FIGURES OF SPEECH
Words or phrases that describe one thing in
terms of something else. They always involve some
imaginative comparison between seemingly unlike
things.
Not meant to be taken literally, figurative
language is used to produce images in a reader’s mind
and to express ideas in fresh, vivid, and imaginative
ways. The most common examples of figurative
language , or figures of speech, used both in prose
and poetry are simile, metaphor, and personification.
Apostrophe

A form of personification in which the absent
or dead are spoken to as if present and the
inanimate, as if animate.
Antony.
O judgment, thou art fled to
brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason! (III, ii,
106-107)
Julius Caesar
Shakespeare addresses inanimate objects
as though they have human
understanding and empathy.
Metaphor
A comparison of two unlike things not
using like or as.
“You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did;
and I ardently hope that the gratification of your
wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine
has been. “
Frankenstein
The quote enhances understanding of
the character’s emotions.
Metonymy

A form of metaphor, the name of one
thing is applied to another thing with
which it is closely associated.
“When they called you crybaby
Or poor or fatty or crazy
And made you drink their acid
And concealed it.”
“Courage”
In these lines the taunts of others hurt a
person’s feelings. The speaker calls the taunts
acid, an appropriate term because they do
sting or burn a person emotionally.
Oxymoron
 A form of paradox that combines a pair
of opposite terms into a single unusual
expression
– “sweet sorrow”
– “cold fire”
Paradox
Elements of a statement contradict each
other. Although the statement may appear
illogical, impossible, or absurd, it turns out
to have a coherent meaning that reveals a
hidden truth.
“This shaking keeps me steady. I should know”
“The Waking”
His “shaking” is a sign he still lives and
keeps him savoring his life while he still
has it.
Personification

A metaphor that gives inanimate
objects or abstract ideas human
characteristics.
– “But when he entered, misery and despair
alone welcomed him.”

The comparison of his companions to misery and
despair suggest the depth of his unhappiness.
– “The
very winds whispered in
soothing accents, and maternal
nature bade me weep no more.”
Frankenstein

The character compares nature to a mother soothing
her son.
Pun
A play on words that are identical or similar in sound
but have sharply diverse meanings. Puns can have
serious as well as humorous uses.
“Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.”
Romeo and Juliet
Grave means serious and also means he will be in the
grave
“I know not, gentlemen, what you intend,
Who else must be let blood, who else is rank.
Julius Caesar
Rank means what level in the hierarchy and
something that smells bad.
Simile

A comparison of two different things
or ideas through the use of like or as.
– “The saintly soul of Elizabeth shone like a
shrine-dedicated lamp in our peaceful
home.

Elizabeth’s “saintly soul” is compared to a
“shrine-dedicated lamp” indicating the purity
and loyalty of her soul.
Synecdoche
• A form of metaphor where part of
something is used to signify the
whole.
• “All hands on deck.”
• “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me
your ears” (III, ii, 75).
Julius Caesar