Basic Textual and Contextual Reading Approaches, 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

TOPIC: 4-1 Figures of Speech

Reported by:

Figures of Speech
Figures of speech, also referred to as figurative language, are words or phrases that express meanings in a
nonliteral way. These expressions are often used for comparison and for conveying emotion.

Literary writers use figures of speech to enhance the artistic quality of their works. Figures of speech bring
vividness and liveliness to the work, and they also emphasize the message that the writer wants to convey. The use
of these expressions also allows readers to feel a connection with the literary work by sparking their imagination
and arousing their emotions.

There are numerous figures of speech, and these can be classified into different categories. Among these
categories are the following:

Figures of relationship
Figures of emphasis
Figures of sound

Figures of Relationship
Figures of relationship include simile, metaphor, metonymy, and synecdoche.

Simile
A simile compares two unlike things with a common quality. The comparison is done using words such
as like or as.

Example:
O my Luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June;
from "A Red, Red Rose" by Robert Burns

Explanation:
The persona in the poem compares his love to a red rose that blooms in springtime.

Metaphor
A metaphor is a comparison that is done by stating that one thing is another in order to suggest their
similarity or shared qualities.

Example:
Trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky.
Khalil Gibran

Explanation:
In the given quote, trees are likened to poems, and the comparison does not use words such as like or as.

Metonymy
Metonymy refers to using a thing or idea that is not referred to by its own name but by a different one, a
name of something with which it is closely associated.

Example:
Im mighty glad Georgia waited till after Christmas before it seceded or it would have ruined the Christmas
parties.
from Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Explanation:
In the given line, Georgia is not used to refer to the place or state but rather the people making up the
state: its citizens and government officials.
 Synecdoche
A synecdoche uses a part of something to represent the whole or the whole to represent a part.

Example:
His eye met hers as she sat there paler and whiter than anyone in the vast ocean of anxious faces about
her.
from "The Lady, or the Tiger?" by Frank Stockton

Explanation:
The word faces is used to refer to people.

Figures of Emphasis
Among the common figures of emphasis are hyperbole, oxymoron, and paradox.

Hyperbole
Hyperbole uses intentional exaggeration to achieve emphasis or produce a comic effect.

Example:
I had to wait in the station for ten daysan eternity.
from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Explanation:
The use of the word eternity to describe a wait of ten days is an exaggeration. It simply emphasizes that
the persona feels that he waited for so long.

Oxymoron
An oxymoron is a word or a combination of words with contradictory meanings, as
in bittersweet and open secret.

Example:
Why, then, O brawling love! O loving hate!
O anything, of nothing first create!
from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Explanation:
The phrase loving hate is an oxymoron, as it makes use of two contradictory terms.

Paradox
A paradox is a statement that appears to hold contradictory ideas but may actually be true.

Example:
The Child is father of the Man.
from "My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold" by William Wordsworth

Explanation:
The given statement may appear silly at first, but what it conveys is that the experiences of the child
shape who he/she becomes and how he/she acts as an adult.

Figures of Sound
Among the figures of sound are alliteration and onomatopoeia.

Alliteration
Alliteration refers to the use of closely spaced words that have the same initial sounds.

Example:
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before
from "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe
 Explanation:
The neighboring words doubting, dreaming, dreams, dared, and dream begin with the d sound, giving the
line a musical quality.

Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is the use of words that imitate the sound of what they are referring to.

Example:
ARIEL:
Hark, hark!
Bow-wow.
The watch-dogs bark!
Bow-wow.
Hark, hark! I hear
The strain of strutting chanticleers
Cry, cock-a-diddle-dow!
from The Tempest by William Shakespeare

Explanation:
The words bow-wow and cock-a-diddle-dow are examples of onomatopoeia, as they are animal sounds.

Key Points

Figures of speech, also referred to as figurative language, are words or phrases that express meanings in
a nonliteral way.
Figures of relationship include simile, metaphor, metonymy, and synecdoche.
Some figures of emphasis are hyperbole, oxymoron, and paradox.
Among the figures of sound are alliteration and onomatopoeia.