Figure of Speech

èIntroduction to Figure of Speech

A figure of speech is the use of a word or a phrase, which transcends its literal interpretation. It can be a special repetition, arrangement or omission of words with literal meaning, or a phrase with a specialized meaning not based on the literal meaning of the words in it, as in idiom, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, or synecdoche. Figures of speech often provide emphasis, freshness of expression, or clarity. However, clarity may also suffer from their use, as any figure of speech introduces an ambiguity between literal and figurative interpretation. A figure of speech is sometimes called a rhetorical figure or a locution.

Rhetoric originated as the study of the ways in which a source text can be transformed to suit the goals of the person reusing the material. For this goal, classical rhetoric detected four fundamental operations[1] that can be used to transform a sentence or a larger portion of a text: expansion, abridgement, switching, transferring and so on.

è1. Figures Based on Resemblance

èSimile

A simile is a rhetorical figure expressing comparison or likeness that directly compares two objects through some connective word such as like, as, so, than, or many other verbs such as resembles. Although similes and metaphors are generally seen as interchangeable, similes acknowledge the imperfections and limitations of the comparative relationship to a greater extent than metaphors.

Examples:

1. They are as different as night and day.

2. This house is as clean as a whistle.

3. He is as strong as an ox.

4. Watching the show was like watching grass grow.

5. Last night, I slept like a log.

èMetaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes a subject by asserting that it is, on some point of comparison, the same as another otherwise unrelated object. It is a figure of speech comparing two unlike things without using either "like" or "as".

Examples:

1. My brother was boiling mad. (This implies he was too angry.)

2. The assignment was a breeze. 

3. It is going to be clear skies from now on.

4. Time is money.

5. The world is a stage.

èAllegory

Allegory is a rhetorical device in which characters or events in a literary, visual, or musical art form represent or symbolize ideas and concepts. Allegory has been used widely throughout the histories of all forms of art; a major reason for this is its immense power to illustrate complex ideas and concepts in ways that are easily digestible and tangible to its viewers, readers, or listeners.

Examples:

1. Animal Farm”, written by George Orwell,

2. “Faerie Queen”, a masterpiece of Edmund Spenser, is a moral and religious allegory.

3. John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” is an example of spiritual allegory

4. Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser is a religious or moral allegory where characters represent virtues and vices.

5. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding has many allegories about society, morality and religion, to name a few.

èPersonification

Personification is a figure of speech in which a thing, an idea or an animal is given human attributes. The non-human objects are portrayed in such a way that we feel they have the ability to act like human beings.

Examples:

1. Look at my car. She is a beauty, isn’t it so?

2. The wind whispered through dry grass.

3. The flowers danced in the gentle breeze.

4. Time and tide waits for none.

5. The fire swallowed the entire forest.

èApostrophe

Apostrophe is an exclamatory figure of speech. It occurs when a speaker breaks off from addressing the audience (e.g. in a play) and directs speech to a third party such as an opposing litigant or some other individual, sometimes absent from the scene. Often the addressee is a personified abstract quality or inanimate object.

Examples:

1. God deliver me from fools. 2. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 3. O God, God 4. O happy dagger! This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die. Romeo and Juliet (V, iii, 169-170). 5. "Roll on, thou dark and deep blue Ocean -- roll!

èFigures Based on Contrast or Difference

èOxymoron

An oxymoron (plural oxymora or oxymorons) is a figure of speech that juxtaposes elements that appear to be contradictory. Oxymora appear in a variety of contexts, including inadvertent errors (such as "ground pilot") and literary oxymorons crafted to reveal a paradox.

Examples:

1. Serious joke 2.Sweet sorrow 3. Dark light 4.Living dead 5. Crazy wisdom 6.Mournful optimist

èAntithesis

Antithesis literal meaning opposite, is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect.

Examples:

1. Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.

2. Man proposes, God disposes.

3. Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing.

4. Speech is silver, but silence is gold.

5. Patience is bitter, but it has a sweet fruit.

6. Money is the root of all evils: poverty is the fruit of all goodness.

7. You are easy on the eyes, but hard on the heart.

èEpigram

An epigram refers to a concise, witty, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The origin of the word epigram is Greek, from epigraphein.

Examples:

1. The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws." (Tacitus)

2. "I am not young enough to know everything." (Oscar Wilde)

3. "Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing." (Oscar Wilde)

4. "I can resist everything but temptation." - Oscar Wilde

5. "Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put and end to mankind." - John F. Kennedy

6. "No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend." (Groucho Marx)

èPun

The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play that suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect.

Examples:

1. A horse is a very stable animal.

2. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

3. On the surface of things whales are always blowing it.

4. I saw a saw that could not saw

5. Is life worth living? It depends on the liver.

èFigures depending on Construction

èClimax

In rhetoric, a climax is a figure of speech in which words, phrases, or clauses are arranged in order of increasing importance.

