Figures of Speech
Figurative Language gives new meaning to ordinary
words. Writers do not have a language of their own.
They take everyday words and put them together in
new ways to create vivid word pictures. Figurative
language, then, is not meant to be taken literally.
Figurative language is used in all kinds of
writing, as well as in spoken language. It includes
several specific ways of putting words together. These
are known as figures of speech.
Many figures of speech and rhetorical devices
lend themselves to classification. The figures of speech
that logically go well together are based on the
following:
Resemblance
1.
2.
A simile compares two things that are actually
unlike but have something in common. A simile
is easy to recognize because it is introduced by
the words like, as, resemble, or similar to.
a. “Like a glum cricket,
the refrigerator is singing,”
- from “Flight” by James Tate
A metaphor makes a direct comparison of two
unlike things that have something in common.
A metaphor does not include the words like,
as, resemble, or similar to.
a. “Even at night-time,
Mama is a sunrise.”
- Evelyn Tooley Hunt
An extended metaphor makes a comparison
that is carried throughout a literary selection. The
continued use of the same metaphor creates a strong
image for the reader.
“O Captain, My Captain” by Walt Whitman
compares Abraham Lincoln to a caption of a ship.
3.
Personification is a figure of speech that gives
human qualities to an object, an animal, or an
idea. It enables the reader to see ordinary
things in a new and interesting way.
a. The Sun puts a rainbow scarf on Rain’s
shoulders when they go out together.
4. An apostrophe addresses personified objects
as real persons, the absent as if they were
present, and the dead as if they were alive or
present.
a. “Time, you old gypsy man, will you not
stay?”
5.
Allusion is a reference in a work of literature to
another work of literature or a well-known
person, place, or event outside of literature.
Methodological Allusion
Magnus is the new Adonis of his class.
Literary Allusion
Political Pied Pipers try everything.
Historical Allusion
Some call Marcos a modern-day Hitler.
Biblical Allusion
I took my power in my hand
And went against the world;
‘Twas not as much as David had,
But I was twice as bold.
I aimed my pebble, but myself
Was all the one that fell.
Was it Goliath was too large,
Or only I too small?
- “The Duel” by Emily Dickinson
6. Antonomasia is a special type of allusion
that makes use of a title or an epithet (a
descriptive word or phrase) instead of a
proper name.
Antonomasia also uses a proper name to
convey an idea. Often these names are taken
from history, myths, legends, and the Bible.
Persons & Places
Idea/Emotion Conveyed
Abraham
Father of his people
Achilles’ heel
Flaw or weakness
Apollo
Manliness
Juliet
Young, tragic love
Emphasis
1.
Hyperbole is a figure of speech that
exaggerates an idea so vividly that the reader
has an instant picture.
a. When Susanna Jones wears red
A queen from some time-dead Egyptian
night walks again.
- from “When Sue Wears Red” by
Langston Hughes
2.
Meiosis is a positive understatement intended
to suggest a strong affirmative.
a. I am a bit worried because I am failing
almost all subjects.
b. She is a bit hurt because you did not
invite her to your birthday party.
3.
Litotes is a mild negative understatement,
intended to suggest a strong affirmative.
a. After seeing my report card, my father
said in no uncertain terms I should start
studying.
b. A grade school boy won first place in an
oratorical contest and his grandfather
said, “Not a bad accomplishment!”
4. Repetition is repeating words, phrases, or
whole constructions to intensify feeling or
meaning.
a. “Never give in. Never give in. Never,
never, never, never yield to force.”
- Churchill
5.
A rhetorical question is a question to which
the speaker expects no spoken answer but
hopes for the mental one that he forcefully
suggests.
a. “What will a man gain if he wins the
whole world and ruins his life? Or what
has a man to offer in exchange for his
life?”
Parallelism and/or Contrast
1.
Irony is the general name given to literary
techniques that involve differences between
appearance and reality, expectation and
result, meaning and intention.
Types of Irony
● Verbal Irony: Words are used to suggest the
opposite of what is meant. In everyday speech,
verbal irony is easily recognized because the
listener has the speaker’s tone of voice and
facial expression to aid him.
○ Two friends have planned a day
picnicking and hiking. As they step out
the door, it begins to rain. One says,
“Oh, great! I was hoping it would rain.”
●
Irony of Situation: In this type of irony, an
event directly contradicts the expectations of
the characters, the reader, or the audience.
○ A penniless young couple wants to buy
each other special Christmas presents.
The wife has her beautiful long hair cut
off, sells it, and buys a chain worthy of
her husband’s prized gold pocket
watch. The husband sells his watch to
buy exquisite tortoise shell combs for
his wife’s beautiful long hair.
