College Composition / Unit 29 CMP 0706 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Figurative Language
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The idea
Figurative language compares one aspect of things that are otherwise different, and it is an essential part of rhetorical language.
In practice
Figurative comparisons can make an abstract idea concrete, shape the reader's feelings about a subject, and set the tone of a passage.
Where people slip
Ask how a figure changes the meaning or tone; a comparison always carries associations beyond its literal point.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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