Poetry and figurative language

Introduction to key terms

meaning

literal figurative

I know which way the wind blows.

Key terms

• Poetics: attempts to explain literary effects through literary conventions & reading practices

• Rhetoric: studies linguistic means of expression and persuasion. –What are the techniques and practices

enabling to construct successful acts of communication?

Aristotle

• Separated poetics form rhetoric

• P: the art of imitation and representation,

• R: the art of persuasion.

Rhetoric

• Medieval literary tradition: blurs that distinction

• 19th century criticism rejected rhetoric as trickery

• In the 20th century rhetoric was rehabilitated

tropes and figures

• trope – “turning” or changing of meaning (metaphor, metonymy),

• figure – combination of words (alliteration, assonance, consonance etc.).

• Modern rhetoric departs from that tradition: clear distinction between literal and figurative not possible

• Language itself is figurative

Figurative language

in poetry

Intro

• Figurative language achieves a meaning or effect different from literal statement

• Most figures of speech compare, explicitly or implicitly, two basically different things that share a common characteristic

simile

• explicit comparison between two things that are literally quite different,

• a comparison using a word such as "like" or "as."

sky is like a mirrorYour brother ran like a gazelle. (but not "Your brother looks like you" -- a comparison, not a simile.) Her tenderness hovered over him like a flutter of wings. (Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim)

metaphor

• compares two things that are literally quite unlike, without a comparison word

sky is a mirror

For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Genesis, 3:19)

Exhilaration is the Breeze That lifts us from the ground (Emily Dickinson)

Examples of metaphors

• Proverbs are frequently rich in metaphor:

One man's meat is another man's poison.I know which way the wind blows.We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.Hunger is the best sauce.Nothing but a handful of dust will fill the eye of man.

metonymy

• use of a closely related image for the idea: • The White House has announced that... (a building

represents the President or one of his aides) • The Crown denies that... (ceremonial device worn by

the king or the queen represents that ruler) or

synecdoche

• The use of a significant, relevant part for the whole:

• All hands on deck• Do you have any wheels tonight?

personification

• the attribution of human characteristics to non-human (sometimes abstract) things

For example, Keats calls Autumn "Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun," and later says:

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind.

types of metaphors

• An extended metaphor is a metaphor developed consistently and carefully throughout the paragraph or essay.

• It can be a powerful unifying device.

Roman Jacobson

• metaphor (relationships of similarity) and metonymy (relationships of attachment) – two basic structures of language

• Theory later extended to synecdoche and irony.

• synecdoche - parts represents whole (cf. allegory),

• irony – contrasts appearances with reality (what we expect with what we get).

• Hayden White: these are the four basic rhetoric structures: metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, irony

• Thanks to them we are able to understand ourselves

• pathetic fallacy

Poetry

Sound patterning

Introductory

• From the beginning poetry was strongly connected to music and singing (religious purposes and entertainment)

• This relationship is very strong even today • Singing and changing are the cross-cultural

phenomena (→ popular culture)

sound patterning

• how it is achieved?• Every language consists of a limited number of

sounds → phonemes.• phonemes → syllables– Syllable structure:

• consonant cluster: C, • vowel: V, • consonant cluster: C

– → [C-V-C]

• When we speak - sounds repeat (in everyday speech repetition is accidental)

• It is possible to arrange sounds into certain patterns.

• Thus it is possible to create the melody of language (and manipulate the natural melody of each language).

The purpose of sound patterning

• Stands out from ordinary speech, draws attention: slogans, catch phrases.

• Easier to memorize: action pack, stitch in time saves nine.• Easier to pronounce, sing, chant etc. (usually songs

require patterning structure, NB: rap music).• Aesthetic effect, may carry certain meaning (although

that is very arbitrary).• Sound patterning widely used: poetry but also jokes,

advertising slogans, speeches, pop lyrics, rapping, toasting.

alliteration

• initial consonant cluster is repeated

• [C-V-C]• boat – big – bad; • grow – grand – Greek• reading – writing – arithmetic (3R’s)• I saw five fish fly past• She picked purple peppers

alliteration

• Alliteration is made with sound, not letters: city – sandwich, not with cauliflower.

• Alliteration occurs within a stressed syllable:• aggression – ungrateful, song – unseen – dissociate

– dancing.• Entire initial cluster must be repeated: glad –

glimmer, go – grow.• Alliteration: major organizing device in OE and ME

poetry → alliterative metre (gradually replaced by rhyme).

alliteration in everyday use

• baby boom• back to basics• Big Ben• green as grass• pay the price• peer to peer

• swim or sink• super sonic• it takes two to Tango

• Mickey Mouse• Donald Duck• Bilbo Baggins

assonance

• repetition of the same vowel sound

• [C-V-C]

light – wide – sign; Sweet dreams are made of these, who am I to disagree; hit – miss, hate –sale;The child of mine was lying on her side

consonance

• repetition of the final consonant group

• [C-V-C]

bad – good, treats – floats, coming – home, urn – shorn, irk – torqueIs it blunt and flat

pararhyme (rich consonance)

• often = consonance,• initial and final consonant clusters repeated

• [C-V-C]

beat – bite, sit – sight, middle – muddlehall-/hell; red - rid; pack - pick

reverse rhyme

• Initial consonant cluster and vowel group repeated.

• [C-V-C]

stand – stamp, boat – boast, cash and carry

rhyme

• last vowel and consonant cluster are repeated in a word

• [C-V-C]• cloud – shroud, bonding – sending,

Kinds of rhymes

• Rhymes within a line of verse: internal rhymes (The movie was great; lots of popcorn I ate).

• Rhymes occurring at the end of a line of verse: end rhymes (My weekend was like any other / I went to a movie with Mother).

• Rhyme is sometimes used to describe the repetition which is not at the end of the word e.g. action pack.

eye-rhyme

• Rhyme is produced by sound not spelling: cough – off – plough.

• “Spelling rhyme” is called eye rhyme (or visual rhyme): dive – give, said – maid, love - prove.

rhymes: kinds

• masculine rhyme – consisting of a single stressed syllable: round – sound.

• feminine rhyme – involves two syllables: yellow – fellow.

• rhyme schemes – rhymes at the end of the line of poetry are usually organized into patterns (e.g. abba).