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Figure of speech

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8 views

Figure of speech

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rohanchawla0712
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Figure of speech

Similie : a comparison between two distinctly different things is explicitly


indicated by the word ― loike or as .

I know that definition like the back of my hand.


Those two are as different as night and day.
He stood out like a sore thumb.
That answer is as clear as mud.
Grandpa has a memory like a sieve.
The mouse is as dead as a doornail.

Metaphors are a form of figurative language, which refers to words or


expressions that mean something different from their literal definition. In the
case of metaphors, the literal interpretation would often be pretty silly. For
example, imagine what these metaphors would look like if you took them at
face value:

Love is a battlefield.

Bob is a couch potato.

I am titanium

Alliteration is the repetition of an initial consonant sound in words that are in


close proximity to each other. By ―close proximity,‖ we mean words that can
be—but don‘t have to be—consecutive. Perhaps the easiest way to recognize
alliteration is to see it in action, so take a look at these examples:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

She sells seashells by the seashore

Assonance (pronounced as–uh-nuh ns) is the repetition of the same or similar


vowel sounds within words, phrases, or sentences. The word is derived from the
Latin phrase assonare, meaning to answer with the same sound. The following
is a simple example of assonance:

Examples

She seems to beam rays of sunshine with her eyes of green.

An Antithesis is a figure of speech that states strongly contrasting ideas placed


in juxtaposition. They contain compound sentences with the two independent
clauses separated by a comma or a semicolon, in most cases. However, there are
also instances where the antithesis is a compound sentence with a conjunction.
An antithesis is mainly used to portray the stark difference between the two
opposing ideas.

Antithesis is a figure of speech which refers to the juxtaposition of opposing or


contrasting ideas. It involves the bringing out of a contrast in the ideas by an
obvious contrast in the words, clauses, or sentences, within a parallel
grammatical structure.

Man proposes, God disposes." - Source unknown.

"Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing." - Goethe.

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." - Neil Armstrong.

"To err is human; to forgive divine." - Alexander Pope.

"Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice." - William Shakespeare.

"Many are called, but few are chosen." Matthew 22:14.

Personification is a figure of speech in which an idea or thing is given human


attributes and/or feelings or is spoken of as if it were human. Personification is a
common form of metaphor in that human characteristics are attributed to
nonhuman things.

Examples

―The sun smiled down on us.‖

‗The story jumped off the page.‖

―The light danced on the surface of the water.‖

Allusion
An allusion is an indirect reference to another figure, event, place, or work of
art that exists outside the story. Allusions are made to famous subjects so that
they don‘t need explanation—the reader should already understand the
reference.

Examples :

"Chocolate cake is my Achilles heel."

The allusion here is to "Achilles' heel," or the Greek myth about the hero
Achilles and how his heel was his one weakness. In this case, the speaker's
"weakness" is chocolate cake.

"He's a cool guy, but he becomes a lovesick Romeo every time he's around her."

This quotation alludes to the character of Romeo from William Shakespeare's


Romeo and Juliet, wherein Romeo is head-over-heels in love with Juliet,
causing him (and her) to act impetuously.

"We got a new Einstein in school today."

This allusion is to the real-life genius physicist Albert Einstein and means that
the new student is extremely smart.

Euphemism

A euphemism is a soft and inoffensive word or phrase that replaces a harsh,


unpleasant, or hurtful one for the sake of sympathy or civility.

Euphemism examples:

―Passed away‖ instead of ―died‖

―Let go‖ instead of ―fired‖

―Make love‖ instead of ―sex‖

―Put down‖ instead of ―euthanized‖

Imagery

Imagery refers to writing that invokes the reader‘s senses with descriptive word
choice to create a more vivid and realistic recreation of the scene in their mind.
Example: ―The barn was very large. It was very old. It smelled of hay and it
smelled of manure. It smelled of the perspiration of tired horses and the
wonderful sweet breath of patient cows. It often had a sort of peaceful smell- as
though nothing bad could happen ever again in the world.‖ —E. B. White,
Charlotte‘s Web

Onomatopoeia

Fancy literary term onomatopoeia refers to words that represent sounds, with
pronunciations similar to those sounds.

Example: The word ―buzz‖ as in ―a buzzing bee‖ is actually pronounced like


the noise a bee makes.

Oxymoron

An oxymoron combines two contradictory words to give them a deeper and


more poetic meaning.

Example: ―Parting is such sweet sorrow.‖ —William Shakespeare, Romeo and


Juliet

Paradox

Similar to an oxymoron, a paradox combines two contradictory ideas in a way


that, although illogical, still seems to make sense.

Example: ―I know only one thing, and that is I know nothing.‖ —Socrates in
Plato‘s Apology

Portmanteau
Portmanteau is the literary device of joining two words together to form a new
word with a hybrid meaning.

Example: Words like ―blog‖ (web + log), ―paratrooper‖ (parachute + trooper),


―motel‖ (motor + hotel), and ―telethon‖ (telephone + marathon) are all
portmanteaus in common English.

Puns

Puns are a type of comedic wordplay that involve homophones (different words
that are pronounced the same) or two separate meanings of the same word.

Example: ―Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.‖ —Groucho Marx

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