https://studdemma.wordpress.com/2015/04/02/figurative-language-in-looking-for-alaska/
There is plenty of figurative language in Looking for Alaska. John green always uses figurative language to help detail his books. Figurative language creates pictures (figures) in the mind of the reader. These images help convey the meaning faster and more vividly than words alone. Examples of figurative language are onomatopoeia, alliteration, hyperbole, oxymoron, simile, metaphor, and personification.
Onomatopoeia is words that look and sound like the sound they are describing. In Looking for Alaska there are a few examples. On page 107 it says “I lit the fuse, ran. BANG!”, which is an example of onomatopoeia. John green used onomatopoeia to emphasize on a certain word/phrase to give more of an effect.Alliteration is the repeated sound of the first consonant in a series of multiple words, or the repetition of the same sound or of the same kind of sounds at the beginning of words. Alliteration is something like ” peter piper picked a pipe of pickled peppers”. I could not find any Alliteration in my book Looking for Alaska. Not often do you find an author putting tongue twisters in there novels.Hyperbole is exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. An example of Hyperbole in Looking for Alaska is on page 23 “I wouldn’t have cared if my girlfriend was a Jaguar-driving Cyclops with a beard – I’d have been grateful just to have someone to make out with”. The author added the exaggeration to show how desperate miles is.Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joining to create an effect. An example in Looking for Alaska would be on page 21. “And then he stared at me in a manner that was either serious or seriously malicious” is an example of oxymoron. This oxymoron was added to give more of an effect on how he was angry and how hard he stared at miles.Simile is a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared. In Looking for Alaska, there are quite a few examples, on page 131 it says “she tasted like Mountain Dew, Cigarettes and chapstick” and on page 46 it says “He loves weed like Alaska loves sex”. These similes were added to the text to give us a better idea on the characters.Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to which it is not literally applicable. On page of Looking for Alaska it says “You just use the future to escape the present”. This is an example of a metaphor. Metaphors are used in Looking for Alaska to give more detail but in a more specific way.Personification is our last example. This the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristic to something non human.On page 213 “Five miles north of the school… glass glittered in the blare of the sun like the road was wearing jewelry… He was still accelerating”. This is an example of personification in Looking for Alaska, it shows us how much glass from her car was on the road.
