Rhetorical Devices in Song Lyrics

Identify the type of figurative language being used below-

I have died everyday, waiting for you

Darling, don't be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years

-"Thousand Years," Christina Perri

• metaphor

• hyperbole

• simile

• a thousand years

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.5A

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag

Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin

Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?

-"Firework", Katy Perry

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Onomatopoeia

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5A

CCSS.L.5.5A

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.W.11-12.2D

I feel glorious, glorious

Got a chance to start again

I was born for this, born for this

It's who I am, how could I forget?

-Macklemore, "Glorious"

• Repetition/refrain

• Metaphor

• Rhyme

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

I like that boom boom pow

Them chickens jackin' my style

-The Black Eyed Peas, "Boom Boom Pow"

• Onomatopoeia

• Imagery

• Simile

• Assonance

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

CCSS.L.6.5

CCSS.RL.2.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch

You really are a heel

You're as cuddly as a cactus

You're as charming as an eel

-"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch"

• Simile and Metaphor

• Allusion and symbolism

Tags

CCSS.L.7.5A

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

And I'm so sick of love songs, so tired of tears

So done with wishing you were still here

Said I'm so sick of love songs, so sad and slow

So why can't I turn off the radio?

-Ne-Yo, "So Sick"

• Alliteration

• Metphor

• Personification

• Onomatopoeia

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

CCSS.L.6.5

CCSS.RL.2.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes

-Michael Jackson, "Thriller"

• Symbol

• Simile

• Personification

• Alliteration

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5A

CCSS.L.5.5A

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.W.11-12.2D

They put me in the oven to bake.

Me, a deprived and miserable cake.

Feeling the heat, I started to bubble.

Watching the others, I knew I was in trouble.

-"The Life of a Cupcake", by Shelby Greer

• Hyperbole

• Metaphor

• Onomatopoeia

• Rhyme Scheme

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.4

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

You make me happy, when sky's are gray.

You never know dear, how much I love you.

Please don't take my sunshine away.

-Carly Simon, "Sunshine"

• Onomatopoeia

• Metaphor

• Simile

• Vivid words

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

CCSS.L.6.5

CCSS.L.7.5

CCSS.L.8.5

Death crept in without a word and stole what was most dear to me

• Metaphor

• Onomatopoeia

• Personification

• allusions

Tags

CCSS.L.6.5A