FIGURES OF SPEECH

A figure of speech is an expression used to make a greater effect on your reader or listener. It
includes making comparisons, contrasts, associations, exaggerations and constructions. It also
gives a much clearer picture of what you are trying to convey.

1. Simile - a simile is a figure of speech that is mainly used to compare two or more things that
possess a similar quality. It uses words such as ‘like’ or ‘as’ to make the comparison.
Example - He is brave as a warrior, She is slow like a sloth
2. Metaphor - an expression used to describe a person or object by referring to something
that is considered to have similar characteristics to that person or object.
Example - The mind is an ocean of imaginations.
3. Personification - a figure of speech in which a thing or an idea is given human attributes.
Example - The floorboards groaned under the weight of each step.
4. Alliteration - the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or
closely connected words, which creates a memorable or melodic effect.
Example - Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
5. Repetition - repetition of a word or phrase in a sentence or stanza to create effect or to
emphasise an idea or thought.
Example - smile, smile, smile at your mind as often as possible
6. Assonance - repetition of vowel sounds in words that are closely related in a sentence or
a word.
Example - His tender heir might bear his memory
7. Consonance - repetition of a consonant sound in words that are close together in a
sentence or word.
Example - I will crawl away with the new ball
8. Anaphora - repetition of the word in the beginning of successive clauses, phrases or
sentences.
Example - I wish I may
I wish I might
9. Enjambment - a figure of speech in which a line of a poem carries its idea or thought
over to the next line without a grammatical pause or punctuation.
Example - April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
memory and desire, stirring
dull roots with spring rain.
10. Hyperbole - a figure of speech that creates heightened effect through deliberate
exaggeration
Example - He feels buried under a mountain of work.
11. Euphemism - is a polite and mild phrase or expression which replaces unpleasant, harsh
and impolite terms.
Example - Instead of saying ‘He is dead’ it can be said ‘ He has passed away’
12. Apostrophe - a literary device in which the speaker directly addresses someone or
something which is not present or cannot respond in reality.
Example - “O Romeo, Romeo. Wherefore art thou Romeo?”
13. Antithesis - a literary device that positions opposite ideas parallel to each other.
Example - To err is human; to forgive divine.
14. Epigram - a short,interesting and witty thought or idea on a particular subject, usually
presented in a funny manner.
Example - “It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness.
15. Oxymoron - it combines contradictory words with opposing meanings.
Example - cruel kindness, deafening silence, quiet laughter
16. Irony - a literary device in a situation where there is a contrast between reality and
expectation, used typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
Types of irony
1.Verbal Irony is when a speaker says one thing but means something entirely different.
The literal meaning is at odds with the intended meaning.
Example - A character who is about to experience a hurricane steps out and says, “What
wonderful weather we have now!”
2. Dramatic Irony is when the audience knows something that the characters don’t.
Example - In Macbeth, Macbeth was pretending to be loyal to Duncan but he was
planning his murder.
3. Situational Irony is when what happens is the opposite of what you expect.
Example - A fire station burnt down

17. Pun - is a joke based on the interplay of homophones or a clever and humorous play with
words that have more than one meaning.
Example - Santa Claus’ helpers are called subordinate clauses.
18. Satire - it is the art of making someone or something look ridiculous, raising laughter in
order to embarrass, humble, or discredit its target. Its purpose is not just to entertain but
also to inform or make people think.
Example - George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ is a dark satire of Soviet Communism and the
Russian Revolution. Vikram Seth’s poem ‘The Tale of a Melon City’ is a political satire.
19. Metonymy - a figure of speech in which an object or idea is referred to by the name of
something closely associated with it, as opposed to by its own name. It involves a word
or phrase substituting or standing in for another word or phrase.
Example - Referring to the members of the British royal family as “the crown”
20. Transferred Epithet - when an adjective (epithet) usually used to describe one noun is
transferred to another.
Example - She had a sleepless night. Here the night is not sleepless but the person is.
21. Allusion - is a figure of speech in which an author or poet makes an indirect reference to
some idea, figure, other text, place, or event that originates from outside the text. It could
also refer to something that happened earlier in the text that is often called an internal
allusion.
Example - Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
In these lines Robert Frost makes an allusion to the Biblical Garden of Eden to strengthen
the idea that nothing - not even Paradise - can last forever.
22. Symbolism - it is the use of words or images to symbolise specific concepts, abstract
ideas, people, objects, or events. They are not literal representations but figurative or
implied ones.
Example - He turned green when found a wallet. (Green colour is associated with greed,
jealousy, and monetary affairs.)
23. Paradox - a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in
reality expresses a possible truth.
Example - The more you give, the more you get.
The pen is mightier than the sword.
24. Imagery - it uses vivid description that appeals to readers’ senses to create an image or
idea in their head.It not only paints the picture but also aims to portray the sensational
experience within text.
Types of Imagery-
1. Visual Imagery - it is more likely what people think of something by reading a
description in a text.Like describing the setting of the stage in a play.
2. Auditory Imagery- appeals to the readers’ sense of hearing, in describing
gunfire, screams etc.
3. Gustatory Imagery- appeals to the readers’ sense of taste.
4. Olfactory Imagery- appeals to the readers’ sense of smell like the smell of fresh
air.
5. Tactile Imagery- creates the sensory experience of touch through text.(Texture,
temperature, wetness etc.)
6. Kinesthetic Imagery- describe the sensory experience of motion like speed etc.
7. Organic Imagery- appeals to the most primitive sensations in the human
experience such as hunger, fatigue, fear etc.
25. Onomatopoeia - a figure of speech in which the sound of a word imitates its sense.
Example - hiss, buzz, clang, roar etc.
26. Sarcasm - is the use of words that mean the opposite of what you really want to say,
especially in order to insult someone, or to show irritation, or just to be funny.
Example - When something bad happens and you remark, “That’s what I really needed
today”
27. Analogy - a comparison of two things to show their similarities. It explains one thing in
terms of another to highlight the ways in which they are alike.
Example - Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better but the frog
dies in the process.
28. Synecdoche - A specific type of metonymy that occurs when a whole object or idea is
referred to by the name of its smaller part.
Example - Referring to a car as “my wheels” is a synecdoche, because the wheels are just
one part that represents the entire car.
29. Poetic Licence - is a licence or liberty taken by a poet, author to change facts or rules to
make a poem or story more interesting or effective.
Example - And a realio, trulio, little pet dragon.
30. Inversion - A change in the usual word order of speech to maintain a rhythm or to find a
rhyme. The words are reversed, therefore leading to a different kind of effect.
Example - ‘Yesterday, a ship I saw’ instead of ‘I saw a ship yesterday.’