Figures of Speech
Literal and figurative
Metaphor (Greek 'to transfer') /ˈmɛtəˌfɔr, -fər/
How to spot metaphor: textual and contextual signals
Metaphor and simile /ˈsɪməli/ in poetry:
figurative language with a purpose
The effects of metaphor: denotation /connotation
denotation = what is referred to
connotation = associations,
connecting images,
ideas, moods, etc.
IPA transcriptions: http://dictionary.reference.com/
Simile and metaphor
The analysis of metaphor:
tenor (the concept, idea, new element)
vehicle (the image to illuminate the tenor)
grounds (the basis of comparison: their similarity)
“O Rose, thou art sick.” (Blake)
No sign of comparison: vehicle stands for tenor
Simile:“0 my luve's like a red, red rose” (Burns)
luve=tenor
red, red rose=vehicle
like=grammatical indicator of similarity
Metonymy /mɪˈtɒnəmi/
“Substitute naming” – an associated idea names the
item: “The pen is mightier than the sword.”
Synecdoche /sɪˈnɛkdəki/:
a part stands for the whole or
the whole for a part:
“Listen, you've got to come take a look at my new set
of wheels.” – One refers to a vehicle in terms of
some of its parts, "wheels“
Figure of speech –
another definition
An expression extending language beyond its
literal meaning, either pictorially through
metaphor, simile, allusion, personification,
and the like, or rhetorically through repetition,
balance, antithesis and the like. A figure of
speech is also called a trope.
The Harper Handbook to Literature, ed. by
Northrop Frye, Sheridan Baker, George Perkins
New York: Harper & Row, 1984
The most common rhetorical
figures
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•
•
•
•
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•
simple repetition /ˌrɛpɪˈtɪʃən/
parallelism /ˈpærəlɛˌlɪzəm, -ləˌlɪz-/
antithesis /ænˈtɪθəsɪs/
climax /ˈklaɪmæks/
hyperbole /haɪˈpɜrbəli/
apostrophe /əˈpɒstrəfi/
Irony /ˈaɪrəni, ˈaɪər-/
Find examples for each in the quotation from
Alexander Pope’s An Essay on Man (1732-1734):
Cease then, nor Order imperfection name:
Our proper bliss depends on what we blame
Know thy own point: this kind, this due degree
Of blindness, weakness, Heaven bestows on thee.
Submit. - In this, or any other sphere,
Secure to be as blest as thou canst bear:
Safe in the hand of one disposing Power,
Or in the natal, or the mortal hour.
All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good:
And, spite of pride, in erring reason's spite,
One truth is clear, WHATEVER IS, IS RIGHT.
Repetition
All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction, which thou canst not
see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good:
Parallelism
A matter of grammar and rhetoric: the writer
expresses in parallel grammatical form
equivalent elements of content – framing words,
sentences, and paragraphs to give parallel weight
to parallel thoughts:
“All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good”
Antithesis
• a direct contrast or opposition
• a rhetorical figure sharply contrasting ideas in
balanced parallel structure
“Cease then, nor Order imperfection name”
“Safe in the hand of one disposing Power,
Or in the natal, or the mortal hour.”
(and lots more in the text)
Climax
• A point of high emotional intensity, a turning point
or crisis.
• The high point of an argument, reached by
arranging ideas in the order of least to most
importance
• The point of greatest interest in any piece of writing
• Repeating the same sound or word
Climax after all the repetition, parallelism, antitheses:
“One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.”
Hyperbole
Overstatement, to make a point, either direct or
ironical:
“Our proper bliss depends on what we blame
Know thy own point: this kind, this due degree
Of blindness, weakness, Heaven bestows on thee.
Submit. - In this, or any other sphere,
Secure to be as blest as thou canst bear:
Safe in the hand of one disposing Power,
Or in the natal, or the mortal hour.”
(and the rest of the excerpt as well)
Apostrophe
An address to an imaginary or absent person (or as if
the person were absent), a thing or a personified
abstraction:
“Cease then, nor Order imperfection name”
“Know thy own point: this kind, this due degree
Of blindness, weakness, Heaven bestows on thee.
Submit. - In this, or any other sphere,
Secure to be as blest as thou canst bear”
“All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction, which thou canst not see”
Irony
a trope, a non-literal use of language like
metaphor, metonymy, etc,
• a type of tone, a particular way of
speaking/writing, a matter of style,
• can be widespread in text
(unlike metaphors which are usually
discrete parts of text)
Cease then, nor Order imperfection name:
Our proper bliss depends on what we blame
Know thy own point: this kind, this due degree
Of blindness, weakness, Heaven bestows on thee.
Submit. - In this, or any other sphere,
Secure to be as blest as thou canst bear:
Safe in the hand of one disposing Power,
Or in the natal, or the mortal hour.
All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good:
And, spite of pride, in erring reason's spite,
One truth is clear, WHATEVER IS, IS RIGHT.
Irony
• ironic meaning WE have to construct
• DIFFERENCE between apparent meaning and
true meaning
• the text as a whole or a large part of it is
unreliable if taken literally
• an implied (vs explicit) interpretation is true
Example from class:
difference between text and situation:
“WHATEVER IS, IS RIGHT.” – when all sorts of
things go wrong
Mechanisms and techniques of
irony
• overemphasis of inverted meaning:
Yes! I'd really like that!
• internal inconsistency
- in narrative: narrator is shown not to
have seen the truth
- in style: unexpected change in register
unexpected change of rhythm
unexpected alliteration
rhyme fails to appear
Effects of irony
Irony which destabilizes:
• where the intended meaning is difficult to
pinpoint
• internally inconsistent text
• literal meaning is insufficient
• no specific, authoritative or unified worldview
a final, implied meaning remains elusive