What is Figurative and Literal Meaning?( Please English homework!)?

Question

What is Figurative and Literal Meaning?( Please English homework!)?

Answer 1

Figurative meaning is not literal - that means it does not mean what it says. (Ex: It's bursting with flavor - the item is not literally bursting) - it's used to enrich language. Literal meaning is the meaning that the reader is most likely to assign to a word or phrase - the commonly used and commonly accepted meanings. It is the truthful and accurate description.

Answer 2

Literal meaning is a straightforward description:

There was a dark tunnel that I couldn't get out of.

This is literal if there was a dark tunnel, you were in it, and actually couldn't get out.

Compare with:

My life was a dark tunnel I couldn't get out of.

The grief was like a dark tunnel I couldn't get out of.

These are figurative.  The first is a metaphor, the second is a simile.  Neither life, nor grief is literally a dark tunnel, but comparing them to one helps give people a deeper understanding of how the person felt.

For more examples, see: http://www.frostfriends.org/figurative.h...