Figures of Speech

 What is a Figure of Speech?

A word or expression that is not used with  its original meaning but in an imaginative way to make a special effect is known as a figure of speech.

Importance of Figures of Speech: They enhance beauty of our written expressions.They add flavor to the writing  and make it more  enjoyable for the  readers.  

Classification of figures of speech:

1) Resemblance based: Simile, Metaphor, Apostrophe and Personification.

2)Contrast based:Antithesis and Epigram

3) Association based: Metonymy and Synecdoche

4) Construction based: Climax and Anticlimax

Similes. These are phrases that compare two different things having a common quality.They always use the words as or like. They are used to create word pictures or images and make the written content interesting.

Example: Though almost ninety years old , my grandmother is as fit as a fiddle.

Here grandmother is being compared to a fiddle because both are fit

.

Metaphor. A metaphor is a word or phrase that is used to describe something as if it was something else. A metaphor is not a comparison( simile) where we say one thing is 'like' another. It says that one thing is another thing.

Examples: Life is a journey.

                 Kalidas is the Shakespeare of India,

Here there is no comparison in the above sentences,But two things in each sentence are one.( life and journey) and( Kalidas and Shakespeare)

Personification. It is literary technique that writers use to add human qualities to non-human things . It helps the readers to create and relate a picture in their mind

Example: The wind danced in the trees.

This example uses personification to provide imagery for the wind's effect on the tree.

Apostrophe. As a literary device , an apostrophe is a poetic phrase or speech made by a character that is addressed to a subject that is not literally present in the literary work. The subject may be dead, absent, an inanimate  object or even an abstract idea.

Examples: Ice-cream ,why should you be so delicious?

                 O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree/

                 How lovely are thy branches!

              3. Milton thou should'st be living at this hour.

Hyperbole.  In Hyperbole a statement is made emphatic by over-statement.

                  Examples:   Mother cooked enough food to feed an army last night.

                                       I 'm drowning  in paperwork.

                                      He drove faster than a speeding bullet.

Euphemism.  This literary figure consists of the description of a disagreeable thing by an agreeable name. It is used to express a mild, indirect or vague term to substitute for a harsh, blunt or offensive term.

Examples: A little thin on top- refers to baldness

                 Between jobs- instead of unemployed

               Adult beverages- instead of beer or liquor.

Antithesis. This figure of speech juxtaposes two contrasting or opposing ideas ,usually within parallel grammatical structure.

Example:  To err is a human,to forgive divine.

                Man proposes,God disposes.

                Speech is silver,but silence is  divine 

.

Oxymoron. It is a special form of Antithesis,whereby two contradictory qualities are predicted at once of the same thing.

Examples: She looks awfully pretty in this saree.

                 The interior designer left the room completely unfinished.

                  She accepted it as the kind cruelty of the surgeon's knife

.

Epigram.  An Epigram is a brief but insightful statement ,often in verse form, which communicates a thought in a witty ,paradoxical or funny way.

Examples: I can resist everything but temptation.

                  Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.

                  The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws

 Irony. Irony is a type of speech in which the real meaning is exactly opposite of that which is literally conveyed.

Examples: A traffic cop gets his license suspended for not buying the parking ticket.

                 No doubt but ye are the people ,and wisdom shall die for you.

                 

Pun: It is usually described as a play on words. It's clever, witty form of figurative language that uses the words within a sentence to convey another message. It is often used in a joke.

Examples: Is life worth living? -It depends on the liver.

                 Fish are smart because they live in a school.

                What type of clothes does a cloud have? Thunder wear.

Synecdoche: It is a part that is used to designate the whole or the whole to designate  a part.

        1) A part that is used to designate the whole:

          Example: A herd of cattle was grazing there.

        2) The whole that is used to designate a part.

       Example.England won by 4 runs and six wickets.( meaning 'the English Cricket Team)

Litotes: As a figure of speech, Litotes utilizes negative words or terms to express a positive statement.

Example: She is not a little (=greatly) confused.

                 Ireland is no ordinary(=special) country.

Interrogation: It is used to ask question  without expectation of any answer but to point out more effectively.This is also known as 'Rhetorical Question'

Examples:1)  O mighty Caesar!Dost thou lie so low?

                    Are all thy conquest, glories,triumphs, spoils

                   Shrunk to this little measure?( excerpt from Julius Caesar)

               2) Who could believe that this would happen?

Exclamation . When ideas or words express strong emotions such as joy, surprise, anger etc., it is known as Exclamation. In this figure of speech, words or sentences end in an exclamation mark.

Examples : Oh my God! What a brilliant idea!

                   How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!

Onomatopoeia; When a word is used to imitate a sound of an object for providing a special effect, it is known as Onomatopoeia.

Examples: Ding-Dong, the bell rang

                 Boom, went the bullet.

Climax(Greek, Klimax = ladder). It is the arrangement of a series of ideas in the order of increasing importance.

Examples:" If you think that's bad, it gets worse"

                    Simple,erect, severe, austere, sublime

Anticlimax. It is just opposite of Climax. It refers to a figure of speech in which statements gradually descend in order of importance.

Examples: She is a wonderful dancer, a mother and a good humorist.

                   They missed their parents, their house and their car.

                 

    

'