FIGURES OF SPEECH APOSTROPHE

 literary device that uses words to produce  directly addresses an object or non-existent
non-literal meanings person as if it were a real person, the
 use of language to play on the meaning of absent as if present, and the dead as if it
the words, or arrangement of patterns were alive.
 Make up figurative language and imagery Example: Hello, darkness my old friend.
 Divided into schemes and tropes ALLUSION
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE  clever reference to a well-known person,
 Using a word or phrase that does not have event, or thing and is used to show
its normal, everyday meaning. comparison with the present object.
• Uses figures of speech to be more effective,  A brief and indirect reference to a person,
persuasive and impactful. place, thing or idea of historical, literary or
IMAGERY political significance.
 The use of figurative language to create an Example: Hey! Guess who the new Newton of our
image to the readers school is?
1. Visual (relating to sense of sight) METONYMY
2. Auditory (relating to sense of hearing)  is a symbol word or phrase that is used to
3. Tactile (relating to sense of touch) substitute for another word.
4. Gustatory (relating to sense of taste)  a word or phrase is substituted for another
5. Olfactory (relating to the sense of smell) with which it's closely associated; also, the
TROPES rhetorical strategy of describing something
 Deviation of meaning from the expected indirectly by referring to things around it.
literal meaning. The crown is a big responsibility for a young king.
 Comparison, association, or wordplay to SYNECDOCHE
produce a non-literal meaning.  a part is used to represent the whole.
 The use of a word, phrase, or image in a  May be microcosm or macrocosm
way not intended by its normal Microcosm is the phrase for synecdoche in which a
signification. smaller part signifies a larger whole.
SCHEMES Example: A boy has been admitted to the hospital.
 Deviation from the typical mechanics of a The nurse says, “He’s in good hands.”
sentence such as order, pattern, or Macrocosm, on the other hand, is the phrase for
arrangement of words. synecdoche in which a larger whole signifies a
 Mechanical, tinkers with words, sounds, smaller collection of parts.
structures to achieve an effect. Example: The Department of Education announced
 A change in standard word order or pattern. new plans for the education reform.
SIMILE OXYMORON
 indirect comparison between two unlike  Pairs contradictory words in order to
objects. express new or complex meanings
 use words like resemble, like, and as. The common oxymoron phrase is a combination of
Example: Mary had a little lamb. an adjective proceeded by a noun with contrasting
It’s fleece was white as snow. meanings, such as “cruel kindness,” or “living
METAPHOR dead”. Examples:
 Uses direct comparison between two “… parting is such sweet sorrow”
unrelated things. “ I only wanna die alive”
Example: ‘Cause, baby, you‘re a firework, come on ANTITHESIS
let your colors burst.  juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in
PERSONIFICATION balanced phrases.
 gives human qualities to things which are  Involves a contrast of words or ideas.
not human like animals, plants, and other Example: Everything that kills me makes me feel
inanimate objects. alive.
Example: That kitchen knife will take a bite out of CHIASMUS
your hand if you don't handle it safely.  verbal pattern in which the second half of
an expression is balanced against the first
but with the parts reversed.
The famous chef said people should live to eat, not Example: Unfortunately, I was in the wrong place
eat to live. at the wrong time on the wrong day.
IRONY PUN
 use of words to convey the opposite of their  play on words, sometimes on different
literal meaning. senses of the same word and sometimes on
 a statement or situation where the meaning the similar sense or sound of different
is contradicted by the appearance or words.
presentation of the idea. Example: Jessie looked up from her breakfast and
 says the opposite of what is meant. said, "A boiled egg every morning is hard to beat."
Examples:
Alannis Morisette’s popular song “Ironic:” LITOTES
Rain on your wedding day • A figure of speech consisting of an
A free ride when you’ve already paid understatement in which an affirmative is
Good advice that you just didn’t take expressed by negating its opposite.
HYPERBOLE
 Intentional exaggeration of the truth to And I’m thinking you weren’t burdened with an
emphasize importance or to create a comic over-abundance of schooling, so why don’t we just
effect. ignore each other until we go away? (Malcolm
Example: I washed a mountain of plates just Reynolds, “Firefly”)
because I wasn’t able to pay the bills. PARADOX
ONOMATOPOEIA -from the Greek word paradoxon, which means
 The use of words that imitate the sounds “contrary to expectations, existing belief, or
associated with the objects or actions they perceived opinion.”
refer to. -often used to make a reader think over an idea in
Example: The clap of thunder went bang and innovative way.
scared my poor dog. -a statement that contradicts itself, or that must be
EUPHEMISM both true and untrue at the same time.
 substitution of an inoffensive term for one Truth is honey, which is bitter.
considered offensively explicit.
 refers to polite, indirect expressions that
replace words and phrases considered
harsh and impolite, or which suggest
something unpleasant.
You are becoming a little thin on top (bald).
UNDERSTATEMENT
 a writer or speaker deliberately makes a
situation seem less important or serious
than it is.
 the opposite of hyperbole or
overstatement.
ALLITERATION
Repetition of an initial consonant sound
 a stylistic device in which a number of
words, having the same first consonant
sound, occur close together in a series.
Example: But a better butter makes a batter better.
ASSONANCE
 similarity in sound between internal vowels
in neighboring words.
Example: How now, brown cow?
ANAPHORA
 repetition of the same word or phrase at
the beginning of successive clauses or
verses.