Figures of Speech
Ben, Sterling, Selasi
Figures of Speech (Schemes)
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Changes in the standard order or usual
syntax of words to create special effects
Describes a smaller category of rhetorical
figures, including: apostrophe, rhetorical
question, anaphora, and chiasmus
Apostrophe
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address to a dead or absent person or an inanimate object or
abstract idea
not used to solicit a response, but to elevate style and feed
into the intensity of the emotion
Ex) Romeo and Juliet
o Come, civil night,
Thou sober suited matron all in black,
And learn me how to lose a winning match,
Played for a pair of stainless maidenhoods
Invocation
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special form of an apostrophe
occurs when the poet addresses an appeal to a muse or god
to inspire creative endeavors
Ex) The Odyssey
o Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story
of that man skilled in all ways of fighting,
the wanderer, troubled for years on end,
after he robbed the stronghold
on the proud height of Troy
Rhetorical Question
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Not to elicit a response, but to emphasize a
foregone or clearly implied conclusion
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Goal: Create stronger effect than direct assertion
Ex) “Are you crazy?” - Not a question that must be
answered, but drives a point and has more emphasis
than “You’re crazy.”
Anaphora (From greek “Repetition”)
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Intentional repetition of words or phrases at the
beginning of successive lines, stanzas, sentences,
or paragraphs
Often used to create emphasis, but can differ with
context
Ex) “Cannon to right of them, / Cannon to left of them, / Cannon in
front of them / Volleyed and thundered”-The Charge of the Light
Brigade by Tennyson. Suggests speed and tension of a fatal battle
using anaphora.
Antithesis (From greek
“opposition”)
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Words or phrases that are parallel in order
and syntax, but express opposite or
contrasting meanings.
Ex) Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities begins with a long series
of antitheses shows the contrast of grandeur and despair present in
London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. “It was
the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of
wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it
was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the
season of darkness…”
Chiasmus (from the greek “criss cross”)
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Occurs when two successive phrases are
parallel in syntax
Ex) Robert Frost’s “The Gift Outright”
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“The land was ours before we were the land’s”
Ex) Lord Byron’s Don Juan
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“Pleasure’s a sin, and sometimes sin’s a pleasure.”