Figures of Speech

FIGURES OF SPEECH

INTRODUCTION

            Creative writing strategies used by an author to convey his or her message(s). Literary devices help readers to visualize, interpret and analyze literary texts when used well. There are two kinds of literary devices – literary elements and literary techniques which includes figurative language.

Literary Elements

            Literary Elements are the components or pieces that make up a story or literary work. Some of the Literary Elements are Antagonist, Characterization, Climax, Conflict, Imagery, Mood, Motif, Narrator, Plot, Point of View, Protagonist, Setting, Tone and Theme.

Literary Techniques

            Words or phrases in literary texts that writers use to achieve artistic or creative expression. Literary techniques also help readers visualize, understand and appreciate literature. Some of the literary techniques are Allegory, Allusion, Anthropomorphism, Exposition, Figurative Language, Foil, Foreshadowing, Parallelism, Repetition.

Figurative Language

            Figurative Language is a creative use of words and phrases that offers a hidden meaning beyond any literal interpretation. Some of the Figurative Languages are Adage/Proverb, Analogy, Alliteration, Assonance, Cliche, Hyperbole, Idiom, Irony, Metaphor, Onomatopoeia, Oxymoron, Personification, Pun, Simile, Symbolism, Understatement.

FIGURES OF SPEECH

SIMILE

            A Simile is an explicit comparison between essentially unlike things. It is introduced by connectives such as ‘like’, ‘as’, ‘than’ or a verb like ‘seems’. In a simile the objects or events or ideas compared must be different and the points of resemblance between them must be brought out clearly. Similes are used in poetry as well as in prose. A simile links together a complex and an external object which is familiar to the reader. A conceit is a type of simile in which the comparison is taken to a fantastic level.

Example:

Wordsworth – “I wandered lonely as a cloud” (Daffodils)

Shakespeare – “The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne, burned on the water” (Cleopatra)

Byron – “She walks in beauty, like the night

            Of cloudless climes and starry skies” (She Walks in Beauty)

Burns – “My love is like a red, red rose,

            That’s newly sprung in June” (A Red, Red Rose)

METAPHOR

            A Metaphor is termed as an implied or compressed simile. A metaphor ascribes to some action or thing, a property which it cannot literally possess in that context. The meaning of a metaphor is not derived from the meaning of the words in it. Metaphors are more often used in poetry than in prose. They enhance the emotional effect of poetry. In prose, they are used to give rhetorical effect.

Examples:

This is my play’s last scene (play – life).

He is the pillar of the state.

She has entered eternal sleep.

The camel is the ship of the desert.

PERSONIFICATION

            Personification is really a special kind of metaphor. It is the attribution of human qualities to something that is not human. It is a figure of speech in which inanimate objects and abstract ideas or qualities are spoken of, as if they are persons or human beings.

Examples:

John Keats – “Thou still unravished bride of quietness,

                        Thou foster child of silence and slow time” (Ode on a Grecian Urn)

Shakespeare – “Blow, blow thou winter wind.

                        Thou art not so unkind

                                    As man’s ingratitude.

                        Thy tooth is not so keen,

                        Because thou art not seen,

                                    Although thy breath be rude. (As You Like It)

HYPERBOLE

            A hyperbole is a far-fetched and over exaggerated description. This figure of speech consists in representing things as much greater or smaller than they really are, with the intention of producing a more striking effect than a plain statement. It is often used either for heightened seriousness or for comic effect.

Examples:

Shakespeare – “Here is the smell of blood still;

                        All perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand?” (Macbeth)

W.H. Auden – “I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you

                        Till China and Africa meet,

                        And the river jumps over the mountain

                        And the salmon sing in the street,

                        I’ll love you till the ocean

                        Is folded and hung up to dry. (As I Walked One Evening)

CONCEIT

            Conceit is seeing similarity in dissimilar things. Conceit is a figure of speech in which two vastly different objects are likened together with the help of similes or metaphors. A comparison turns into a conceit when the writer links two things which are not similar. The readers are aware of the dissimilarity but the writer takes great care to conceal it.

Examples:

John Donne – “If they be two, they are two so

                              As stiff twin compasses are two;

                        Thy soul, the fixed foot, makes no show

                              To move, but doth, if the other do” (A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning)

John Donne – “Oh stay! three lives in one flea spare

                        Where we almost, yea more than married are.

                        This flea is you and I, and this

                        Our marriage-bed and marriage-temple is” (The Flea)

SYMBOL

            Symbolism is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense. It can take different forms. Generally, it is an object representing another to give it an entirely different meaning that is much deeper and more significant. Sometimes, however, an action, an event or a word spoken by someone may have a symbolic value. For instance, “smile” is a symbol of friendship. Similarly, the action of someone smiling may stand as a symbol of the feeling of affection which that person has for someone.

            Symbols do shift their meanings depending on the context they are used in. “A chain”, for example may stand for “union” as well as “imprisonment”. Thus, symbolic meaning of an object or an action is understood by when, where and how it is used. It also depends on who reads them.

Examples:

The dove is a symbol of peace.

A red rose or red colour stands for love or romance.

Black is a symbol that represents evil or death.

A ladder may stand as a symbol for a connection between the heaven and the earth.

A broken mirror may symbolize separation.

Shakespeare – “All the world’s a stage,

                        And all the men and women merely players;

                        They have their exists and their entrances;

                        And one man in his time plays many parts” (As You Like It)

The above lines are symbolic of the fact that men and women, in course of their life perform different roles. “A stage” here symbolizes the world and “players” is a symbol for human beings.

METONYMY

            Metonymy is a figure of speech in which an attribute of a thing or a name is used to substitute the thing itself.

Examples:

The pen is mightier than the sword. (pen – author, sword – soldier)

Grey hair – old age

Throne – monarchy

SYNECDOCHE

            Synecdoche is figure of speech in which a part of a thing is used to denote the entire object or the whole is used to denote a part. It is common to confuse synecdoche with metonymy. The difference lies in the fact that in a synecdoche, a part is used to represent the whole, or a whole used for a part, whereas in metonymy, there is a substitution of a word or a phrase for another word or phrase that is loosely associated with it.

Examples:

India lost the match. (India – a small group of Indians who constitute a sports team)

I need more hands for this task. (hands – persons)

TRANSFERRED EPITHET

            In this figure of speech, an epithet or qualifying adjective is sometimes transferred from a person to an object or from one word to another.

Examples:

Thomas Gray –

“The ploughman homeward plod his weary way” (Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard)

In the first case ‘weary’ has been transferred from ‘the ploughman’ to the ‘way’.

Shakespeare – “Death lies on her like an untimely frost.

                        Upon the sweetest flower of all the field... (Romeo and Juliet)

UNDERSTATEMENT

            A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is. A statement which lessens or minimizes the importance of what is meant.

Example:

Andrew Marvell – “The grave’s a fine and private place,

                                 But none, I think, do there embrace” (To His Coy Mistress)

Here Marvell attempts to convince his lover to seize the day and enjoy life while she still can. He reminds her that there is no one to love while in a grave. While Marvell’s subject is serious, he uses understatement to lighten the statement.

CLIMAX

            Climax is a structural part of a plot and is at times referred to as a crisis. It is a decisive moment or a turning point in a storyline at which the rising action turns around into a falling action. Thus, a climax is the point at which a conflict or crisis reaches its peak that calls for a resolution or denouement (conclusion).

Examples:

Shakespeare – “Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good;

                        A shining gloss that vadeth suddenly;

                        A flower that dies when first it gins to bud;

                        A brittle glass that’s broken presently:

                        A doubtful good, a gloss, a glass, a flower,

                        Lost, vaded, broken, dead within an hour. (The Passionate Pilgrim)

Corianthians – “There are three things that will endure; faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”.

ANTICLIMAX

            Anticlimax is a rhetorical device which can be defined as a disappointing situation or a sudden transition in discourse from an important idea to a ludicrous or trivial one. It is when at a specific point, expectations are raised, everything is built-up and then suddenly something boring or disappointing happens; this is an anticlimax. Besides that, the order of statements gradually descends in anticlimax.

Example:

Alexander Pope –

“Here thou, great Anna, whom three realms obey,

Dost sometimes counsel take, and sometimes tea...” (The Rape of the Lock)

In the extract, it is used as a figure of speech. Pope is drawing the attention of the readers to the falseness. Anna is Queen of England, who holds meeting and indulges also in afternoon tea customs. Ludicrous effect is created by using the anticlimax.

RHETORICAL QUESTION

            A rhetorical question is a question that is asked without expecting an answer. The question might be one that does not have an answer. It might also be one that has an obvious answer but you have asked the question to make a point, to persuade or for literary effect.

