Figures of Speech

I. Simile
A simile is defined as a figure of speech
comparing two unlike things. Similes often
have the words “like”, “as”, or “than.”

Here is an example of a simile poem written by

Denise Rogers:
Your teeth are like stars;
They come out at night.
They come back at dawn
When they’re ready to bite.
Friends are like chocolate cake
You can never have too many.
Chocolate cake is like heaven -
Always amazing you with each taste or
feeling.
Chocolate cake is like life with so many
different pieces.
Chocolate cake is like happiness, you can
never get enough of it.”
“Twinkle, twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.”
 Metaphor
A metaphor is a comparison between two
things that replaces the word or name for one
object with that of another. Unlike a simile, a
type of analogy that uses “like” or “as” (you
shine like the sun!), a metaphor does not use
these two words (a famous line from Romeo
and Juliet has Romeo proclaiming “Juliet is
the sun”).
Personification
Personification is when you assign the qualities
of a person to something that isn't human or, in
some cases, to something that isn't even alive.

Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room

By William Blake

"Ah, William, we're weary of weather,"

said the sunflowers, shining with dew.
"Our traveling habits have tired us.
Can you give us a room with a view?"
 Synecdoche
A synecdoche is used in literature to add to
the visual imagery of the passage and enhance
the reader’s experience. It is when a part of
something is used to represent the whole.

The phrase "hired hands" can be used to refer

to workmen.
The word "wheels" refers to a vehicle.

    
 Metonymy
Metonymies are frequently used in literature and
in everyday speech. A metonymy is a word or
phrase that is used to stand in for another word.
Sometimes a metonymy is chosen because it is a
well-known characteristic of the word. One
famous example of metonymy is the saying,
"The pen is mightier than the sword," This
sentence has two examples of metonymy:
The "pen" stands in for "the written word"
The "sword" stands in for "military aggression
and force"
 Examples of Metonymy
The White House - in place of the President or
others who work there
Dish - for an entire plate of food
The Pentagon - to refer to the staff
Ears - for giving attention ("Lend me your
ears!" from Mark Antony in Julius Caesar)
Eyes - for sight
Hand - for help
The name of a sports team - used in place of
its individual members
 Allusion
An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a
reference to a place, person, or something
that happened. This can be real or imaginary
and may refer to anything, including
paintings, opera, mythical figures, or
religious manuscripts. The reference can be
direct or may be inferred, and can broaden
the reader’s understanding.
 Examples of Allusion
“I was surprised his nose was not growing
like Pinocchio’s.” This refers to the story of
Pinocchio, where his nose grew whenever he
told a lie. It is from The Adventures of
Pinocchio, written by Carlo Collodi. 
“I thought the software would be useful,
but it was a Trojan Horse.” This refers to
the horse that the Greeks built that
contained all the soldiers. It was given as a
gift to the enemy during the Trojan War
and, once inside the enemy's walls, the
soldiers broke out. By using trickery, the
Greeks won the war.
“He was a real Romeo with the ladies.”
Romeo was a character in Shakespeare’s
play, Romeo and Juliet, and was very
romantic in expressing his love for Juliet.  
 Symbolism
 Symbolism is the practice or art of using
an object or a word to represent an abstract
idea. An action, person, place, word, or
object can all have a symbolic meaning.
When an author wants to suggest a certain
mood or emotion, he can also use symbolism
to hint at it, rather than just blatantly saying
it. Symbolism can give a literary work more
richness and color and can make the meaning
of the work deeper.  
:Symbolism is found in colors
Black is used to represent death or evil.
White stands for life and purity.
Red can symbolize blood, passion, or
danger.
Purple is a royal color.
Yellow stands for violence or decay.
Blue represents peacefulness and calm. 
 Symbolic Objects
Objectsare often used to symbolize
something else:

Flowers as Symbols
Roses stand for romance.
Violets represent shyness.
Lilies stand for beauty and temptation.
Symbolism in Poetry
My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold
by William Wordsworth
My heart leaps up when I behold
   A rainbow in the sky ...

The rainbow is a symbol of hope and of

good things to come: the "pot of gold at the
end of the rainbow." Thus, the sight of a
rainbow makes the heart "leap" and the
heart leaping is also a metaphor for hope.
 Verbal Irony
Verbal irony occurs when a speaker’s
intention is the opposite of what he or she is
saying. For example, a character stepping out
into a hurricane and saying, “What nice
weather we’re having!”
Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus

is an honorable man.