- The double irony in O. Henry’s
“The Gift of the Magi.”
●
Dramatic Irony: Here, there is a contradiction
between what a character thinks and what the
reader or audience knows to be true.
○ “Just ask the conspirators gather
around Caesar to assassinate him, he
asks, “Are we all ready?”
2.
An oxymoron is the combination of two
mutually contradictory words in a case where
the contradiction is apparent only, the two
ideas being realized.
a. James Bond is a well-known secret
agent.
3.
Paradox is a seemingly contradictory but true
statement.
a. We are our own parents.
b. Attack is the best form of defense.
4. Antithesis is the juxtaposition of contrasting
ideas in parallel structures.
a. “This was the best of times, this was the
worst of times.”
- from “A Tale of Two Cities” by
Charles Dickens
b. “Ah, how beautiful it is to fall in order to
give you flight, to die in order to give
you life…”
- from “My Last Farewell” by Jose
Rizal
5.
Chiasmus is parallelism in sentence elements
of similar or contrasting ideas, so arranged
that the parallel elements of the second part of
the structure are in inverted order.
a. “He was slow in resolution, in
performance quick.”
b. “The Christian ideal has not been tried
and found wanting; it has been found
difficult and left untried.”
Sound Effects
1.
2.
3.
Alliteration is the repetition of consonant
sounds. It is an important tool for poets. It
gives a musical quality and a rhythm to a
poem. Alliteration also emphasizes certain
words and helps to create mood.
a. There once was a with of Willowby
Wood, and a weird wild witch was she.
- “The Witch of Willowby Wood”
by Rowena Bennett
Assonance refers to the recurrence, in words
that are close together, of the same vowel
sound.
a. What a world of merriment their
melody foretells!
b. Double, double toil, and trouble. Fire
burns and cauldron bubbles.
1.
Metonymy is the substitution of one noun for
another which it suggests. It is based on an
association (e.g., the author for his works, the
source for the product, the cause for the
effects)
a. We watched Spielberg today.
b. I don’t care what kind of Colgate you
use. Just give me some so I can brush
my teeth.
2.
Synecdoche is a type of metonymy in which a
significant part is used to represent the whole.
a. It’s useless to preach to empty
stomachs.
b. Give us this day our daily bread.
Arrangement of Words
1.
Climax is the arrangement of a series of
words, phrases, clauses, or sentences in an
ascending order of importance.
a. I came. I saw. I conquered.
b. Some books are to be tasted; others to
be swallowed; and a few to be chewed
and digested.
2.
Anti-climax is abruptly ending a climax
build-up with an insignificant item.
a. I die. I faint. I fail.
b. “He spoke the greatest orators the
world has ever known… Pericles,
Demosthenes, and now me.”
Onomatopoeia is the use of words to imitate
sounds.
a. Bullets whizzed or ripped the air and
spanged into the tree trunks; our gum
locks clicked.
4. Pun is a play of words of nearly the same
sound but of different meanings.
a. An advice to loquacious persons: Look
before you lip.
b. Here lies Pecos Bill. He always lied and
always will. He once lied loud, he now
lies still.
5.
Substitution
Euphemism is the use of a pleasant or pale
expression instead of an unpleasant, harsh, or
depressing one.
a. Senior citizens for old people
b. Passed away for dead
Handbook of Literary Terms
●
Allegory: An allegory is a story or tale of two or
more levels of meaning—a literal level and one
or more symbolic levels.
○ “The Selfish Giant” by Oscar Wilde
●
Anecdote: An anecdote is a brief story about
an interesting, amusing, or strange event.
●
Antagonist: An antagonist is a character or
force in conflict with a main character.
●
Ballad: A ballad is a songlike poem that tells a
story.
●
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Diction: Diction is a writer or speaker’s word
choice.
●
Drama: A drama is a story written to be
performed by actors.
●
Elegy: An elegy is a solemn and formal lyric
poem about death.
●
Epigram: An epigram is a brief, pointed
statement, in prose or in verse, often
characterized by the use of some rhetorical
device or figure of speech.
●
Fantasy: Fantasy if a form of writing that is
highly imaginative.
●
Fiction: Fiction is a writing in which characters,
plots, and settings are invented by the writer.
●
Flashback: A flashback is a section of a
literary work that interrupts the chronological
presentation of events to relate an event from
an earlier time.
●
Foil: A foil is a character who provides a
contrast to another character.
