FIGURES OF
SPEECH
Figures of Comparison
Simile
Metaphor
Simile
a figurative comparison
with the use of as or like
Simile
Example:
1. Life is like a game.
2. My mom is as pure as white.
Metaphor
Direct comparison
between two unlike things
that have something in
common.
Metaphor
Example:
1. Life is a game.
2. My mom has a heart of gold.
Figures of Contrast
Oxymoron Irony
Paradox
OXYMORON
PARADOX
The juxtaposition
(placing side by
side) of two
contrasting words
A seemingly selfcontradictory
statement which
can be proven to be
true
OXYMORON
PARADOX
•Original copy
•Silent Scream
•Alone together
•Deafening Silence
•I can never manage
such a deafening
silence.
•The more you hate, the
more you love
•Less is more
•Do the thing you think
you cannot do
•The beginning of the
end
OXYMORON or PARADOX??
1.If everyone is special, no one is.
2.Me, I always tell the truth. Even when I lie.
3.Cruel kindness drew me near and held me
close.
4.Lennie was on a heavy diet.
5.Gentlemen, you can’t fight here! This is the
War Room.
OXYMORON or PARADOX??
6. It is always a love-hate relationship
between us.
7. I know one thing, that I know nothing.
8. Less is more.
9. The title of my favorite film is “Waking
Dream”
10. This was fancy terrible.
OXYMORON or PARADOX??
11. The only constant is change.
12. The comedian was seriously funny
13. The only rule is there are no rules.
14. The amateur baker made a perfectly
imperfect cake
15. My fears grew smaller as the night went
on.
IRONY
Either verbal or situational irony
A statement of one idea, the
opposite of which is meant
VERBAL IRONY
• Telling a rude customer, “have a nice day.”
• Describing someone who says foolish
things as ‘genius’
• Delivering bad news by saying “The good
news is…”
Situational Irony
• A fire station that burns down
• National winner of a spelling bee contest
fails to spell a word
• Marriage counselor divorcing the third wife
Figures of
Representation/Reference
Metonymy
Synecdoche
Personification
Apostrophe
Metonymy
A figurative
representation of one
thing for another
Metonymy
• Crown (King or Queen)
We will swear loyalty to the crown.
Metonymy
• Hand (help)
Can you give me a hand carrying
this bag?
Metonymy
• Heart (love or emotion)
You have all my heart.
Metonymy
• The White House (The
President/American administration)
The White House will make an
announcement.
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in
which the part stands for
the whole.
Synecdoche
•I feed seven mouths.
•Give us this day our daily bread
•Let’s take my new wheels out for a
ride.
Personification
giving of personal or human
qualities to things that are not
humans (inanimate objects)
Personification
Example:
That kitchen knife will take
a bite out of your hand if you
don’t handle it safely.
Personification
My alarm yelled at me this
morning.
The star is winking at me.
Apostrophe
A direct address to an
inanimate object, a dead
(as if living), an absent
person, or an idea
Apostrophe
• O Death! Where is your sting?
• Love, thy will be done.
• Seven, you are my lucky number.
• Twinkle (2x), little star, how I
wonder what you are?
Figures of Sound
Alliteration
Onomatopoeia
Alliteration
the repetition of the
initial letter or sound in a
succession of words
ALLITERATION
Example:
1. She sells seashells by the
seashore
2. Pedro Paterno picked a pack of
pad paper.
Example:
3. Betty Botter brought some butter.
4. Six sick hicks with stick.
5. Peter Piper pick a pack of pickled
pepper.
How much wood would a woodchuck
chuck if a woodchuck could chuck
wood? He would chuck, he would, as
much as he could, and chuck as much
wood as a woodchuck would if a
woodchuck could chuck wood.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper
picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers,
Onomatopoeia
Use of a word to
indicate a sound
Onomatopoeia
Example:
1. In the field, the birds chirp,
cows moo, dogs bark, cats
meow, snake hiss.
Onomatopoeia
2. "The bee buzzed in my ear",
3. “Boom Boom” said the
thunder in the distance as the
storm approached",
Hyperbole
An exaggeration or
overstatement for literary
effect
Hyperbole
1. I’m so hungry that I could eat a horse.
2. The orphaned child cried an ocean of
tears.
3. I love you to the moon and back.
4. I’m so tired that I could sleep for a
Figures of Speech
is a rhetorical device that
achieves a special effect by
using words in a distinctive
way
Figures of Speech
1. The wind whispered through
the trees.
2. She is as brave as a lion.
Figures of Speech
3. Time is a thief that steals our
moments.
4. I could climb the tallest
building for you.
Figures of Speech
5. The wind was howling so loud
that it was hard to sleep.
6. The classroom was a zoo during
recess.
Figures of Speech
7. Life is like a box of chocolates.
8. The stars danced in the night sky.
9. He has a heart of stone.
Figures of Speech
10. Tick-tock went the clock.
11. Her voice is music to my ears
12. I must be cruel to be kind.
Figures of Speech
13. This is the beginning of the end.
14. The more you know, the more you
realize you don’t know.
15. Virtual reality allows users to
experience digital worlds