FIGURES OF SPEECH
Words or phrases that describe one thing in
terms of something else. They always involve some
imaginative comparison between seemingly unlike
things.
Not meant to be taken literally, figurative
language is used to produce images in a reader’s mind
and to express ideas in fresh, vivid, and imaginative
ways. The most common examples of figurative
language , or figures of speech, used both in prose
and poetry are simile, metaphor, and personification.
Metaphor
A comparison of two unlike things not using like
or as; something “is” something else.
“You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I
ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be
a serpent to sting you, as mine has been. “
Frankenstein
The quote enhances understanding of the
character’s emotions by comparing the
“gratification of wishes with a serpent.”
Oxymoron
A form of paradox that combines a pair
of opposite terms into a single unusual
expression
– “sweet sorrow”
– “cold fire”
Personification
A metaphor that gives inanimate
objects or abstract ideas human
characteristics.
– “But when he entered, misery and despair
alone welcomed him.”
The comparison of his companions to misery and
despair suggests the depth of his unhappiness.
– “Thevery winds whispered in
soothing accents, and maternal
nature bade me weep no more.”
Frankenstein
The character compares nature to a mother soothing
her son.
Simile
A comparison of two different things
or ideas through the use of like or as.
– “The saintly soul of Elizabeth shone like a
shrine-dedicated lamp in our peaceful
home.
Elizabeth’s “saintly soul” is compared to a
“shrine-dedicated lamp” indicating the purity
and loyalty of her soul.
HYPERBOLE
Deliberate, extravagant, and often
outrageous exaggeration.
…the sun lets go ten million silver lizards out
of snow
It may be used for either serious or comic effect.
Sound Devices
• Stylistic techniques that convey
meaning through sound
• Rhyme
• Assonance
• Consonance
• Alliteration
• Onomatopoeia
Alliteration
Beginningseveral consecutive or
neighboring words with the same
sound.
“Thusstrangely are our souls constructed,
and by such slight ligaments are we bound
to prosperity or ruin.”
–The repeated “s” emphasizes the
strangeness and seriousness of the
statement.
Assonance
The repetition of vowel sounds in a series
of words
“But I was doomed to live: and, in two
months, found myself as awaking, from a
dream, in a prison, stretched on a
wretched bed, surrounded by gaolers’
turnkeys, bolts, …”
The repeated “e” sound and the “etch”
emphasizes the hideousness of the
situation, like it might make you “retch”.
Consonance
Repetition of a consonant sound within a
series of words to produce a harmonious
effect.
“Butsleep did not afford me respite from
thought and misery; my dreams presented a
thousand objects that scared me.”
The repeated “d’s” mimic the sound of dread.
Onomatopoeia
The use of words that mimic the
sounds they describe.
HISS
BUZZ
BANG
Rhyme
Repetition of sounds in two or more words
or phrases that appear close to each other.
End rhyme occurs at the end of lines.
Internal rhyme occurs within a line.
Rhyme scheme is the pattern of end
rhymes (in poetry).
“I lay down on the grass, and was
overpowered by a deep sleep.”