Figurative Language (Tropes: deviation from the ordinary and
principal signification of a word)
Figurative Language
This defines language that transforms or enlarges meaning in a text. Figurative language
manipulates the connotations of words and phrases to create special meanings or effects.
When figurative language is employed in a text you might ask yourself the following
questions:
1. What is the figure being used?
2. What is suggested by the connotations of the words or phrases?
3. How do these connotations change the way the words or phrases are understood?
A. Is the change positive or negative, in other words, how is the readers attitude
toward the object being described changed?
B. Why does the author choose to use a figure instead of more direct language, that
is what is the effect of the figure on the essay?
C.
By being less direct what is added to the text?
i. Are there any unintended consequences that come with the figurative
language, that is, are some connotations of the word or phrase harmful to the author's
objectives in the text?
a. Could these unintended consequences have been avoided or is the
author hoping you will not notice?
4. What are the contributions of the figurative language to the essay and does the
figurative language help to define the author's style?
A.
Is there a figure or some figures the author seems to employ more than others?
i. How does this use of these figures make help define the author's style?
ii. Are these figures a strength or a weakness in the writing?
Comparisons:
Simile is a comparison of two different things or ideas through the use of the words like
or as. It is a stated comparison, where the writer says one thing is like another, e.g., The
warrior fought like a lion.
Metaphor is a direct comparison, or a comparison without the use of like or as. The
writer states that one thing is another. It is usually a comparison between something that
is real or concrete and something that is abstract, e.g., Life is but a dream; Time is
money.
Personification (giving people qualities to non-people) is a kind of metaphor that gives
inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characteristics, e.g., The wind cried in the dark.
Synecdoche is a form of metaphor. In synecdoche, a part of something is used to signify
the whole, e.g., All hands on deck. Also, the reverse, whereby the whole can represent a
part, is synecdoche, e.g., Canada played the United States in the Olympic hockey finals.
Another form of synecdoche involves the container representing the thing being
contained, e.g., The pot is boiling. One last form of synecdoche involves the material
from which an object is made standing for the object itself, e.g., The quarterback tossed
the pigskin. Other examples would be when we refer to a policeman as “the law” (the
whole representing a part) or refer to manual laborers as “hands” (a part representing the
whole).
When a synecdoche is employed in an essay you might ask yourself the following
questions (because of the near relationship between synecdoche and metonymy the
questions relating to the one might be useful when considering the other):
1. Does the author use a part to refer to the whole or the whole to refer to a part?
2. What is the part that is being contrasted with the whole and the effect achieved by the
contrast (for example, what is suggested by reducing manual laborers to "hands" or
seeing "policemen" as the whole of the law)?
3. How does the synecdoche strengthen or weaken the essay?
4. Why might the author choose to speak figuratively rather than more directly?
5. What does the synecdoche suggest concerning the author's relationship to the object
that is referred to figuratively rather than directly?
Metonymy is also a form of a metaphor. In metonymy, the name of one thing is applied
to another thing with which it is closely associated, or there is a substitution of some
attributive or suggestive word for what is actually meant, e.g. I just bought a Picasso.
When metonymy is employed in an essay you might ask yourself the following questions
(because of the near relationship between metonymy and synecdoche the questions
relating to the one might be useful when considering the other):
1. Is a word associated with an object, person, or idea used in place of the object, person,
or idea?
2. What does this association suggest about the object, person, or idea under analysis?
3. How does the association affect the way the audience perceives the object, person, or
idea?
4. What is the purpose of this substitution?
5. How does the substitution strengthen or weaken the essay?
Hyperbole is a deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration. It may be
used either for serious or comic effect; e.g., The shot that was heard 'round the world.
When hyperbole is employed in an essay you might ask yourself the following questions:
1. Is the author exaggerating throughout or in places in the speech or essay?
2. What effect is achieved by this exaggeration (is the effect comical, for example, or
does it merely overstate a point to make it seem stronger than it in fact is)?

Does this effect strengthen or weaken the essay?
o If comical is the use of humor at this point in the essay effective?
o If to overstate a point how obvious is the overstatement, that is, can it be
easily seen to be an overstatement, thus weakening the essay)?

o If to achieve some other effect, how successful or unsuccessful is that
effect to the essay?
What does the use of exaggeration suggest concerning the relationship of the
author to her or his audience?
3. How great is the exaggeration, that is, does the author exaggerate a little or a lot?
Explain.
Understatement (Meiosis, litote) is the opposite of hyperbole. It is a kind of irony that
deliberately represents something as much less than it really is, e.g., I could probably
manage to survive on a salary of two million dollars per year. Another example is, "Oh
it's nothing, just a brain tumor."
When litotes is employed in an essay you might ask yourself the following questions
(many of the questions relating to hyperbole are relevant for litotes as well):
1. Are any points in the essay understated?
2. What is the author's purpose in understating the point?
3. What effect is achieved by the understatement?
4. Does the understatement serve another literary or rhetorical device (irony, for
instance)?
5. To which case (that for the author's position or that of the opposition) does the
understatement apply?
6. How obvious is the understatement; is it clear to all or might some in the audience miss
it?
Other Tropes That Use Words in New or Different Ways:
Imagery consists of the words or phrases a writer uses to represent persons, objects,
actions, feelings, and ideas descriptively by appealing to the senses (tins includes all
senses, not just visual, a common misconception b/c the word imagery reminds people of
image). Imagery adds rich descriptive details to a text.
Allusion is a reference to a mythological, literary, historical, or Biblical person, place, or
thing e.g., He met his Waterloo. This device gives more emphasis to the word/words
being used, creating a deeper level of meaning.
Paradox is a statement that contradicts itself. It may seem almost absurd. Although it
may seem to be at odds with ordinary experience, it usually turns out to have a coherent
meaning, and reveals a truth which is normally hidden, e.g., The more you know, the
more you know you don't know (Socrates). This device makes a reader stop and reflect
on what is being stated because it is unusual yet true.
Oxymoron is a form of paradox that combines a pair of contrary terms into a single
expression. This combination usually serves the purpose of shocking the reader into
awareness, e.g., sweet sorrow, cold fire. This gives new meaning to ordinary words.
Pun is a play on words which are identical or similar in sound but which have sharply
diverse meanings. Puns may have serious as well as humorous uses, e.g., When Mercutio
is bleeding to death in Romeo and Juliet, he says to his friends, "Ask for me tomorrow,
and you shall find me a grave man."
Irony: 3 types—Verbal (when a speaker or narrator says one thing while meaning the
opposite); Situational (when a situation turns out differently from what one would
normally expect); Dramatic (when a character/speaker says or does something that has
different meanings from what he or she thinks it means).
Sarcasm is a type of irony in which a person appears to be praising something while he
is actually insulting the thing, e.g., As I fell down the stairs headfirst, I heard her say
"Look at that coordination."
Sound Devices
Alliteration is the practice of beginning several consecutive or neighboring words with
the same sound (repetition of initial consonant sound), e.g., The twisting trout twinkled
below.
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in a series of words, e.g., the words "cry"
and "side" have the same vowel sound and so are said to be in assonance. Notice that the
actual vowel letter is not the same; the focus is on the sound itself.
Consonance is the repetition of a consonant sound in the middle or at the end of words
within a series of words to produce a harmonious effect, e.g., And each slow dusk a
drawing-down on blinds. The "s" sound is in consonance. The "d" is alliteration.
Onomatopoeia (Imitative Harmony) is the use of words that mimic the sounds they
describe, e.g., hiss, buzz, bang.