I’m under the impression that if you compare a color to something else of that same color it’s literal language. So, the dress was sky blue would be literal language. But does “the dress was as blue as the sky” suddenly become figurative language? If so, why? If not, why not?
Is it only figurative if it also cannot literally be true, or is it enough to be figurative if the sentence is richly evocative/descriptive?
Here’s the passage I’m working with a student on, and it’s the last sentence that’s giving me pause:
“They stopped running and stood in the great jungle that covered Venus, that grew and never stopped growing, even as you watched it. It was a nest of octopi, clustering up great arms of flesh-like weed, wavering, flowering this brief spring. It was the color of rubber and ash, this jungle, from the many years without sun. It was the color of stones and white cheeses and ink, and it was the color of the moon.”
He identified this last sentence as an instance of figurative language, my gut says this is literal language but I’m trying to explain the general principles that would allow him to make this conclusion on his own in other instances. This is maybe also complicated by the fact that it’s a science fiction story so the imaginative is bleeding into realistic.
Any help, particularly from English professors, creative writing instructors, and literary experts would be much appreciated!
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You were pretty close when asking if figurative language is simply evocative, etc…
Figurative language is using words in ways outside of their literal meanings or normal usage. You’re expressing yourself and the subject by using language that evokes ideas instead of just factual statements.
“The dress is sky-blue.” and “The dress was as blue as the sky” basically mean the same thing to a read, but one is much more interesting and really gets the idea across. Also, someone might not be able to land on sky blue as a color, but saying blue as the sky would make them picture a blue sky, and that’s pretty easy to translate.
What you might say to make it easier to visualize is:
“The dress was blue like the sky on a Texas summer day”
and
“The dress was the sky on her skin”
The first one is comparing, the second is equating. (Simile / metaphor)
So in your student’s passage, “it was a nest of octopi…” is not literal, it’s saying the roots and branches of the jungle are like the arms of an octopus.
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