
Emmalee I. answered 11/07/20
Experienced Writing, English and College Entrance tutor
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Figurative language can be used to draw a reader deeper into a passage, connecting with their senses, experiences and emotions. "Slam" on its own might be one form of figurative language, but individual words in different contexts can be used in a variety of different forms of figurative language.
For example:
"Slam! The wooden door was only an inch from her nose, and she was left alone."
In this case, slam is onomatopoeia because it is a word that sounds like the thing it is describing. It invokes the reader's sense of the sound of a "slam".
But also:
"The door slammed shut like a roar of thunder."
In this instance, "slammed" is still invoking that sound that catches a readers attention (onomatopoeia), but it is also used in a simile. The author is comparing the slamming of the door directly to a bolt of thunder.
"Slam" can be used in many forms of figurative language, but it always invokes the reader's physical senses; therefore, it is onomatopoeia.
What other forms of figurative language could use the word "slam"? How can onomatopoeia be paired with other forms of figurative language to connect the reader more deeply to the text?