ENGJHS 1 • Term 3Topic 14Free Trial Lesson
Figures of Speech & Literary Devices
Identify and analyze similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and irony in BECE poetry and prose.
Curated Video Lesson
Visual explanation and practical step-by-step walk-through
Comprehensive Study Notes
Aligned with Ghana NaCCA & WAEC BECE syllabus standards
Topic Introduction & Real-World Context:
Figures of speech are artistic tools of language that transform ordinary, literal statements into vivid, imaginative, and emotionally resonant expressions. In literature (poetry, drama, and prose) as well as in BECE Paper 2 essay writing, identifying and employing figurative devices marks the difference between an average student and an exceptional scholar.
What You Will Master in This Lesson (NaCCA Objectives):
Identify, define, and interpret core figures of speech: Simile, Metaphor, Personification, and Hyperbole.
Recognize auditory and structural devices: Alliteration, Onomatopoeia, Irony, and Oxymoron.
Analyze the effect of literary devices in poetic verses and prose passages.
Employ appropriate figurative expressions in original descriptive and narrative compositions.
1. Comparisons: Simile and Metaphor
• Simile:
A direct comparison between two fundamentally dissimilar things using explicit connecting words: 'like' or 'as'.
- "The brave soldier fought like a lion on the battlefield."
- "Her voice was as smooth as silk."
- "The thief was as slippery as an eel."
Function: Creates an immediate mental image by highlighting a shared characteristic (bravery, smoothness, evasiveness).
• Metaphor:
An implicit or direct comparison between two unlike things WITHOUT using 'like' or 'as'. One thing is stated to BE another.
- "Kwame is a lion in combat."
- "Education is the golden key to freedom."
- "The camel is the ship of the desert."
Function: A metaphor is stronger and more profound than a simile because it equates the two entities directly.
Key Takeaway: Simile uses 'like' or 'as'; Metaphor makes a direct equation without 'like' or 'as'.
Real-World Application: In praise poetry for an Asantehene: 'He is the towering baobab tree that shelters his people' (Metaphor).
2. Personification and Hyperbole
• Personification:
Attributing human qualities, emotions, actions, or consciousness to inanimate objects, animals, or abstract ideas.
- "The angry wind shrieked through the trees."
- "The merciless sun beat down on our bare heads."
- "Opportunity knocked softly at his door, but he hesitated."
Function: Makes the non-human world feel dynamic, relatable, and emotionally alive.
• Hyperbole (Deliberate Exaggeration):
An intentional, extravagant exaggeration used for emphasis, humor, or heightened emotional impact, not intended to be taken literally.
- "I have told you a million times to clean your shoes!"
- "His laughter was loud enough to wake the dead."
- "The sack of cocoa beans weighed a ton."
Function: Intensifies feelings and creates vivid, memorable emphasis.
Key Takeaway: Personification gives human traits to non-human things; Hyperbole is dramatic overstatement for effect.
Real-World Application: Describing the dry harmattan wind: 'The dusty harmattan winds crept through closed doors and choked our throats' (Personification).
3. Auditory Devices: Alliteration and Onomatopoeia
• Alliteration:
The repetition of the same initial consonant sound in two or more closely situated words in a sentence or line of poetry.
- "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."
- "The sea shells sink slowly in the sand." (Repetition of the soothing /s/ sound).
- "Bright blue butterflies basked beside the brook."
Function: Creates rhythm, musicality, and mood (e.g. soft /s/ sounds mimic ocean waves or whispering winds).
• Onomatopoeia:
Words whose sound imitates or suggests the actual noise or action they describe.
- "The bees BUZZED among the blossoms."
- "The dry twigs CRACKLED and SNAPPED beneath our boots."
- "The torrential rain SPLATTERED against the zinc roof."
- "The glass SHATTERED into a thousand pieces."
Function: Brings sounds directly into the reader's auditory imagination.
Key Takeaway: Alliteration repeats initial consonant sounds; Onomatopoeia uses words that sound like what they mean.
Real-World Application: In an exam poem: 'The snake hissed and slithered through the silent grass' (hissed = onomatopoeia; slithered through the silent = alliteration).
4. Contrast Devices: Irony and Oxymoron
• Irony:
A contrast or incongruity between expectation and reality, or between what is stated and what is truly meant.
- Situational Irony: The outcome is the exact opposite of what was reasonably anticipated.
* "The fire station burned down while the firefighters were attending a fire safety lecture."
- Verbal Irony (Sarcasm): Stating the opposite of one's true intention.
* Saying "What lovely weather!" during a devastating flood.
• Oxymoron:
A compact figure of speech in which two contradictory or mutually exclusive terms appear side-by-side in a single phrase.
- "deafening silence"
- "bittersweet memory"
- "open secret"
- "cruel kindness"
- "seriously funny"
Function: Provokes deep contemplation by highlighting the dual, complex nature of life experiences.
Key Takeaway: Irony contrasts expectation with reality; Oxymoron pairs opposite words directly (e.g. 'deafening silence').
Real-World Application: Describing graduation day: 'Leaving junior high school brought a bittersweet feeling—excitement for senior high mixed with sorrow of parting.'
Common Mistakes Students Make in BECE Examinations:
⚠️Confusing Simile with Metaphor: thinking 'He was a cheetah' is a simile because it compares two things (it lacks 'like/as', so it is a metaphor).
⚠️Confusing Alliteration with Rhyme: alliteration repeats the INITIAL sound (Peter Piper), whereas rhyme repeats the ENDING sound (cat/hat).
⚠️Calling any exaggeration a lie instead of identifying it as literary Hyperbole.
⚠️Misidentifying Personification when an animal merely does what animals do (e.g., 'The dog barked' is NOT personification, but 'The dog chuckled at my mistake' IS).
Teacher's BECE Exam Pro-Tips:
⭐In BECE Literature questions, when asked to identify a figure of speech, quote the specific line from the poem before naming the device (e.g. 'Line 4: "The sun smiled upon the harvest" — Personification').
⭐Explain the effect: Do not merely name the device; explain what it conveys (e.g. 'The simile compares the speed of the runner to an arrow, emphasizing his extraordinary rapidity').
⭐Use one simile and one personification in your narrative and descriptive essays to score maximum marks under Expression.
Quick Revision Summary Checklist:
Distinguish between Simile (using like/as) and Metaphor (direct equation).
Identify Personification and Hyperbole in texts.
Recognize auditory devices: Alliteration (initial sounds) and Onomatopoeia (sound words).
Understand Irony and Oxymoron (contradictory pairs).
Step-by-Step Worked Examples (2)
Real BECE exam-standard problems with complete solution steps
Example 1: Distinguishing a Simile from a Metaphor
Problem StatementClassify each statement as either a simile or metaphor: (a) The classroom was like a beehive. (b) The classroom was a beehive.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Statement (a) uses the comparative word "like" to compare classroom and beehive -> SIMILE.
Statement (b) directly asserts that the classroom IS a beehive without "like" or "as" -> METAPHOR.
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Key Takeaway / Exam Rule: Similes use "like" or "as"; metaphors make direct statements of equivalence.
Example 2: Identifying Personification in Poetry
Problem StatementIdentify the literary device: "The scorching sun glared down furiously upon the thirsty desert sands."
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: The sun is an inanimate celestial star, but it is described as "glaring furiously" (a human emotion).
Step 2: The desert sands are described as "thirsty" (a biological sensation).
Literary device: PERSONIFICATION.
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Key Takeaway / Exam Rule: Giving human feelings or behaviors to nature or objects is personification.
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