Figures of Speech

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Language can be conveniently classified as either literal or figurative. When we speak literally we mean exactly what each word conveys; when we use figurative language we mean something other than the actual meanings of the words in a superliteral sense. These are rhetorical devices used by poets in order to evoke imagery. Rhetoricians have catalogued more than two hundred fifty different figures of speech which include the following: Simile is a comparison of two persons or things which are unlike in most respects. It uses like or as to signal the comparison. Serrano, 1978 'The boat, like some full-breasted swan...' Metaphor is an implied comparison between two persons or things which are unlike in most respects. It does not use like or as. Serrano, 1978 'My soul is an enchanted boat.' Personification is the transfer of human characteristics to inanimate objects or abstract qualities. Serrano, 1978 'Where wasteful time debateth with decay.' Metonymy is the use of one word for another which suggests it. Serrano, 1978 'The chair presided over the meeting.' Synecdoche is the use of a part to suggest the whole. Serrano, 1978 'The factory needs two thousand hands.' Hyperbole is a statement greatly exaggerated for an aesthetic purpose. Serrano, 1978 'My heart has turned to stone.' Alliteration is the repetition of an initial letter or sound. Serrano, 1978 'His scepter stretched from shore to sea again.' Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within the words. Serrano, 1978 'The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain.' Onomatopoeia is the blending of sounds of words with their senses. Serrano, 1978 'Hear the sledges with the bells, Silver bells... What a world of merriment their melody foretells... How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle.' Litotes affirms something by denying its opposite. Savellon 'He is not a bad singer.' Apostrophe is addressing absent persons or ideas directly as if they were present. Locayon 'Oh Liberty... How many crimes have been committed in thy name?' Antithesis is a studied contrast of ideas. Savellon 'How had no wit, no humor, no eloquence, and yet his writings are likely to be read as long as language exists.' Parable is an extended or elaborate simile. Savellon Allusion is a reference to something outside the poem in history, mythology or another literary work which has built-in emotional association. Savellon 'Was this the face that launched a thousand ships, And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?' Christopher Marlowe in 'Dr. Faustus' Meiosis or understatement, consciously underrating something or portraying it as lesser than it is usually thought to be. Savellon 'Being flayed alive is somewhat painful.' Di Yanni, 1994 Irony is a means of expressing which suggests humorously or angrily a different meaning of the words used. Cambridge International Dictionary of English, 1996 'He sees no light and therefore cannot fall.' from 'The Pane' by Edith Tiempo Oxymoron is a combination of contrasts to show a particular iamge with a striking effect. Locayon 'Darkness visible' from book 1 of 'Paradise Lost' by John Milson Periphrases or circumlocution, deliberate avoidance of the obvious. It circles its subject and refuses to go straight to the point. Savellon Hyperbaton is the rearrangement of sentence elements for special effects. Savellon Prolepsis is the foreshadowing of a future event as if it were already influencing the present. Savellon