Name: Block: Skill: Figurative Language

Identification and Application: ● Look for figurative language in poetry and descriptive prose passages, and think about the effect and possible purpose of each figure of speech. ○ Similes and metaphors often make writing more vivid, moving, or meaningful. ○ Euphemisms, irony, and oxymorons often add wit or sarcasm to writing.

● Figurative language comes in many types of figures of speech, including the following: ○ Simile is a figure of speech in which two dissimilar items are explicitly compared with the word like or as: “He mashed the potatoes until they were as smooth as velvet.”

○ Metaphor is a figure of speech in which two dissimilar items are implicitly compared. Some metaphors directly equate one item with the other: “The music was a waterfall rushing down on us.” Other metaphors are indirect and more subtle: “The music cascaded over us in waves.”

○ Euphemism is a figure of speech in which an unpleasant meaning is downplayed or made to seem less unpleasant: “We like to say that our used cars are ‘pre-enjoyed.’”

○ Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two contradictory terms are combined: “The wind was burning cold," “there was a deafening silence."

○ Irony is a figure of speech in which the use of words conveys a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, “How nice!” when I said I had to work all weekend.

Model: In “The Lady, or the Tiger?” Frank Stockton’s colorful writing style uses several types of figurative language. In his descriptions of the king, Stockton uses figurative language to hint sarcastically at the king’s harshness. For example, from the end of the story’s first paragraph: ....whenever there was a little hitch, and some of his orbs got out of their orbits, he was blander and more genial still, for nothing pleased him so much as to make the crooked straight, and crush down uneven places.

The “little hitch” is a euphemism for what is likely a large problem. And when we read that the king likes above all to “make the crooked straight, and crush down uneven places,” we can interpret this as a metaphor for the king bending (and breaking) people to his will. The sarcastic description of the king’s tyranny is further developed in the reference to his “orbs” getting “out of their orbits” -- a clever metaphor that indirectly compares disruptions in the king’s routine with planets (“orbs”) wandering out of their paths. It also implies that while others are the planets, he is the sun they revolve around.

Oxymorons, with their combination of opposing words, are very appropriate for expressing the king’s qualities of brutality and civility. At the end of the fourth paragraph of “The Lady, or the Tiger?” the oxymoron “barbaric idealism” describes the king’s system of justice. (Given his taste for violence and absolute power, “barbaric” probably carries more weight here than “idealism.”) The figurative language in these descriptions gives the passage a tone of sarcasm and shows readers that while the king is to be feared, he is also a ridiculous figure.

Later in the story, Stockton uses metaphors to create vivid descriptions of the princess, as she faces her terrible decision:

Think of it, fair reader, not as if the decision of the question depended upon yourself, but upon that hot- blooded, semi-barbaric princess, her soul at a white heat beneath the combined fires of despair and jealousy. She had lost him, but who should have him?

With this sentence’s metaphors, “white heat” and “combined fires of despair and jealousy,” Stockton compares the princess’s conflicting emotions to flames that burn her soul. These metaphors intensify the description, inviting us to feel the raw pain of her emotions. There is no sarcasm in this description; readers are meant to empathize with the princess.

Stockton’s “The Lady, or the Tiger?” is a story full of high passion and danger. As you read this story, notice how the author skillfully uses figurative language, sometimes to hint subtly at darker meanings, sometimes to add humor, and other times to turn up the full intensity of his expression.

Provide five examples of figurative language from the text of Stockton’s “The Lady, or the Tiger?” NOT used above and also explain their meaning.

Example 1:

Example 2:

Example 3:

Example 4:

Example 5: