FIGURES OF SPEECH

Sabel Ross DC. Caliliw

 What are the
Figures of Speech?
 FIGURE OF SPEECH
▪A figure of speech is a departure from the
usual form of expression for the purpose of
making the meaning clearer, more forceful,
or more beautiful.
▪Figures of speech are highly effective, for
they add vividness, vigor, and beauty to our
utterances.
 FIGURE OF SPEECH
▪Though figures are the ornaments of speech, they
should not be used unless they are natural and
appropriate and increase the effectiveness of what
we have to say.
▪All men, poets and otherwise, constantly employ so
called “figurative language,” the difference being
that the best people use images which are original
and poetic, while ours are often overworked and
commonplace.
 SIMILE
▪In simile two unlike things are
explicitly compared.
▪A comparison using “like” or “as.”
 SIMILE
Examples:
She is like a fairy.
She was as smart as an owl.
The student was as quiet as a mouse.
My backpack was like a bag of bricks.
 METAPHOR
▪A figure of speech stating two
things are similar.
▪It is an informal or implied simile in
which words like, as, so are omitted.
 METAPHOR
Examples:
▪The strawberry was a fresh summer day.
▪The rain came down in full cold buckets.
▪The test was a long never-ending
marathon.
▪She read the book at a snail’s pace.
 PERSONIFICATION
▪Giving human qualities to things and
ideas.
▪Personification is an attribution of
personal nature, intelligence or
character to inanimate objects or
abstract notions.
 PERSONIFICATION
Examples:
▪The tree leaves danced in the wind.
▪The chair stood up straight and tall.
▪The car jumped to the finish line
 HYPERBOLE
▪ A figure of speech in which
exaggeration is used for emphasis
or effect; an extravagant statement.
▪Hyperbole is a statement made
emphatic by overstatement.
 HYPERBOLE
Examples
▪The walk was a million miles long!
▪I ate five-thousand pancakes for
breakfast!
▪The bag of gifts weighs a ton.
 ALLITERATION
▪Repetition of consonant sounds at
the beginning of words.
 ALLITERATION
Examples:
▪Betsy bought bigger bottoms for baby
Billy.
▪Samantha saw seven silly soldiers selling
strawberries Saturday.
▪Maria made millions of marshmallow
muffins for many mellow messengers.
 ONOMATOPOEIA
▪The formation or use of words that
imitate the sounds associated with
the objects or actions to which they
refer.
▪Words whose sound suggests its
meaning.
 ONOMATOPOEIA
Examples:
▪The bees buzzed by flying back to their
hive.
▪Click the button to take the picture.
▪The pig squealed when it saw the dog
coming.
 METONYMY
▪A figure of speech in which one word or
phrase is substituted for another with which it
is closely associated (such as "crown" for
"royalty").
▪Metonymy is also the rhetorical strategy of
describing something indirectly by referring to
things around it, such as describing someone's
clothing to characterize the individual.
 METONYMY
Examples:
▪The White House asked the public to
remain calm during the crisis.
▪The suits at the large investment firms
will finally have their day in court.
 SYNECDOCHE
▪A figure of speech in which a part is
used to represent the whole, the
whole for a part, the specific for the
general, the general for the specific,
or the material for the thing made
from it.
 SYNECDOCHE
Examples:
▪She worked two jobs because she
had six hungry mouths to feed.
▪Many hands make light work.
 OXYMORON
▪This figure of speech, which should not be
confused with ironies and paradoxes, links
two opposing ideas at once.
▪This indicates that two opposing concepts
are utilized inside a single sentence to
create levity in an oxymoron figure of
speech.
 OXYMORON
Examples:
▪This is another fine mess you have got
us into.
▪Suddenly the room filled with a
deafening silence.
▪The comedian was seriously funny.
 ASSONANCE
▪Internal vowels in nearby words
that are the same or comparable in
sound.
 ASSONANCE
Examples:
▪How now, brown cow?
▪The light of the fire is a sight
▪Go slow over the road
▪Try as I might, the kite did not fly
 EUPHEMISM
▪Euphemism is the usage of a mild
word in substitution of something
that is more explicit or harsh when
referring to something unfavourable
or unpleasant.
 EUPHEMISM
Examples:
▪This mall has good facilities for
differently-abled people.
▪He passed away in his sleep