●
Foreshadowing: Foreshadowing is a writer’s
use of hints and clues to indicate an action that
will occur later in a narrative. It creates
suspense and makes the reader eager to find
out what is going to happen next.
Blank Verse: Blank verse is poetry written in
unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Character: A character is a person or animal
who takes part in the action of a literary work.
○ The main character in a literary work is
the one on whom the work focuses.
○ A minor character is one who does not
play a significant role.
○ A round character is one who is
complex and multi-faceted, like a real
person.
○ A flat character is one who is
one-dimensional.
○ A dynamic character is one who
changes in the course of a work.
○ A static character is one who does not
change in the course of a work.
Characterization: Characterization is the act
of creating and developing a character. In
direct characterization, a writer simply states a
character’s traits. In indirect characterization,
the character is revealed by one of the
following means:
○ By the words, thoughts, or actions of
the character.
○ By descriptions of the character’s
appearance and background.
○ By what other characters say about the
character.
○ By how other characters react toward
the character.
●
Chronological Order: Chronological order
refers to the way that events follow each other
as they happen in time.
Free Verse: Free verse is poetry that lacks a
regular rhythmical pattern or meter.
●
Hero/Heroine: A hero or heroine is a character
whose actions are inspiring or noble.
Conflict: A conflict is a struggle between
opposing forces.
●
Image: An image is a word or phrase that
appeals to one or more of the five
senses—sight, sound, hearing, touch, taste, or
smell.
●
Imagery: Imagery is teh descriptive or
figurative language used in literature to create
word pictures for the reader.
●
Inference:
Inference
is
a
reasonable
conclusion drawn from clues provided by the
writer.
Connotation: Connotation refers to the
emotions and associations that a particular
word or phrase brings forth.
●
Denotation: Denotation is the
dictionary definition of a word.
●
Dialogue: A dialogue
between characters.
is
a
literal
or
conversation
●
Lyric Poem: A lyric poem is a melodic poem
that expresses the observations and feelings of
a single speaker.
●
Meter: Meter is the rhythmical pattern of a
poem.
●
Mood: Mood is the feeling or atmosphere, that
the writer creates for the reader.
●
Motivation: A motivation is a reason that
explains a character’s thoughts, feelings,
actions, or speech.
●
Narrative: A narrative is a story in fiction,
nonfiction, poetry, or drama.
●
Narrative Poetry: Narrative poetry tells a
story.
●
●
Point of View: Point of view is the perspective
or vantage point, from which a story is told.
○ In the first-person point of view, the
narrator is a character in the story and
refers to himself or herself with the first
person pronoun.
○ In stories told from the omniscient
third-person point of view, the
narrator knows and tells about what
each character feels and thinks.
○ In stories told from the limited
third-person point of view, the
narrator knows and tells about what
each character feels and thinks.
○ In stories told from the limited
third-person point of view, the
narrator relates the inner thoughts and
feelings of perspective.
●
Protagonist: The protagonist is the main
character in a literary work.
●
Refrain: A refrain is the repetition of a word,
phrase, or line in a poem.
●
Rhyme: Rhyme is a poetic technique that
repeats syllable sounds at the end of lines in a
poetry stanza.
Narrator: The narrator is a storyteller who
relates the story from his or her point of view.
●
Nonfiction: Nonfiction is a prose writing about
real people, real places, or real happenings.
●
Novel: A novel is a long work of fiction.
●
Ode: An ode is a long, formal lyric poem with a
serious theme that may have a traditional
stanza structure.
●
Satire: Satire is writing that ridicules or
criticizes individuals, ideas, institutions, social
conventions or other works of art or literature.
Parody: A parody is a humorous imitation of a
literary work, one that exaggerates or distorts
the characteristic features of the original.
●
Setting: The setting is the time and place of the
action of a story.
●
Surprise Ending: A surprise ending is a
conclusion that violates the expectations of the
reader.
●
Suspense: Suspense is the excitement a reader
feels about about the outcome, or solution, to
the problem the writer has posed.
●
Symbol: A symbol is an object or ideas that
has its own meaning but is used to suggest a
different meaning.
●
Tone: Tone is the attitude the writer takes
toward a subject.
●
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Plot: The plot is the sequence of events in a
story. The plot usually begins with an
exposition that introduces the setting,
characters, and the basic situation. This is
followed by the inciting incident, which
introduces the central conflict. This conflict
then increases during the development until it
reaches a high point of interest or suspense,
the climax. The climax is followed by the end,
or resolution, of the central conflict. Any
events that occur after the resolution make up
the denouncement. The events that lead up to
the climax make up the rising action. The
events that follow the climax make up the
falling action.