Figurative language is a tool writers use to help readers visualize what is happening in a piece of writing. There are eight major types of figurative language: similes make comparisons between two unlike things using like or as; metaphors make comparisons without using like or as; hyperboles exaggerate things hugely; idioms are expressions understood figuratively rather than literally; personification gives human qualities to non-human objects; alliteration repeats initial consonant sounds; onomatopoeia uses words that imitate sounds; and imagery engages the five senses to help readers experience the story.