AP® English Literature and Composition review sheet from Aim for Five (aimforfive.com/lit/units/5/5-2)
Unit 5 · Topic 5.2
5.2 Literal and figurative meanings
Words can work literally and figuratively at the same time, and many carry several meanings or connotations at once. Noticing when a word means more than one thing, and explaining the extra layer, is one of the most rewarding moves in poetry analysis.
Key terms
- literal meaning
- figurative meaning
- connotation
- ambiguity
- multiple meanings
Literal and figurative
Literal meaning is what the words actually say. Figurative meaning is what they suggest beyond that. "The road" in a poem may literally be a path through the woods and figuratively stand for a life choice. Both meanings can be active at once.
Good analysis keeps both in view. If you only read literally, you miss the poem's depth. If you jump straight to the figurative, you may lose the concrete details that make the meaning vivid.
Words with more than one meaning
Many English words have several meanings. Poets use this on purpose to add nuance. A word like "grave" can mean serious or a burial place. "Fall" can mean a season, a drop or a moral failure. When a word could fit more than one meaning in context, ask whether the poem wants you to hear both.
Connotations add layers too
Even a word with one dictionary meaning carries associations. "Home" and "house" can name the same building, but "home" suggests warmth and belonging. Choosing one over the other adds a layer of feeling.
Ambiguity is not a mistake
Ambiguity means a word, line or whole poem can reasonably be read in more than one way. In poetry, that's often deliberate. Don't rush to pick one reading and throw out the other. A strong essay can explain how both readings work together, or why the poem keeps them in tension. That kind of thinking can help you earn the sophistication point.
- Ask: what are the possible meanings of this word here?
- Ask: does the context support more than one?
- Ask: what does the poem gain by keeping both?
Where double meanings hide
When you write about a double meaning, name both meanings, show how the context supports each, and explain what the combination adds. A sentence like "The word 'still' means both 'motionless' and 'even now,' so the speaker is both frozen by grief and continuing to grieve" does all three.
- Titles: a title can name the literal subject and hint at a bigger one.
- Line endings: a word at the end of a line may mean one thing alone and another once the sentence continues (see 2.2).
- Puns: a word chosen because it sounds like or means two things at once.
- Ordinary words in odd places: a simple word like "rest," "still" or "lie" can open up suddenly when the context gives it a second sense.
Worked examples
Try each one yourself first, then open the solution.
- Example 1
Two meanings that pull against each other
Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" (published 1915; in Mountain Interval, 1916) describes a traveler choosing between two paths in a "yellow wood." In stanzas two and three, the speaker admits the roads were nearly identical: "Though as for that the passing there / Had worn them really about the same" (lines 9–10). The poem ends: "I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence: / Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference" (lines 16–20). Explain how multiple meanings in these lines complicate the poem.
Show the solutionHide the solution
- Step 1: Start literal. The roads are real paths; the speaker chose one.
- Step 2: Move figurative. The roads stand for life choices, and the poem imagines telling the story years later.
- Step 3: Find words with more than one meaning. A "sigh" could be regret, relief, contentment or nostalgia. "All the difference" could be good or bad; the speaker never says which.
- Step 4: Use lines 9–10. The roads were "really about the same," so the claim that he took "the one less traveled by" is a story he'll tell later, not quite the truth.
- Step 5: Explain what the double meanings add: the poem is about how people shape the stories of their choices, not simply about bold choices.
Answer: Model paragraph: Frost's ending depends on words that mean more than one thing, and the double meanings turn a famous "inspiring" poem into something more uncertain. The speaker predicts he will tell this story "with a sigh," but a sigh can express regret, relief or simple nostalgia, and the poem never says which. Similarly, the choice "has made all the difference," a phrase that sounds triumphant but could just as easily describe a loss. These ambiguities matter because the speaker has already admitted that the two roads were worn "really about the same." His later claim that he "took the one less traveled by" is therefore partly a story he will tell himself. Read with both meanings in mind, the poem becomes less about bold choices and more about how people give their choices meaning afterward.
Common mistakes
- Picking one meaning of a word and ignoring others the context supports.
- Reading figuratively too fast and losing the literal details.
- Treating ambiguity as a flaw or confusion. Often it's the point.
On the exam
- Multiple-choice questions may ask which meaning of a word is "most relevant" in context, or which two meanings a word carries. Test each option against the surrounding lines.
- Explaining how a word's two meanings work together is a strong way to show complexity in the poetry essay.
Connected topics
Videos
Check yourself
4 questions on 5.2 Literal and figurative meanings. Pick an answer to see if you got it, and why.
Claude McKay, “If We Must Die” (1919), from Harlem Shadows (1922)
In line 13, “Like men” most likely carries which two meanings?
Walt Whitman, “A Noiseless Patient Spider” (1868), from Leaves of Grass (1891–92 edition)
In lines 9–10, words such as “bridge,” “anchor” and “thread” work on two levels because they
Emily Dickinson, “The Chariot” (“Because I could not stop for Death”), as printed in Poems by Emily Dickinson (1890)
The “house that seemed / A swelling of the ground” (lines 13–14) is best understood as
William Shakespeare, Sonnet 130, from Shake-speares Sonnets (1609). “damask'd”: mixed in color. “reeks”: is breathed out (not an insult in Shakespeare's day). “belied”: misrepresented. “compare”: comparison.
In line 14, “any she belied with false compare” refers to
0 of 4 answered