This example from the famous Friends,

Romans, Countrymen... speech by Mark
Antony is an oft-quoted instance of verbal
irony. As a reader, you are completely aware of
the full impact of Antony's words which have a
dark, underlying meaning to them, which is
completely opposite to what has been said.
 Paradox
At the most basic level, a paradox is a statement
that is self contradictory because it often
contains two statements that are both true, but in
general, cannot both be true at the same time.
Here are some examples of paradox in simple
forms in order to further define the term
"paradox":
You can save money by spending it.
I'm nobody.
Wise fool
Bittersweet
Nobody goes to that restaurant because it is
too crowded.
You shouldn't go in the water until you
know how to swim.
If you didn't get this message, call me.
Be cruel to be kind
The beginning of the end
In George Orwell's Animal Farm, the words
"All animals are equal, but some are more
equal than others" are part of the cardinal
rules. Clearly this statement does not make
logical sense. However, the point of a paradox
is to point out a truth, even if the statements
contradict each other. Orwell is trying to make
some sort of political statement here. Perhaps
it is that the government claims that everyone
is equal when that is clearly false, or perhaps
it is that individuals have twisted perceptions
of what it means to be equal. The
interpretation is up to the reader to decide.
 Hyperbole
Hyperbole is the use of over-exaggeration
for the purpose of creating emphasis or
being humorous, but it is not intended to be
taken literally. Following are some examples
of hyperbole poetry:
Andrew Marvell in his To His Coy Mistress
says, "An hundred years should go to praise /
Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze; / Two
hundred to adore each breast; / But thirty
thousand to the rest..."
W.H. Auden was an American poet who
often used hyperbole. As an example, he
once wrote in his poem "As I Walked Out
One Evening," "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."
Anaphora

The term "anaphora" comes from the Greek

for "a carrying up or back," and refers to a
type of parallelism created when successive
phrases or lines begin with the same words.
The repetition can be as simple as a single
word or as long as an entire phrase.
William Blake The Tyger by
 Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright

In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
 Apostrophe
A figure of speech in which some absent or
nonexistent person or thing is addressed as if
present and capable of understanding.

Examples of Apostrophes
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky."
Pun
A pun, also called paronomasia,
involves a word play which suggests two
or more meanings, by exploiting multiple
meanings of words, or of similar-sounding
words, for an intended humorous or
rhetorical effect.
"Atheism is a non-prophet institution"
The word "prophet" is put in place of its homophone
"profit", altering the common phrase "non-profit
institution".

"You can tune a guitar, but you can't tuna fish.

Unless of course, you play bass." –

The phrase uses the homophonic qualities of "tune a"

and "tuna", as well as the homographic pun on "bass",
in which ambiguity is reached through the identical
spellings but different pronunciation of "bass": /'be?s/
(a string instrument), and /'bæs/ (a kind of fish).
 Oxymoron
An oxymoron is a figure of speech that
combines incongruous or contradictory terms.
The plural is oxymorons or oxymora.
Examples:
An oxymoron can be made of an adjective and
a noun:
Dark light
Living dead
Open secret
Virtual reality
 Understatement
Understatement is a figure of speech used by
writers or speakers to deliberately make a situation
seem less important or serious than it really is.
Examples of understatement
"It stings a bit" - a soldier describing the pain he
feels after he has just lost his leg.
"It has rained a little more than the average" -
describing a flooded area.
"The grave's a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace."
(Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress")
 Antithesis
Antithesis is a figure of speech which refers to the
juxtaposition of opposing or contrasting ideas. It
involves the bringing out of a contrast in the ideas
by an obvious contrast in the words, clauses, or
sentences, within a parallel grammatical structure.
Examples:
"Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing." -
Goethe.
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for
mankind." - Neil Armstrong.
"Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice." -
William Shakespeare.
 Ellipsis
Ellipsis (or elliptical construction ) is the omission of a
word or words. It refers to constructions in which words are
left out of a sentence but the sentence can still be understood.
Ellipsis helps us avoid a lot of redundancy. In fact there is a
lot of redundancy in language and it can be surprising how
much can be left out without losing much meaning,
particularly when there are contextual clues as to the real
meaning.
Examples
She can help with the housework; Nancy can (help with the
housework), too.
John can speak seven languages, but Ron can speak only two
(languages.)
 :IMAGERY
Poetry communicates experience, and experience
comes to us largely through the senses (seeing,
hearing, smelling, feeling, and touching). Imagery
may be defined as “the representation through the
language of sense experience”. The word image
often suggests a “mental picture”, something seen
in the mind's eye— and visual imagery is the most
frequently occurring kind of imagery in poetry. But
an image may also represent a sound, a smell, a
taste, a tactile experience, or an internal sensation.
A. Olfactory imagery stimulates the
sense of smell such as "perfume",
"stinky", and "jasmine"
B. Tactile imagery stimulates the sense of
touch such as "silky", "soft" and "oily"
C. Visual imagery stimulates the sense of
sight such as "handsome", "beautiful",
and "red"
D. Auditory imagery stimulates the sense of
hearing such as "thunder", "loud" and
"crying".
E. Gustatory imagery stimulates the sense of
taste such as "sweet", "salty", and "delicious".
F. Kinesthesia is imagery that recreates a
feeling of physical action or natural bodily
function like a pulse, a heartbeat, or breathing.
G. Synaesthesia is imagery that involves the
use of one sense to evoke another such as
"loud color", "warm gesture", and "stinky
smile".
 An Example of an auditory imagery

From "Dover Beach" by Mathew Arnold 

Listen! You hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.