Figures of Speech Presentation PDF

Figures of Speech A figure of speech is a rhetorical device that achieves a special effect by using words in distinctive ways. Though there are hundreds of figures of speech, we'll focus just on some of the most common figures. Figurative language is often associated with literature--and with poetry...

Figures of Speech A figure of speech is a rhetorical device that achieves a special effect by using words in distinctive ways. Though there are hundreds of figures of speech, we'll focus just on some of the most common figures. Figurative language is often associated with literature--and with poetry in particular. But the fact is, whether we're conscious of it or not, we use figures of speech every day in our own writing and conversations. For example, common expressions such as "falling in love," "racking our brains," "hitting a sales target," and "climbing the ladder of success" are all metaphors. We rely on similes when making explicit comparisons ("light as a feather") and hyperbole to emphasize a point ("I'm starving!"). Using original figures of speech in our writing is a way to convey meanings in fresh, unexpected ways. Figures can help our readers understand and stay interested in what we have to say. ⚫ 1- Alliteration The repetition of an initial consonant sound. as in: "a peck of pickled peppers." ⚫ 2- Anaphora The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses. like in Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition!---King John, by Shakespear. ⚫ 3-Assonance Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words. As in " night and sight" ⚫ 4- Antithesis The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases. like in A bliss in proof; and prov'd, a very woe. shackespeare ⚫ 5- Apostrophe Breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing, some abstract quality, an inanimate object, or a nonexistent character. As in the following poem Oh blue moon you saw me standing alone without a love in my heart without a dream of my own ⚫ 6-Chiasmus A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed. As in « a statesman is a person who places himself at the service of his nation, or who places the nation at his service. » ⚫ 7-Euphemism The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit. He is in a correction facility( better than to say a prison ). He left to a better world ( better than to say he died) ⚫ 8-Hyperbole An extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect. Example: Am starving, i can eat a horse. ⚫ 9-Irony The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. A statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea. Example: two identical twins, one told the other you are ugly. ⚫ 10-Litotes A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite. Example: In Corneille’s play le cid Chimene told Rogriguez: Go i do not hate you. ⚫ 11-Onomatopoeia The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. Like the tick tack of a clock. The splash of water. The twit of birds. ⚫ 12-Oxymoron A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side. Example: Painful pride. awfuly nice. the baby is born dead. ⚫ 13-Metaphor An implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common. Example: He is a lion. The world is a stage 14-Simile A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as") between two fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common. Example: As light as a feather. He is as cunning as a fox. ⚫ 15-Metonymy A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated; also, the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it. Example: He has a fine hand( he writes well). ⚫ 16-Synecdoche A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole (for example, ABCs for alphabet) or the whole for a part ("England won the World Cup in 1966"). ⚫ 17-Paradox A statement that appears to contradict itself. Example: George Berbard Show said : What a pity youth should be waisted on the young. ⚫ 18-Personification A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities. ⚫ 19-Pun A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words. ⚫ 20-Understatement A figure of speech in which a writer or a speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is. Example: ⚫ I wouldn’t say it tasted great. ⚫ I wouldn’t say he is thin.