Using Figurative Language

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Using Figurative Language

• Writing Center Workshop

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Figures of speech can add excitement and
variety to writing. When these expressions are
understood, they can give a work a depth and
richness not present otherwise when not
understood, they can confuse the reader.
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Alliteration

• Definition The repetitious use of the same
  beginning consonant sound in two or more nearby
  words.
• Example The ballot is stronger than the
  bullet.
• Abraham Lincoln

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Allusion

• Definition A reference, usually brief, to a
  person, place, thing, or event with which the
  reader is presumably familiar. The allusion lets
  the reader condense great meaning into only a few
  words. Allusions often refer to mythology,
  history, religious and literary texts, etc.
• Example He has the patience of Job.

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Apostrophe

• Definition A figure of speech addressing an
  absent person as if he or she were present or an
  abstract concept or inanimate object as if it
  were capable of understanding.
• Example The poets addressing the urn in Ode to
  a Grecian Urn by John Keats is an example of an
  apostrophe.

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Epithet

• Definition An adjective used to limit a noun
  which it cannot logically modify.
• Examples dusty death
• rosy-fingered dawn
• wine-dark sea

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Hyperbole

• Definition An exaggeration to make emphasis and
  heighten the overall effect (comic or serious) of
  a work.
• Example This backpack weighs a ton!

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Irony

• Definition A contrast between appearance and
  reality.
• Types of Irony
• Verbal
• Dramatic
• Situational

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Verbal Irony

• Definition A difference between what is
  literally said and what is actually meant.
• Example Well, thanks a lot! (spoken when
  someone has not been at all helpful)

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Dramatic Irony

• Definition When the reader or audience knows
  that the situation is exactly the opposite of
  what the participants think it is.
• Example In William Shakespeares Othello, the
  audience knows Iago is the villain, but Othello
  believes Iago is his most trusted friend.

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Situational Irony

• Definition When the outcome of circumstances is
  the opposite of what is expected or appropriate.
• Example In Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet
  Letter, Dimmesdale is found to be a liar and an
  adulterer, but he is also a clergyman.

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Metaphor

• Definition A comparison of two unlike objects
  without the use of the word like or as.
• Example The cat's eyes were jewels, gleaming
  out of the darkness.

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Metonymy

• Definition Substituting a word with a term
  meaning an object closely associated with the
  original word.
• Example Using The White House when referring
  to the President is an example of metonymy.

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Onomatopoeia

• Definition Using a word (or a group of words)
  whose sound reinforces its meaning.
• Examples buzz
• pop
• fizz

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Oxymoron

• Definition A figure of speech which brings
  together contradictory terms for rhetorical
  effect.
• Examples living death
• sweet sorrow
• cheerful pessimist

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Paradox

• Definition An apparently self-contradictory
  statement which seems absurd at first but turns
  out to have a valid meaning.
• Examples The child is father to the man.
• William Wordsworth

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Personification

• Definition Giving human attributes and/or
  feelings to an idea or thing as if it were human.
• Examples a wicked tongue
• a lonely road
• a lazy day

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Pun

• Definition A play on words which uses words that
  sound alike but have different meanings.
• Example The dentist joined the infantry because
  he liked to drill.

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Simile

• Definition A comparison of two unlike objects
  using the word like or as.
• Example My love is like a red, red rose.
• Robert Burns

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Symbol

• Definition Any word, object, character, or
  action used to stand for something else,
  embodying and evoking a range of additional
  significance and meaning.
• Example In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses
  a journey up the Congo River to symbolize an
  exploration of the dark side of the human heart
  and human civilization.

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Synecdoche

• Definition Use of a part to signify the whole
  or, more rarely, the whole to signify a part.
• Examples wheels automobile
• steel sword
• the law police officer

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References

• Definitions and examples taken from Pickering and
  Hoepers Literature, 1990.
• Other examples taken from
• http//web.uvic.ca/wguide/Pages/LTEpithet.html
• http//humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/Figures/S/synec
  doche.htm
• http//www.bartleby.com/61/70/S0967000.html
• http//www.geocities.com/sir_john_eh/scarletletter
  .html
• http//www.spellingpolice.com/higher/metaphor.html
  
• http//www.spellingpolice.com/higher/pun.html