FIGURES OF SPEECH

Introduction to Literature

Figure of Speech

a form of expression used to convey meaning or heighten effect often by comparing or identifying one thing with another that has a meaning or connotation familiar to the reader or listener.

Function:

1. Add beauty2. Emotional intensity 3. Transfer the poet's sense impressions

by comparing or identifying one thing with another that has a meaning familiar to the reader.

4. Provoke a thought process and bring depth to the language.

Alliteration

the repetition of any particular sound among words placed close together, in a sentence. These are mainly consonant sounds, but can be vowel sounds too. It is often used as a figure of speech in poetry.

Don't delay dawns disarming display. Dusk demands daylight. - Paul McCan

Sara’s seven sisters slept soundly in sand.

Anastropherefers to the inversion of the normal order of speech in a particular sentence. It can also be said, that the language is interrupted, and speech takes a sudden turn. This is used for the purpose of emphasis.

Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. - Edgar Allan Poe, The Tell-Tale Heart.Why should their liberty than ours be more? - Adriana, Comedy of Errors, William Shakespeare

Anaphora

refers to a repetition of one particular word purposely, at the start of consecutive sentences or paragraphs.

I'm not afraid to die. I'm not afraid to live. I'm not afraid to fail. I'm not afraid to succeed. I'm not afraid to fall in love. I'm not afraid to be alone. I'm just afraid I might have to stop talking about myself for five minutes. - Kinky Friedman, When the Cat's Away

ANTITHESES

The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.

Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thingEverybody doesn’t like something, but nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee.

CHIASMUS–A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed.“You forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you want to forget.”“In the end, the true test is not the speeches a president delivers; it’s whether the president delivers on the speeches.

Euphemism

the use of neutral language to remark something that may be offensive to the receiver. Euphemism is often used by people who are diplomatic, and who wish to be politically correct.

We have to let you go. Read: You're fired.Asma is well fed. Read: Asma is fat.

Hyperbole

–a figure of speech used for the extreme exaggeration.

I'm so busy trying to accomplish ten million things at once.

Your dog is so ugly, we had to pay the fleas to live on him.

Irony–The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning.

Having a fight with your best friend just before your birthday, and commenting -"Great, this is just what I needed“

In Romeo and Juliet, when Juliet is drugged, Romeo assumes her to be dead, and kills himself. Upon waking up Juliet finds him dead, and kills herself.

Litotes

–refers to the use of understatement, to affirm a particular situation or event with the use of a negative opposite.

Einstein is not a bad mathematician.

He was not unfamiliar with the work of Shakespeare.

Metaphor –that implies the meaning of an object with its reference to another completely unrelated object. An indirect comparison.

The sofa is fertile soil for a couch potato.But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill.

Metonymy

–of a phrase regarding associated concept, in order to describe the actual concept.

The 'editorial page' has always believed...

He writes a fine hand

Oxymoron

–contradictory adjective to define an object, situation or event.

Loners clubA stripper's dressing roomI'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous!

Onomatopoeia

–words imitate the sounds made by certain objects or actions.

The clatter of utensils.The flutter of birds.Clap and boom of thunder.

PARADOX

–A statement that appears to contradict itself.

“The swiftest traveler is he that goes afoot.”“If you wish to preserve your secret, wrap it up in frankness.”

PERSONIFICATION

–bringing to life an inanimate object, trait, or action, by associating it with a human quality.

The picture in that magazine screamed for attention.

The carved pumpkin smiled at me.

Pun

–the deliberate substitution of similar sounding words, to create a humorous effect.

I bet the butcher the other day that he couldn’t reach the meat that was on the top shelf. He refused to take the bet, saying that the steaks were too high.

Santa’s helpers are subordinate Clauses.

Synecdoche

–A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole (for example, ABCsfor alphabet) or the whole for a part (“England won the World Cup in 1966″).“The sputtering economy could make the difference if you’re trying to get a deal on a new set of wheels.”General Motors announced cutbacks.

Simile

–a reference between two concepts is made by using the terms 'like' or 'as'. Cause she looks like a flower but she stings like a bee/Like every girl in history. - Ricky Martin

I felt as worn out as an old joke that was never very funny in the first place.

Rhetorical Question

–Questions that have an obvious answer are known as rhetorical questions. Such questions are not expected to be answered, as the answer is already known.

“If practice makes perfect, and no one's perfect, then why practice?”

ACTIVITY