Southern Night Figurative Language

Poems have figurative speech in them. Figurative language makes the poem more exciting. In poems the writer sometimes uses figurative language like, simile,metaphor, and personification. In the poem a Valentine for Ernest Mann there is personification,hyperbole, and smile.

In the famous single,“Fireflies”, there were many uses of similes and metaphors to show his vivid dreams when he was young. In stanza 6, Adam Young sang “Cause I feel like such an insomniac”. This is an example of simile, Adam Young is comparing himself to a person who is regularly unable to sleep. In the last stanza, Adam Young sang “Because my dreams are bursting at the seams”. This shows an example of metaphor, because he is comparing two thoughts without using like or as. In stanza 7, Adam Young sang “I got misty eyes as they said farewell”. This is another example of metaphor, Adam Young is trying to convey the idea that he is going to cry as the fireflies said a farewell. By using many

Right near the beginning the author writes “Gusts of wind made bits of paper dance between the parked cars” which is an example of personification. This use of figurative language helps develop a gloomy mood and the fact neighborhood might be poor. Next the author writes “Father’s words like the distant thunder that now echoed through the streets of Harlem” which is an example of a simile. By comparing “Father’s” words to a distant thunder it makes the reader think his father is a big, strict, loud, and that the character and his father are probably in an argument. Finally, the author describes Lemon Brown’s voice as “high and brittle like twigs being broken” which is an example of a simile. By describing the voice as high and brittle it makes the reader think the voice may be from an older person who is potentially a woman. Walter Dean Myers makes great use of figurative language in the story Treasure of Lemon Brown.

There is also figurative language used in phrases such as “Having come from the clouds” and “tilting road”. This adds to the effect of imagery and emphasis on the journey to the sawmill town. It also helps to make the stanza more interesting to the reader.

The first example of figurative language was, “The days were like nights.”(Wiesel 67). The type of figurative language used in the example is a simile as the text is comparing two unlike things, “day” and “night” by using the words “like” or “as”. If the reader were to compare the two, “day” and “night”, they would come to the general understanding that the difference between day and night is that the day is bright and the night is dark. By comparing these two it becomes clear that what Eliezer means by “The days were like nights.”(Wiesel 67) is that the days he spent everyday at the camp was always filled with never ending darkness, just like at night. By figuring out the general definition of what night means in the book, the reader can also

Southern traditions are considered to be very static and unchanging. Additionally, this line reveals the importance of religion in the South. People in the South feel pretty strongly about religion because it is the main premise of their guiding morals. This song is a nice way to sum up the main themes of being “Southern.” They could be described as tradition, self-reliance, moral values, religion, and the importance of the place.

Professor James Norris explains that to the slave, the songs are everything because they are all he has; he must sing about his condition (“History Detectives”). These words illustrate the pain of the slaves that they long to escape. The slaves know with their heart “no more,” but they must keep singing the songs because the sorrows are the daily reality of the lives they

Figurative language in the memoir “Mississippi Solo” by Eddy Harris Have you ever been on a canoe journey alone? In the story “mississippi solo” by Eddy Harris, the author uses figurative language to give a vivid picture of his extraordinary experience of canoeing down the Mississippi river. In his story he uses personification, simile, metaphor, and hyperbole to help readers give a visual of his experience. Some personification he uses is in lines 53, witch says “But the voice of the river came out and spoke to me teasingly but with a chill of seriousness down my spine.”

Day night, ragtime musicdanced out of the neighborhood honky-tonks. At night, Little Louis fell asleep to the sad songs of the local blues singers. Those sorrowful songs sounded like they were full of all the pain in the world.

The soldiers in the war had a chance to visit other plantations where some of their family and friends were located. They sung to express their oppression and true feelings of this enslaved environment and the struggles that came with it. The songs used animal characters to supplement the slaves and their masters and were very popular and powerful. This was also a part of

The allusion of the Sirens in each of the song lyrics given creates a mood revolving around hopelessness. In both songs, the allusion reinforces the fact that the speaker wants something that they cannot have, similar to the sailors and the Sirens. In “Carolina,” Eric Church sings, “I’d love to see my mama/ Maybe go for a drive/ But I gotta play the star in some little town again tonight” (Church). This signifies the fact that the artist wants to go back to his hometown, but cannot, because his occupation prevents him.

This music brought happiness to people and made them think on the bright side. During the beginning of the Great Depression, Country music was very popular (Martinez). There were three very different genres of country music, including Old Time, Hillbilly, and Western Swing (Martinez). Even though they were different, they all seemed to leave a smile on peoples’ faces. The Carter Family, a music group, had a huge impact on country music and people’s lives. They changed up the game and introduced Hillbilly music to the world (Martinez). One of their songs, “Keep on the Sunny Side”, helped people see that there was a sunny side to every situation, they just had to find it. This song opens with a guitar solo. Soon, two voices jump in to start the song off with how there is darkness in the world, but there is a sunny side that comes along with it. The chorus encourages everyone to ‘keep on the sunny side’. The next few lyrics explain that even though the world is damaged, it will be fixed in good time. ‘The storm and its fury broke today/ Crushing hopes that we cherished so dear/ Clouds and storm will in time pass away/ The sun again will shine bright and clear’. These lyrics give hope to the people who are not very motivated in life. It helps them realize that even though they are going through bad times, the sun will shine through, and all their problems will be fixed. Hillbilly music typically referred to “real-world experiences and real-world tragedy” (Martinez). The audience enjoyed listening to these uplifting songs instead of sad songs, like the

. . should burn and rave at the close of day”(2). This means that old men should fight when they are dying and their age should not prevent them from resisting death. Another example of personification in the poem is “Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay”(8). This line personifies the men’s frail deeds by saying that they could have danced. This means that the potential actions of the men could have flourished and contributed greatly to their lives. The metaphor “. . . words had forked no lightning. . .”(5) is about how the men had done nothing significant with their lives. They had not achieved anything great or caused a major change. The simile “Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay” is about how even grave and serious men will fight against death for as long as they can. Another notable example of figurative language within the poem is “. . . blinding sight”(13). This oxymoron details how the men can see very well and it is very obvious to them that they will die soon, but they know that they can control how they will leave this world. There is an abundance of imagery within this poem, a few examples of which are “. . . danced in a green bay”(8), and “. . . caught and sang the sun in flight”(10) . These examples of imagery are both appealing to the sense of sight by using descriptive words such as “Green” and “danced” in the first example and words such as “caught” and “flight” among others. The second example also appeals to the sense of sound by

Firstly, the examples of similes that are shown in the song are; “You were the shadow to my light”, and, “Under the bright yet faded lights.” Secondly, the examples of metaphors are also present; “Afraid our aim is out of sight”, and, “You’ve set my heart on fire.”

The second stanza describes how success is on the he can feel it in the distance. About the middle of the song he is reminding his friends and family that one man can change the world. Then the next stanza describes how he is grinding to get where he got. About the fifth and sixth stanza he ends the song saying goodbye to