisher=The Creative Company|isbn=978-1583413401|pages=30–}}</ref> In this example, “little cat feet” is the vehicle that clarifies the tenor, “fog”. A comparison between the vehicle and tenor (also called the ''[[Tertium comparationis|teritium comparitionis]]'') is implicit: fog creeps in silently like a cat.

An [[extended metaphor]] is a metaphor that is continued over multiple sentences.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/extended-metaphor|publisher=Dictionary.com|title=Extended Metaphor}}</ref><ref name="Oliver1994">{{cite book|last=Oliver|first=Mary|title=Poetry Handbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fuBHMccJx6UC&pg=PA103|access-date=6 March 2013|year=1994|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=978-0156724005|pages=103–}}</ref>
: Example: "The sky steps out of her daywear/Slips into her shot-silk evening dress./An entourage of bats whirr and swing at her hem, ...She's tried on every item in her wardrobe." [[Dilys Rose]]<ref name="LiddellGifford2001">{{cite book|last1=Liddell|first1=Gordon F.|last2=Gifford|first2=Anne|title=New Scottish poetry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eQRs8Uz6480C&pg=PA131|access-date=3 April 2013|date=2001|publisher=Heinemann|isbn=978-0435150983|pages=131–}}</ref>

[[Onomatopoeia]] is a word designed to be an imitation of a sound.<ref>Origin: 1570–80; < Late Latin < Greek ''onomatopoiía'' making of words = onomato-  (combining form of ónoma name) + poi-  (stem of poieîn to make; see poet) + -ia -ia{{cite web|url=http://www.oed.com.nuncio.cofc.edu/Entry/131486|work=onomatopoeia, n.|publisher=Oxford English Dictionary|title=Onomatopoeia}}</ref>
: Example: “Bark! Bark!” went the dog as he chased the car that vroomed past.

[[Personification]]<ref>Origin: 1745–55; personi(fy) + -fication{{cite web|url=http://www.oed.com.nuncio.cofc.edu/Entry/141506|work=personification, n.|publisher=Oxford English Dictionary|title=Personification}}</ref> is the attribution of a personal nature or character to inanimate objects or abstract notions,<ref name="Moustaki2001"/> especially as a rhetorical figure.
: Example: "Because I could not stop for Death,/He kindly stopped for me;/The carriage held but just ourselves/And Immortality."—[[Emily Dickinson]]. Dickinson portrays death as a carriage driver.<ref name="Moustaki2001">{{cite book|last=Moustaki|first=Nikki|title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Poetry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RdH3hvXEIB8C&pg=PT146|access-date=23 December 2012|date=2001|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-1440695636|pages=146–}}</ref>

An [[oxymoron]] is a figure of speech in which a pair of opposite or contradictory terms is used together for emphasis.<ref>Origin: < post-classical Latin oxymoron, figure of speech in which a pair of opposed or markedly contradictory terms are placed in conjunction for emphasis (5th cent.; also ''oxymorum'') < ancient Greek ὀξυ-oxy- comb. form1+ μωρόςdull, stupid, foolish (see moron n.2).{{cite web|url=http://www.oed.com.nuncio.cofc.edu/Entry/135679|publisher=Oxford English Dictionary|title=Oxymoron}}</ref>
: Examples: Organized chaos, Same difference, Bittersweet.

A [[paradox]] is a statement or proposition which is self-contradictory, unreasonable, or illogical.<ref>Origin:  < Middle French, French ''paradoxe'' (1495 as noun; 1372–74 in plural ''paradoxesas'' the title of a work by Cicero; paradoxon (noun) philosophical paradox in post-classical Latin also a figure of speech < ancient Greek παράδοξον, especially in plural παράδοξαStoical paradoxes, use as noun of neuter singular of παράδοξος (adjective) contrary to received opinion or expectation < παρα-para- prefix1+ δόξαopinion (see doxology n.), after ancient Greek παρὰ δόξαν contrary to expectation{{cite web|url=http://www.oed.com.nuncio.cofc.edu/Entry/137353|work=paradox, n.|publisher=Oxford English Dictionary|title=Paradox}}</ref>
: Example: This statement is a lie.

[[Hyperbole]] is a figure of speech which uses an extravagant or exaggerated statement to express strong feelings.<ref>Origin:  < Greek ὑπερβολήexcess (compare hyperbola n.), exaggeration; the latter sense is first found in Isocrates and Aristotle. Compare French hyperbole (earlier yperbole).{{cite web|url=http://www.oed.com.nuncio.cofc.edu/Entry/90286|work=hyperbol e, n.|publisher=Oxford English Dictionary|title=Hyperbole}}</ref>
: Example: They had been walking so long that John thought he might drink the entire lake when they came upon it.

[[Allusion]] is a reference to a famous character or event.
: Example: A single step can take you through the looking glass if you're not careful.

An [[idiom]] is an expression that has a figurative meaning often related, but different from the literal meaning of the phrase.
:Example: You should keep your eye out for him.

A [[pun]] is an expression intended for a humorous or rhetorical effect by exploiting different meanings of words.
: Example: I wondered why the ball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.