Examples:

Percy Bysshe Shelley – “O Wind,

                                         If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” (Ode to the West Wind)

The poet achieves the desired effect by asking this rhetorical question instead of making a statement. The answer to this question is not sought; rather, an effect is successfully created giving a fine finished touch to the ode.

William Wordsworth – “Will no one tell me what she sings?” (The Solitary Reaper)

An answer is not expected to this question. The poet prefers a rhetorical question to a plain statement to emphasize his feelings of pleasant surprise.

EPIGRAM

            Epigram is a rhetorical device that is a memorable, brief, interesting and surprising satirical statement. It has originated from a Greek word, epigramma, and meaning inscription or inscribe. Often ingenious or witty statements are considered as epigrams. This literary device is commonly used in poetry, where it appears as a short satirical poem with a single subject ending in an ingenious or witty thought. The poets like Alexander Pope, John Donne, William Shakespeare and Samuel Taylor Coleridge popularized epigram as a literary device during sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Jane Wilde, an Irish poet, believed that epigrams were much better than an argumentative speech.

 Examples:

Eleanor Roosevelt – “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent”.

Oscar Wilde – “As long as war is regarded as wicked, it will always have its fascination. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular”.

Both of these epigrams are not only interesting and brief but also satirical, as the first one is about the sense of inferiority while the second one is about war.

EUPHEMISM

            A euphemism may be defined as an inoffensive or indirect word or expression used in place of one that is considered unpleasant or shocking. The term originally referred to the elaborate and ornate style of writing which was introduced by John Lyly in his works “Eupheus, the Anatomy of Wyt” (1578) and “Eupheus and his England” (1580).

Examples:

He passed away – he died.

He is a special child – he is disabled or retarded.

Going to the other side – death.

On the streets – homeless.

Comfort woman – for prostitute.

Kick the bucket – for death.

Between jobs – unemployed.

Big-boned – heavy or overweight.

Economical with the truth – liar.

Domestic engineer – maid

In the family way – pregnant.

Mentally challenged – stupid.

MALAPROPISM    

            Malapropism is a use of an incorrect word in place of a similar sounding word that results in a nonsensical and humorous expression. The word malapropism comes from “Mrs. Malaprop”, a character in Sheridan’s comedy “The Rivals”, who has a habit of replacing words with incorrect and absurd utterances producing a humorous effect. A miss-speech is considered malapropism when it sounds similar to the word it replaces but has an entirely different meaning. For instance, replacing acute by obtuse is not a malapropism because both words have a contrasting meanings but do not sound similar. Using obtuse for abstruse, on the other hand, is a malapropism, as there is a difference in meanings and both words sound similar.

POINT OF VIEW

            Point of view is the angle of considering things, which shows the opinion, or feelings of the individuals involved in a situation. In literature, point of view is the mode of narration that an author employs to let the readers ‘hear’ and ‘see’ what takes place in a story, poem, essay, etc. Point of view is a reflection of the pinion an individual from real life or fiction can have.

1. First person Point of view involves the use of either of the two pronouns ‘I’ and ‘We’.

Example: “I felt like I was getting drowned with shame and disgrace”.

2. Second person Point of view employs the pronoun ‘You’.

Example: “Sometimes you cannot clearly discern between anger and frustration”.

3. Third person Point of view uses pronouns like ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’, ‘they’ or a name.

Example: “Mr. Stewart is a principled man. He acts by the book and never lets you deceive him easily”.

PARADOX

            A Paradox is a statement that apparently contradicts itself.

Examples:

George Orwell –

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” (Animal Farm).

Shakespeare – “I must be cruel to be kind” (Hamlet).

ALLUSION

            An allusion is a reference to another literary work or person or event. An author uses allusions to enrich his work and give it a more profound meaning. Allusions may include reference to people or events, references to author’s own life or references to other literary works. For instance, when one calls a person a ‘Scrooge’, one is referring to  
Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly character from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Pope and Dryden make use of several allusions to events and people of their age in their works. The title of William Faulkner’s novel The Sound and the Fury is an allusion to a line from William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, “Life’s a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing”.

PATHETIC FALLACY

            Pathetic Fallacy is a figure of speech in which human emotions are given lifeless objects and abstract ideas. It is a special kind of personification in which the inanimate, the lifeless, and the abstract, are made to partake of human emotions.

Examples:

All Nature wept at his death, and the Flowers were filled with tears.

It is usual to begin the name of the personified object with a capital letter.