Examples:

1. There are three things that will endure: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

2. I think we've reached a point of great decision, not just for our nation, not only for all humanity, but                       for life upon the earth. 

3. ...Lost, vaded, broken, dead within an hour.

4. Let a man acknowledge his obligations to himself, his family, his country, and his God.

5. He is uncomplicated, upright, strict, austere and inspirational.

èAnticlimax

Anticlimax refers to a figure of speech in which statements gradually descend in order of importance. Unlike climax, anticlimax is the arrangement of a series of words, phrases, or clauses in order of decreasing importance.

Examples:

1. The plane that Joanna was planning to board from Singapore crashed. Almost everyone got injured and their baggage got misplaced.

2. The fire burnt Peter's house down and he lost his cell phone.

3. Yesterday I had good sleep but I have to meet my brother today.

4. The enemies had conquered about three fourth of the Empire and the Emperor realized he didn't have his breakfast.

5. He lost his family, his car and his cell phone.

èFigures Based on Association

èMetonymy

Metonymy  is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is called not by its own name but rather by the name of something associated in meaning with that thing or concept.

Examples:

1. We must wait to hear from the crown until we make any further decisions.

2. The cup is quite tasty.

3. The White House will be announcing the decision around noon today.

4. The suits were at meeting. 

5. Let me give you a hand.

èSynecdoche

A synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a term for a part of something refers to the whole of something, or vice versa.

Examples:

1. The ship was lost with all hands. (sailors)

2. His parents bought him a new set of wheels. (new car)

3. He has many mouths to feed. (to look after many)

4. Give us our daily bread.

5. He hurled the barbed weapon at the whale. (Harpoon)

è Transferred epithet

Hypallage or transferred epithet is a literary device that can be described as an abnormal, unexpected change of two segments in a sentence.

Examples:

1. He danced the happy road home. (he is happy, not the road)

2. Male entrance. (the entrance does not have gender)

3. A careless remark left her crying in the dark. (the remark is not careless -- the person who said it was)

4. It is a sad world.

5.He received a mortal wound.

èHyperbole

Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally.

Examples:

1. I am so hungry I could eat a horse.

2. I’ve told you a million times

3. If I can’t buy that new game, I will die.

4. Her brain is the size of a pea.

5. He is older than the hills.

èFigures based on Indirect Expression

èEuphemism

A euphemism is a generally innocuous word or expression used in place of one that may be found offensive or suggest something unpleasant.Some euphemisms are intended to amuse; while others use bland, inoffensive, and often misleading terms for things the user wishes to dissimulate or downplay.

Examples:

1. You are becoming a little thin on top (bald).

2. Our teacher is in the family way (pregnant).

3. He is always tired and emotional (drunk).

4. We do not hire mentally challenged (stupid) people.

5. He is a special child (disabled or retarded).

èIrony

Irony  in its broadest sense, is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or event characterized by an incongruity, or contrast, between what the expectations of a situation are and what is really the case, with a third element, that defines that what is really the case is ironic because of the situation that led to it.

Examples:

1. One of the identical twins says to the other, "You're ugly!"

2. I saw a fish drowning.

3. Many things can be preserved in alcohol. Dignity is not one of them.

4. Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.

5. The water vendor died of thirst!

èLitotes

In rhetoric, litotes  is a figure of speech in which understatement is employed for rhetoric effect,[2] principally via double negatives.

Examples:

1. The ice cream was not too bad.

2. Your comments on politics are not useless.

3. New York is not an ordinary city.

4. Your apartment is not unclean.

5. You are not doing badly at all.

è Rhetorical question

A rhetorical question is a figure of speech in the form of a question that is asked in order to make a point.[1] The question, a rhetorical device, is posed not to elicit a specific answer, but rather to encourage the listener to consider a message or viewpoint. 

Examples:

1. Is the pope catholic? 2. Can we do better next time? 3. Do liars lie?

4. You didn't possibly think I would say yes to that did you? 5. Is there anyone smarter than me?

èFigures Based on Sound

èOnomatopoeia

An onomatopoeia is a word that phonetically imitates, resembles or suggests the source of the sound that it describes.

Examples:

1. The buzzing bee flew away. 2. The sack fell into the river with a splash. 3. The books fell on the table with a loud thump. 4. He looked at the roaring sky. 5. The rustling leaves kept me awake.

èAlliteration

Alliteration is the repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables of a phrase.

Examples:

1. Alice’s aunt ate apples and acorns around August.

2. Becky’s beagle barked and bayed, becoming bothersome for Billy.

3. Carrie's cat clawed her couch, creating chaos.

4. Dan’s dog dove deep in the dam, drinking dirty water as he dove.

5. Eric’s eagle eats eggs, enjoying each episode of eating.