The Big Catastrophe Review

Authors note: In this piece I have examined a previous written piece named “The Big Catastrophe.” Throughout this piece I will be showcasing different types of figurative language and what they mean.

Have you ever said, “I am so hungry I could eat a cow or heard someone say that the sky is as blue as the ocean?”  Well, if you haven’t these are examples of similes, which is a type of figurative language. Throughout this piece I will be pulling out sentences with figurative language from a previous piece entitled “The Big Catastrophe”.

SNAP! I had said, explaining how a branch had broken. This is an example of onomatopoeia. An onomatopoeia is a word taking place of what I would call a sound effect or an action. More examples of an onomatopoeia are bam, crackle, pop, smack, or bang.

In just a few seconds a big gust of wind had made a big branch hit my back, which threw me off the tree. This is an example of personification. Many people may have heard or used this technique to make their piece of writing come to life. In a personification example someone might say, “the leaf jumped off of the tree” or “the wind is howling”. These are all good examples of personification: making and inanimate object come to life with words.

“You need to drive a little faster....I said with pain in my voice.” Litotes are phrases using exaggeration or sarcasm within them. Many people are most familiar with the term sarcasm, also known as massive understatements. Another example of a litote would be, “there are only a few McDonald’s in the world.”

Litotes are the opposite of a hyperbole: an enormous exaggeration.  Hyperbole shares a common qaulity with a simile: they compare two different things. An example would be: that Great Dane must have been the size of a small horse or he had the strength of ten men!

Many types of figurative language can be used to create mixed emotions or deep thoughts on what the language means. On the other hand, other kinds of figurative language  may cause people to over think about something that is quite simple. Sometimes you may even use them on a daily basis and not even realize how you use them.