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Figurative language in a literary work
An essay about figurative language
An essay about figurative language
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What is figurative language? Figurative language is saying something other than what is meant for effect. For example a metaphor, simile, symbol, hyperbole or personification. In the sermon called Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God and the Iroquois Constitution there is a lot of figurative language.
In Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God, I found that there is a lot of figurative language. An example of a figurative language used in the sermon is, “The God that holds you over the pit of Hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire (Edwards 48).” That simile is comparing a sinner to an insect. When someone thinks of an insect people show a face of disgust, which shows how much disgust Edwards had towards sinners.
Another example of figurative language is, “The devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them and swallow them up (Edwards 46).” That type of figurative language is called personification. Personification is giving human characteristics to non-human things, for example the word gaping. In that example it means that hell is wide open for sinners. I think that Edwards uses figurative language to frighten people of what will happen to them if they become sinners. He is also trying to discourage people from becoming sinners by describing what hell is like and what it would be like.
Figurative language is when you use words or a phrase that do not have a regular, everyday literal meaning and is used by almost all authors in their writings. Authors use figurative language to make their works more interesting and more dramatic. Examples of figurative language include metaphors, similes, personification and hyperbole. Helena Maria Viramontes uses figurative language all throughout her novel Under the Feet of Jesus. In the opening paragraphs of the novel Viramontes uses imagery to set the scene for her readers, she really makes us feel as if we are riding along in the station wagon with Estrella and her 6 other family members. In this scene she describes to her readers reflects on the hardships that this family, and people
Edwards immediately begins with a harsh, almost cruel, tone with the use of abrasive diction. His first moments of preaching the sermon had the use of words such as, “over the pit of hell;..deserved the fiery pit… wrath in hell… devil is waiting for them,” (1). Edwards
For instance, Edward uses figurative language such as the image of the fire, “the dreadful pit of the glowing flames… there is Hell’s wide gaping mouth open: and you have nothing to stand upon”. The imagery of the fire is the description of Hell according to the Biblical text. Edward uses this scare tactic to fear the sinners what they could possibly face in Hell. Edward conveys to the audience that if they have not converted then hell will be on the wait. He uses personification
Edwards applied masses of descriptive imagery in his sermon to persuade the Puritans back to their congregation. For example, he gave fear to the Puritans through this quote, “We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth, so it is easy for us to cut a singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by, thus easy is it for God when he pleases to cast his enemies down to hell…” (pg. 153) In this quotation, he utilized vivid imagery because he wanted the Puritans to visibly imagine what he was saying through his sermon, on how angry God is with them, which made them convert back to Puritanism. Through the use of vivid imagery such as “crush a w...
Jonathan Edwards’ sermon was themed for this congregation to repent so they could make an attempt to save their souls, and it also expresses that you are the sinner. Questioning that now, his entire sermon screams at us that it is us that the sinners, ‘you are sinners,’ but it Edwards doesn’t express that it is we that are sinners so it seems that he was excluding himself. His sermon was also spoken in a quiet, leveled and emotionless voice, monotone even, but even through his sermon lacked any sort of emotion or life, it caused the people of the congregation to feel emotional and angry. It might be the fact it was six-hours of the same sayings of being told ‘you are a sinner,’ or it could be how explicit it was because Edwards did not sugarcoat his sermon in the slightest. "The God that holds you over the pit of Hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire abhors you..." is a quote by Edwards that portrays the power of God versus how weak and feeble humans are. Edwards portrays God in a menacing and relentless way so his congregation will fear God and the punishments of the sins they commit, which might be his way to help his
Many of the symbols that represent Hell are things that are feared, such as spiders and snakes. Edwards declares the terror of the sinners: “That God holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider…over the fire” (26). The unnerving symbol of a spider relates to the religious idea that God is so powerful while the person is so insignificant, such as the spider. By making these connections, the audience can easily understand his point, making his sermon effective. It also provokes the audience, by relating the sinner to a spider and how angry God is, which causes the audience to think about their actions. Edwards speaks with credibility and poise when delivering his sermon, which makes him more effective. He uses logic that says, “If you are a sinner, then you are going to hell”, which makes a strong point. Whether the logic is true or false does not affect the effectiveness of his sermon, because he is able to shock the audience so much that they listen to him without question. This logic that sinners are condemned to hell is referenced in the imagery seen in the sermon. Through his logic and imagery, Edwards creates a very serious tone that makes the sermon very effective in persuading people to convert and become closer with
In 1741, Jonathan Edwards, a Puritan preacher of that time, had one thing on his mind: to convert sinners, on the road to hell, to salvation. It just so happened to be, that his way of doing that was to preach the reality to them and scare them to the point of conversion. Sermons of this time were preached to persuade people to be converted and to me it seemed that Edwards just had a special way of doing it. Just as people are being influenced by rhetoric appeals today Edwards used the same method on his congregation. In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Jonathan Edwards positively affected his readers using pathos, logos, and ethos, while trying to convince the unconverted members of his sermon to be born again.
