Figurative Language
metaphor: a direct comparison between two unlike concepts (without using “like” or “as”), e.g.,
“The gaping wounds of my wrongs too, was now quite healed.” Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
simile: a direct comparison between two unlike concepts (using “like” or “as”), e.g., “loud as
thunder;” specialized form of metaphor
metonymy (metonym): the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an
attribute or with which it is associated; metonyms are substitutions, though the two concept will
share associations, as opposed to the comparison of metaphor, e.g., “Hollywood” is used as a
metonym for US cinema because of the fame and cultural identity of Hollywood, CA, but there
is nothing “movie like” about the physical location itself (they merely share associations)
synecdoche: when the parts of something is used to signify the whole (or the reverse), e.g.,
“All hands on deck;” “The pot is boiling;” “Houston played New York in the 1994 NBA finals;”
synecdoche is a specialized form of metonymy
symbol: a concept with significance beyond its obvious and immediate meaning
personification: an assignment of human characteristics to non-human objects or ideas, e.g.,
“Your pity, my darling, is the suffering mother of love” (Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre)
Examples from M.R. James’ “Lost Hearts”:
Metaphor: “‘Is Mr Abney a good man, and will he go to heaven?’ he suddenly asked, with the peculiar
confidence which children possess in the ability of their elders to settle these questions, the decision
of which is believed to be reserved for other tribunals” (3).  A criminal tribunal (a seat or court of
justice) is compared to the Christian heaven.
“I find it set down, moreover, with considerable detail in the writings of Hermes Trismegistus, that
similar happy results may be produced by the absorption of the hearts of not less than three human
beings below the age of twelve years. To the testing of the truth of this receipt I have devoted the
greater part of the last twenty years, selecting as the corpora vilia [Latin for “worthless body”] of my
experiment such persons as could conveniently be removed without occasioning a sensible gap in
society” (9)  Phoebe, Giovanni, and Stephen are described by Mr. Abney using the terminology of a
science experiment, comparing them to laboratory specimens (corpora vilia and subjects).
Simile: “An evening light shone on the building, making the window-panes glow like so many fires”
(1).  Windows are compared to fireplaces.
“From time to time strange cries [of animals?] as of lost and despairing wanderers sounded from
across the mere” (7).  What Stephen believes to be animal cries are compared to lost wanderers
crying out in distress.
Personification: “a windy, noisy day, which filled the house and the gardens with a restless
impression”  The day is given human agency, as if it had both a will and the ability to act upon the
world in an intelligent way.
Metonym: “Who was the old man whose picture hung on the staircase, sitting at a table, with a skull
under his hand” (3)? The skull substitutes for the idea of mortality (and the fact that everyone
hastens to judgment by the Christian God), a common symbolic detail in older portraits.
“Whether she were somethink of a gipsy in her blood or what not, but one morning she out of her bed
afore any of us had opened a eye, and neither track nor yet trace of her have I set eyes on since” (4).
 Waking up from sleep is substituted with the act of opening one’s eyes.
Synecdoche: “Didn’t I never tell you of the little boy as he took in out of the street, as you may say,
this seven years back” (3-4)?  A “street” stands for the wider world outside Aswarby Hall.
“Well, Mrs Bunch, I’ve no wish to argue with you: all I say is, if you choose to go to the far bin, and lay
your ear to the door, you may prove my words this minute” (7).  Parkes is suggesting Mrs. Bunch
lean her entire body against the door in order to hear the mysterious sounds from the wine cellar, not
merely her ear.
DIRECTIONS: Read Pablo Neruda’s “Leaning into the Afternoons” and complete the following
activity.
Create a dialectical journal in which you identify as many examples of figurative language as possible,
explaining the comparison or substitution and how it develops Neruda’s ideas and/or themes.
Example:
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
(QUOTE)
Metaphor
“I cast my sad nets”
Label your example
Include the quote
HOW THE COMPARISON OR SUBSTITUTION
DEVELOPS IDEAS AND/OR THEMES
The narrator’s longing is compared to casting a fishing net
because he wishes to capture the love of another, and his
attempts to “catch” this love are like attempts to catch an
elusive fish. The marine imagery is used throughout the poem
to suggest the volatile, unfathomable, and mysterious nature of
women. The nets are “sad” because the narrator doubts he will
achieve his purpose, either because his love is not reciprocated
or has not been reciprocated thus far.
What is being compared or substituted for what?
Why is the comparison or substitution being made?
How is the comparison or substitution like other
such material in the poem?