FIGURES OF SPEECH  "How nice!

" she said, when I told her I had to work

all weekend. (Verbal irony)
 A figure of speech is a word or phrase that  A traffic cop gets suspended for not paying his
possesses a separate meaning from its literal parking tickets. (Situational irony)
definition  Naming a tiny Chihuahua Brutus. (Verbal irony)
 When the audience knows the killer is hiding in a
1. Alliteration is the repetition of the beginning sounds
closet in a scary movie, but the actors do not.
of neighboring words. (Dramatic irony)
Examples:
 She sells seashells. 7. A metaphor makes a comparison between two unlike
 Walter wondered where Winnie was. things or ideas.
 Blue baby bonnets bobbed through the bayou.
 Nick needed new notebooks. Examples include:
 Fred fried frogs' legs on Friday.  Heart of stone
 Time is money
2. Anaphora is a technique where several phrases or  The world is a stage
verses begin with the same word or words.  She's a night owl.
 He's an ogre.
Examples:  All the world's a stage.
 I came, I saw, I conquered. - Julius Caesar
 Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition! - King 8. Onomatopoeia is the term for a word that sounds like
John II, William Shakespeare what it is describing.
 It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of Examples include:
foolishness. - A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens  Whoosh
 We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end...  Splat
we shall never surrender. - Winston Churchill  Buzz
 Click
3. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds (not just  Oink
letters) in words that are close together. The sounds
don't have to be at the beginning of the word. 9. Oxymoron is two contradictory terms used together.
Examples: Examples include:
 A - For the rare and radiant maiden whom the  Peace force
angels named Lenore. (Poe)  Kosher ham
 E - Therefore, all seasons shall be sweet to thee.  Jumbo shrimp
(Coleridge)  Sweet sorrow
 I - From what I've tasted of desire, I hold with those  Free market
who favor fire. (Frost)
 O - Oh hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
10. Paradox
(Wordsworth)  The term paradox is from the Greek
 U - Uncertain rustling of each purple curtain (Poe)
word paradoxon, which means “contrary to
expectations, existing belief, or perceived
4. Euphemism is a mild, indirect, or vague term that opinion.”
often substitutes a harsh, blunt, or offensive term.  It is a statement that appears to be self-
contradictory or silly, but which may include a
Examples: latent truth. It is also used to illustrate an
 'A little thin on top' instead of 'going bald.' opinion or statement contrary to accepted
 'Fell of the back of a truck' instead of 'stolen.' traditional ideas. A paradox is often used to
 'Letting you go' instead of 'firing you.' make a reader think over an idea in innovative
 'Economical with the truth' instead of 'liar.' way.

5. Hyperbole uses exaggeration for emphasis or effect. Example:

 "This is the beginning of the end," said Eeyore,
Examples: always the pessimist.
 That must have cost a billion dollars.  Your enemy’s friend is your enemy.
 I could do this forever.  I am nobody.
 Everybody knows that.  “What a pity that youth must be wasted on the
young.” – George Bernard Shaw
6. Irony occurs when there's a marked contrast between  Truth is honey, which is bitter.
what is said and what is meant, or between appearance
and reality. 11. Personification gives human qualities to non-living
things or ideas.
Examples include:
Examples include:  The pen is mightier than the sword. ( “Pen” stands
 The flowers nodded. for thought and reason, while “sword” represents
 The snowflakes danced. physical warfare.)
 The thunder grumbled.  “The golden arches” is a metonymy for McDonalds.

12. A simile is a comparison between two unlike things

17. Climax refers to a figure of speech in which words,
using the words "like" or "as."
phrases, or clauses are arranged in order of increasing
Examples include: importance.
 Like peas in a pod Examples:
 As blind as a bat  "There are three things that will endure: faith,
hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
13. Synecdoche occurs when a part is represented by
(1 Corinthians 13:13)
the whole or, conversely, the whole is represented by
 "Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane!
the part.
It's Superman!"
Examples:  "win the war, secure the peace, and earn the
 Wheels - a car respect of the world."
 The police - one policeman  "I think we've reached a point of great decision,
 Plastic - credit cards not just for our nation, not only for all humanity,
 Coke - any cola drink
but for life upon the earth."
 Hired hands – workers
 "Beautiful are the feet that bring the good news."
 "I should have been a pair of ragged claws Scuttling
18. Apostrophe is a breaking off discourse to address
across the floors of silent seas." T.S. Eliot some absent person or thing, some abstract quality, an
 "Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your inanimate object, or a nonexistent character.
ears." Julius Caesar, Shakespeare Examples:
 "Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean."  "Oh, you stupid car, you never work when I need
Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare you to," Bert sighed.
 Dear love, please don't shoot me with your Cupid's
14. An understatement occurs when something is said bow.
to make something appear less important or less
serious. 19. Antithesis is a figure of speech which refers to the
Examples: juxtaposition of opposing or contrasting ideas. It
 It's a little dry and sandy - referring to the driest involves the bringing out of a contrast in the ideas by an
desert in the world. obvious contrast in the words, clauses, or sentences,
 It was interesting - referring to a bad or difficult within a parallel grammatical structure.
experience. Examples:
 "You could say Babe Ruth was a decent ballplayer,"  "Man proposes, God disposes." - Source unknown.
the reporter said with a wink.  "Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing." -
Goethe.
15. A rhetorical question is asked just for effect, or to  "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for
lay emphasis on some point being discussed, when no mankind." - Neil Armstrong.
real answer is expected. A rhetorical question may have  "To err is human; to forgive divine." - Alexander
an obvious answer, but the questioner asks it to lay Pope.
emphasis to the point. In literature, a rhetorical  "Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice." -
question is self-evident, and used for style as an William Shakespeare.
impressive persuasive device.  Silence is deep as Eternity; speech is shallow as
Examples: Time.

 “What made you think of love and tears and birth 20. Cataphora is a figure of speech or literary device in
and death and pain?” which a pronoun or pro-verb used initially in a sentence
refers to an expression or subject which is used
 “Will no one tell me what she sings?”
afterward. It is the opposite of anaphora, which places
the pronoun or pro-verb later than the expression or
16. Metonymy is a figure of speech in which one word
subject in a sentence.
or phrase is substituted for another with which it's
Examples:
closely associated; also, the rhetorical strategy of  If you want some, I’ve just made a fantastic loaf of
describing something indirectly by referring to things banana bread.
around it.  After she was assigned a polite and respectful
Examples: writer, the girl became less nervous about buying
 Crown (For the power of a king.) an essay.
 The White House (Referring to the American  If you like it, you can stroke the puppy.
administration.)