What is figurative language and give two examples?

• A. Language used non-literally to create effects; examples: metaphor and personification.
• B. Language used literally.
• C. Language used in the same way across poems.
• D. Language that rhymes.

Answer: (A)

Figurative language is language used non-literally to create effects, evoke vivid imagery, or express ideas in a more imaginative way. It isn’t about stating facts as they are; it’s about suggesting meaning through comparisons and human qualities given to non-human things.

Two clear examples show how this works. A metaphor states that something is something else to highlight a shared idea or quality—no “like” or “as” involved. For instance, saying “the world is a stage” signals ideas about life being performative or fleeting. Personification gives human traits to non-human things, such as “the wind whispered,” which makes an abstract breeze feel like it has intention or feeling.

Other options don’t fit because literal language states things as they are, without figurative meaning; describing language as something used the same way across poems doesn’t address non-literal effects; and focusing on rhyme concerns sound patterns rather than how meanings are expressed through imaginative comparisons or human attributes.