...able to cast enemies into hell: "so it is easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by: thus easy is it for God, when he pleases, to cast His enemies down to hell." Edwards relates our abilities with God's in a way that all may comprehend; consequently, when he returns to this analogy in his application, the same understanding rules: "your righteousness would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock." This time, however, the spider and sinner are depicted as equals.
Throughout history people had always enjoyed and appreciated works of Literature in which they can relate to their everyday life. The Genesis book from the Bible is an example of Literature in which people know its stories and appreciated them. Even people who do not have faith on the Bible know the stories from the Genesis. The reason behind that is because the book is famously known as a collection of stories that tell us about the beginning of everything and how early civilizations interacted with God. The people that read the book of Genesis because of their religion beliefs, they would see it as an obligation to read rather than appreciate it and understand it as a work of literature. However, Darwin’s science strongly contradicts most
Jonathan Edwards uses the rhetorical strategy of tone in his piece, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, to fulfill his purpose of making the audience fear God. Edwards states, “God would rush forward with inconceivable fury” (p.59). Here Edwards declares that God wouldn’t hesitate to unleash his wrath upon oneself, even if they mess up just once. Edwards uses diction to emphasize his overall tone, telling the people that God is the ultimate power. Within his use of diction, Edwards indicates a religious pastor-like tone with the use of biblical elements to convey his purpose. He constantly references God being disappointed in all humans and how they will be damned. This stirs up emotion in the audience members.
Jonathan Edwards powerful essay, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (DATE), claims that those who are not reborn into the Puritan way dwell on the brink of damnation and at any moment can be dropped by God into the horrors of Hell. Edwards supports his claim with violent, fiery imagery of the fate that awaits sinners at the hands of God if they are not reborn into the Puritan way. He wrote this piece with the intended purpose of convincing the people within his congregation to turn away from sin and repent to God to be reborn again in order to avoid the hell fire death he deemed they would suffer otherwise. Edwards was writing in the time of the Enlightenment, when people had begun to rely less upon religion and more on science, in accordance,
Everyone has someone in their life that they know to be very strict and rule oriented, or Puritanical. Many of the legalistic aspects of our American culture have their genesis in the Puritans. In the sermon of “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, written by Jonathan Edwards, a famous preacher for this sermon, and the “Speech to the General Court in 1645,” by John Winthrop, a Massachusetts Bay governor for 20 years, it is highly illustrated that Puritan society had wanted order. Their society had revolved around being very strict and legalistic about religion. This is based on giving God one’s free will, trusting that he will bring them salvation and ultimately converting to the Puritan protestant belief system.
Puritan literature and Rationalist literature are two contrasting types of writing that served different purposes. One example of Puritan literature is the Sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. This was written by Jonathan Edwards and preached by him in Enfield Connecticut on July 8th, 1741. The sermon focused on us humans and how we are bound to fall into destruction if we do not seek God and save ourselves. An example of Rationalist literature is The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. The part of this text that I will focus on is the chapter on his plan for attaining moral perfection. This chapter talks about Benjamin Franklins plan for attaining moral perfection and what he learned through it. The role of the author in Puritan literature
Words have the power to change the way people think and feel. Supplementing one word for another might seem like entering a synonym, but this synonym has the ability to convey sentiments that the other fails to comprehend. For example, Dante’s Inferno has copious amounts of translations with each supporting the same message; however, each produces a different response. Langdon’s translation births sentiment and sympathy for these characters whereas Neff’s translation generates disapproval and hatred.
A. The primary reason to teach figurative language is so that students can understand that some ideas presented in text are abstract in nature and may be outside their personal realm of experience. Connections made through figurative language connect the abstract to more easily relatable topics. Choices (B) and (C), while true, are incorrect because neither is the only reason to teach figurative language. Figurative language occurs in nonfiction, in TV commercials, and so forth — it can be in any type of text, not just fiction. Choice (D) is incorrect because assessment expectations are never